Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Selling Off The Singapore Raffles Hotel

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Apr 8th 2010 at 9:02PM

Last year I mentioned that Saudi multi-billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal was looking to unload Singapore's historic Raffles Hotel as part of his great hotel sell-off. At that point the price was reported to be $450 million but it looks like he was willing to accept a lot less. The hotel has been sold to Qatari Diar investment fund in a deal worth $275 million. The legendary hotel was once the home of writer Somerset Maugham and has been around since 1887. This is the hotel that gave us the cocktail known as the Singapore Sling and has been a stopping place for decades of movie stars.

The London Times reports that the deal includes plans to refurbish the hotel and revamp the adjacent retail and leisure facilities adding another 78 guest rooms. Fairmont Raffles would continue to run the hotel. Fairmont Raffles was created from the merger four years ago of the Fairmont and Raffles groups and runs more than 100 hotels. Qatari Diar already owns Le Royal Monceau in Paris, which is set to reopen under the Raffles brand this year after its Philippe Starck-led makeover.

Tags: fairmont raffles, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, raffles hotel, singapore

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

FJW Apr 11th 2010 2:52PM

UNDER MONEY CLIPS - IF YOU DON'T WANT THE TEXT TO BE READ BY OVERPRINTING, WHY DO YOU PRINT IT ?

al schrader Apr 11th 2010 3:48PM

So if I let some writer live in my home for awhile & serve him Singapore Slings, my home will be worth millions ? I don't think it will work. Even if I took ALL of the books that Somerset Maugham wrote, put them in the attic,the books wouldn't be worth more than a few hundred thousand...Al-

sbhaddad Apr 12th 2010 11:47AM

Although I have stayed at many lovely hotels around the world, I absolutely feel in love w/ the Raffles Hotel .When my husband was in Singapore on business a few years back , I spent a week exploring the hotel. High Tea was the high point of my day ! There is no way to describe The Raffles. You must see it to appreciate it's enchantment !