Raffles Hotels & Resorts

Raffles Hotels & Resorts was formed in 1989 to restore, redevelop and manage the historic Raffles Hotel. The corporation also undertook the restructuring and management of the I.M Pei-designed Raffles City development, thus laying the foundation for Raffles Hotels & Resorts to become a hotel management company. After a complete restoration, the Raffles Hotel reopened on 16 September 1991.

In 1997, the company opened the restored Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia, marking the launch of its luxury resort brand.[1]

In April 2001, Raffles Holdings acquired Swissôtel from SAirGroup for 268 million euros, thus increasing its room capacity by 139% to 13,500 units in 17 countries.[2]

In 2005, Colony Capital bought Raffles Holdings for $1 billion from the Singapore government. Raffles and Swissôtel joined Fairmont Hotels in the newly formed holding FRHI Hotels & Resorts in 2006.[3] In June 2005, Raffles Hotels signed with the Wafi Group the construction contract of the Raffles Dubai, Raffles’ first property in the Middle East that opened two years later in 2007.[4]

In March 2009, Raffles Hotels and Resorts signed an agreement with the King Holding Company to operate Le Royal Monceau in Paris, which reopened in 2010 after 2 years of renovation work.[5]

In 2015, AccorHotels announced the acquisition of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), thus adding Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Swissôtel to its luxury hotel brands collection.[6]

After Indian Hinduja Group and Spanish Obrascón Huarte Lain bought the War Office in London, they decided to transform the administrative building into a hotel and signed a deal with AccorHotels in June 2017 to add it to the Raffles portfolio of luxury hotels.[7]

In 2015, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Singapore Sling, Raffles Hotels & Resorts partnered with London-based microdistillery Sipsmith to create a brand-made gin, the Raffles 1915 Gin.[8]