This hotel has a legendary past. In colonial days the decadent and gin-soaked sat on its white-arched verandahs and discussed all kinds of dubious deeds from opium smuggling to the overthrow of a dictatorship. A steady alcoholic stream of famous authors, such as Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward, once propped up the Writers Bar and now have suites names after them. When asked whether he had a "gentleman in his room" by one Asian hotel, Coward supposedly quipped, "I don't know I'll ask him". Sadly Raffles is a little too squeaky clean these days with a giant tower of new rooms added, an arcade of luxury brand shops and a revolving door of German tourists. Never mind, have a consoling Singapore Sling at the bar and toast the hotel's heady history.