Legendary Raffles Hotel in Singapore tops list

Raffles Hotel Singapore Raffles Hotel Singapore, the flagship of Raffles Hotels & Resorts, has been named Best Worldwide City Hotel in the Sunday Times Travel Magazine’s Reader Awards 2012 held on Monday December 3. Voted for by the Sunday Times Travel Magazine’s readers, Raffles has risen from third place in 2011 to overall winner this year, seeing off stiff competition in the form of runners-up Hotel Monasterio in Cuzco, Peru and The Peninsula in Hong Kong.
SundayTimes Travel Magazine’s readers gave some glowing feedback on Raffles Hotel Singapore including, ‘timeless elegance that harks back to colonial days but with all the amenities and service of a true luxury hotel,’ says Wendy Christie from Newton Abbot, ‘Simply iconic,’ comments John Queening from Chesterfield and ‘location location location! And Raffles has it in spades’ says Neil Douglas from Cardiff.
Raffles Hotel is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary. Originally this luxury hotel Singapore opened in 1887 as a small hotel overlooking the beach and the South China Sea, it quickly became – and remains – the most fabled Singapore hotel in the Far East, with a guest-list including HRH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, and HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
To this day, after significant restoration and investment, Raffles still epitomises the romance of the Far East – an intoxicating blend of luxury, history and colonial ambiance no other hotel can match. With elegant atmospheric interiors, lush tropical gardens, peaceful courtyards and breezy verandahs, it is the home of the legendary Raffles Butlers - and a true oasis.
Pierre Jochem, General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore, and Regional Vice President of Operations for Asia Pacific, Raffles Hotels & Resorts said:
“Thank you very much to the readers of Sunday Times Travel Magazine for naming Raffles Hotel Singapore as their favourite worldwide city hotel; the whole team is immensely proud to receive this accolade. This award, for our 125 year old flagship, really shows that the magic of the Raffles experience has nothing to do with age. It is truly timeless.”
Raffles Hotels & Resorts is now a nine-strong portfolio following the recent opening of Raffles Makti in Manila which joins the hotels in Singapore, Cambodia, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles and Paris. Raffles Hotels & Resorts will be opening new hotels in Istanbul, Jakarta and a new resort in China, over the next two years.
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine is one of the UK’s leading specialist travel magazines and theirannual readers awards are highly respected within the industry.