Raffles Singapore’s revamp goes under the microscope
This two-part series is irresistible candy for hotel junkies, especially while travel is so limited.
RAFFLES: REMAKING AN ICON
SBS On Demand, until January 5
This two-part series is irresistible candy for hotel junkies, especially while travel is so limited. I was in Singapore last year, just days before the restored and refreshed Raffles reopened after a three-phase, 18-month update of technology, decor and fittings in its public areas and suites, plus the addition of restaurants by the Michelin-starred likes of Anne-Sophie Pic. The old girl had received a good gussy-up, as our grandparents might have said. It was my fourth stay across many decades and, like any guest who’s bedded down here since the gala opening in 1887, I felt a minor sense of ownership.
There are few hotels that engender such fidelity but some Raffles fans are so loyal they stay for months every year, including Madam Schoof, on her 57th stay (and counting) and very much a star of this enjoyable two-part doco.
Hotels that are similarly indivisible from great cities include The Peninsula in Hong Kong and The Ritz in London but Raffles eclipses the lot when it comes to heritage and ongoing stories. The neoclassical property even has a resident historian, Leslie Danker, with five decades of service and an undimmed passion.
“To me, Raffles is a symbol of Singapore’s collective memory and an integral part of our history,” he says. “It was born in the nascent years of our founding and has witnessed and weathered our country’s trials, tribulations and triumphs.”
In his 2020 memoir, and the regular onsite tours he runs for guests, he tells of “roller skating dinners” with “bands in attendance” in the early 1900s, a roll call of famous guests, the legendary tale of a tiger in the hotel’s billiards room in 1902, and the invention, in 1915, of the party-pink Singapore sling by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon.
Today’s refreshed hotel is lighter and brighter, with enhanced food and beverage outlets, including the fabled Writers Bar, plus extra facilities along its colonnaded arcades. The TV series takes us through the nuts, bolts and jackhammer jolts of the massive project, myriad design dramas, the case of the missing carpet, the surprise return of a “liberated” souvenir egg cup, and the week-long installation of the lobby’s new chandelier. Five stars.
Spend it
A voucher for a spa treatment could be just the shot this holiday season for loved ones who need a lift. Most day spa chains offer vouchers that can be customised according to price or treatment and sent to the recipient on your behalf.
In WA, for example, BODHI J has just opened a Cottesloe branch to join its Perth network. It operates Monday-Saturday and includes seven treatment rooms, two hydrotherapy spa baths, manicure-pedicure lounge, and infra-red sauna.
BODHI J features premium Australian brands Sodashi and Li’Tya for its therapies. Gift vouchers are valid for 36 months and can be bought online or at salons, emailed to the recipient or posted free of charge. The group also features a menu of men’s treatments. Perfect for a last-minute buy and who couldn’t use a healing massage, nail revamp, facial, body salt scrub, reiki session or detox wrap after the stress of 2020.