Cross Street, Chinatown, in 1905

The famous Raffles Hotel, in 1911. Built by the Armenian brothers, the Sarkies, in 1887, It remains situated along Beach Road. Although many different people are milling outside, the confines of the hotel were only for Europeans. Source: Gretchen Liu. Singapore: A Pictorial History Easily the most famous of Singapore’s colonial hotels, the “Raffles” started out modestly. In the 1880s it was but one of eight major hotels on the island. The largest and best-known was the Hotel de l’Europe, built in 1857 and centrally located at the corner of High Street. Nearby was the Adelphi Hotel (built 1863) and the Hotel Van Wijk, famous for tiffin curry. It was really only in the 20th century that the “Raffles” became well-known, with publicity from the writers Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling.

A Splendid Little Colony: British Singapore 1819 - 1963 | Singapore

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