Raffles Hotel
Raffles is one of Asia's most famous landmarks. Originally a tiffin house, it was turned into a luxury hostelry by the Armenian Sarkie brothers in 1886 and became an Asian stopover for many acclaimed authors: Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward, Joseph Conrad, and Rudyard Kipling. The "Writer's Bar" still recalls those old times. Raffles Hotel became THE place in Singapore for entertainment, dining and accommodation before the Second World War. The Sarkie brothers also owned the "E & O" in Penang and the "Strand" in Rangoon.
At the "Long Bar" the Singapore Sling was created in 1915, a cocktail soon to be well-known all over the world.
The hotel underwent a complete restoration. It reopened in 1991.
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