Raffles Hotel is one of the few hotels in the world that can lay claim to offering hospitality to travellers for over a century. Opened on December 1st 1887 in an old bungalow facing the beach. It expanded during the first few decades under the Armenian Sarkies brothers, culminating in the opening of the main building designed by R A J Bidwell of Swan & Maclaren, in 1899. By the early 1920s it was already known as the historic hotel of Singapore.

The Raffles Hotel Museum looks at the history of Raffles Hotel largely in the context of the Golden Age of Travel. This period, roughly 1880 to 1939, saw the rise of popular tourism and coincided with the opening of the Hotel, its early rapid expansion, and its heyday in the first decades of this century.

Raffles Hotel (莱佛士酒店) was founded by four Armenian brothers, Martin, Tigran, Aviet and Arshak Sarkies, the building was originally a 10 room colonial mansion. The expansion of the mansion continued and wings were constantly added to the main building. The guest list of the hotel includes Charlie Chaplin, Beyonce Knowles, George H.W. Bush, Michael Jackson, etc.

This was the era when Singapore was known as the "Crossroads of the East" and the Raffles Hotel label was seen on the steamer trunk of every seasoned traveller.

Raffles Hotel Museum came into being after the hotel went under the knife for a major makeover in 1991.

A fascinating array of Raffles Hotel china and silver, picture postcards, old letters, photographs, advertisements and hotel brochures are displayed alongside the Hotel's collection of travel memorabilia - ranging from old travel and guide books, luggage labels and travel posters to period photographs of Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Together, these artifacts and memorabilia tell the story of Raffles Hotel, the people who made it a legend and the times in which they live.

No tour here. You may want to visit the Peranakan Museum or take a ride with the Singapore River Cruise, all located just around the corner.