My husband and I are probably one of the few people to have any complaints or give a disappointing review to the Raffles Hotel. For our honeymoon, we did a 2 week tour of SEAsia and our final stop was Singapore. We only booked 2 nights at the Raffles and that was enough. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous and you can feel the history in the air. I loved walking around the grounds and imagining the great writers of the early 20th century doing the same things, staying in the same rooms. The rooms are large and just beautiful. But from the moment we arrived, we felt that service was lacking. Every other hotel that we stayed in during our Honeymoon acknowledged that this was a special treat for us by having a bottle of wine or a flower arrangement in the room. The Raffles not only didn't have the smallest gesture for us, but couldn't even find our reservation in the computer for at least 15 minutes. We finally got our room and spent a nice evening having a Singapore Sling and walking around the shops and the hotel museum. The next morning, we got up and went sightseeing around the town. We returned mid-afternoon, hot, tired, and sweaty and the doorman made us feel like we did not belong there. When we got to our room, it hadn't been remade or anything. The tiffin curry buffet that we had for dinner was quite good, but nothing extraordinary. Maybe we expected too much, but when the rooms cost that much per night we expected perfection. But at least I can say that I stayed in the world famous Raffles Hotel.

I did a tour with Tour East which included High Tea at Raffles Hotel. I had been told it was great but had to do it to find out how good! I would recomend it to any one that asks!

I also did the Tour East Tour that included a Singapore Sling at Raffles, I opted out of the Singapore Sling for $29.50,Thought it was over priced.
I can understand some one who says having the Singapore Sling as a memorable experience, to note as having done it.

Tick it off as been there done that. I can say the same as having just experiencing the aura of The Long Bar and treading on peanut shells as an experience in itself.

Can recomend to anyone thinking of doing these tours or others with Tour East. Very professional group
Thank you for a wonderful holiday.

Staying a night at the Raffles Hotel was on my list of must do things. I was not disapointed. It cost me a weeks salary and I appreciated every second there. So much so that I didn't want to sleep. The room was WOW factor, in fact , the whole hotel was WOW. The staff were very professional. The buffet breakfast in the Tiffin room was to DIE for. I will never ever forget my night at the Raffles. It was nothing less than perfect.

This is a true Grande Dame of a hotel and deserves all the praise it receives. Service excellent, staff fantastic. Book the hotel limo through the hotel and you fast track immigration, a guy waitng for you as you disembark the plane. (but to be fair, most top end hotels in asia offer that).

The scale of oppulance and beauty is second to none at Raffles, and although i enjoyed the experience it i did feel like a tourist attraction myself whilst staying at the hotel. The hotel does attract many tourists, and i have to admit that i aalso once visited the hotel for a drink on a previous trip!!

The rooms are very colonial and old and very beautiful. The lack of Flat screens etc didn't bother me. Go elsewhere if you want modern hi tech. However, what did slighty irk me was the condition of the room. I appreciate its an old building and the design may not attract that much light into the rooms ( palm or courtyard rooms have small seating area when enetring, before walking through a curtain into bedroom) but the room i was in could have benefited from a lick of paint. Staining and disclouration around door handles and walls from previous guests, rust on the ceiling speakers. Also, the blue curtain separating the entrance sitting/dining area was really frayed and rather tatty, it most ceratinly had seen better days.

The other issue that concerned me was the lack of bottled water. Yes, i know that you can drink the water from the tap at Raffles, but filling my glass up with water from the bathroom just didn't feel classy. The staff filled your silver jug of water from the tap on an evening, but i just personally felt i would have liked a bottle by my bedside table.

Pool area small, but nice and quiet, and also a less formal alternative to the more formal breakfasts at the tiffin room.

Go try Raffles for yourself, you only live once, just don't get too caught up in the spin. Let yourself be the judge of any hotel and not simply the price or other peoples comments. Its a great place, but maybe not for everyone.

Five stars ,yes, but for me, im not sure if i would return. That doesn't mean that people who do are wrong or that i'm right, just that hotels are very personal, and even when you are staying in one of the top hotels in the world doesn't mean you always want to return. Thank you for the experience Raffles you were great, but been there, seen it, done it comes to mind which puzzles me as i never get that feeling with say, the oriental in Bangkok or the aman resorts. C'est le vie.

Have fun and enjoy

R&P