Raffles: elegant and enduring

Generations of visitors to Singapore have been beguiled by Raffles’ neo-classical grandeur.

Raffles Hotel Singapore.

Generations of visitors to Singapore have been beguiled by the neo-classical grandeur of Raffles. The late 19th-century property has long existed in travellers’ imaginations as a byword for all that’s elegant and enduring.

So when the hotel was closed for renovation in 2017, surely a tut-tutting wave of disapproval echoed among its loyal clientele. But T+I had a preview this week, just before the official unveiling, and can report that not so much a reinvention of the grand dame, it’s a canny cosmetic lift.

The lobby gleams with statement lighting and its readapted spaces allow for more socialisation, including an afternoon tea service. The Writers’ Bar, diminished during a 1991 makeover, again honours literary habitues of the ilk of Conrad and Maugham.

Raffles has been properly reinstated as the city-state’s drawing room, its finest gathering place.

(First-look review online at theaustralian.com.au.)