I would love to stay at Raffles for just one night, and have been scouring the internet for the best rate, but even on the best sites it's still a lot of money. Does anyone know of any special rates being offered anywhere at present?
Best rate for Raffles Hotel??
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Hello, Vietnam
As you know, Raffles is rather dear. And it doesn't often run "specials." Nonetheless, I have two suggestions. Contact the hotel directly and ask for their best price for the dates you want. Sometimes, the hotel will have the best rates. Another option is that some internet sites (for instance, www.asiahotels.com) have rates that include tax and service (about 15%) which may save you money over other booking options.
Having just got back from Singapore, I'm now replying to my own post on the basis that the info may help someone else.
The best deals at Raffles for us turned out to be the ones on Raffles' own website, despite much searching they were the cheapest. I phoned the hotel to discuss and confirmed the booking by email. They allowed us to combine two different offers, so that one night included dinner and the other did not.
All I can say is that the cost was well worth it - a wonderful place to stay, with amazing service. If you are going for a special occasion (honeymoon, anniversary, etc.) just make sure you let them know. They really know how to make you feel special - if I tell you more it may ruin any surprises that they lay on for you. The service is immaculate, but not in a starchy way - everyone we encountered was friendly, too.
We took the option to stay in a Palm Court suite, which was a little more expensive than an ordinary one, but well worth it. I am sure that all the rooms would be fine internally, but the location is the best in the hotel - I think that some of the newer rooms would feel a bit remote and less as if you were staying in a piece of history.
If you ever get the chance to stay there, take it!
What rate did you get from them direct, I have always considored it too expensive to think about but would be interesting as to how much it actually costs.
We paid 700 Singapore dollars +++ for one night with breakfast in Palm Court suite, and then 800 +++ for the other including breakfast and dinner for two. Could choose between three of the restaurants for dinner, and we went with Doc Cheng's, which was great.
We also made the most of our stay by taking advantage of their 24 hour policy. provided that you inform them of arrival and departure times in advance, you can occupy your room for 24 hours from arrival (or 48 hours if staying two days). We worked back from the time we needed to leave for the airport on our last day, which was 8pm, and arranged to arrive at 8pm on our first day. In practice, we just left our luggage with them when we arrived and went back in the evening to check in. For us, this made the stay seem longer as the timings suited us far better than a 'midday to midday' normal arrangement. If we had checked in earlier on the first day we would have only gone out exploring and 'wasted' Raffles time. As it was, we were able to really relax at the hotel prior to our long flight back to UK, and have a shower, etc. just before we went to the airport.
We had always felt it far too expensive (and even as we arrived at the hotel I felt sure I was going to regret the expense!), but having been there we felt the experience was well worth it.