We stayed at The Raffles hotel for four nights on our way back from Sydney. On the way out to Australia we stayed at The Oriental in Bangkok, the two hotels did not bear comparison. The service at The Oriental was second to none!
Raffles is a good hotel but is also a huge tourist attraction in Singapore and it is this that diminshes the service and ambience for hotel guests.
We arrived at midnight having phoned from the airport to inform them that we were on our way. The taxi driver who had just told us that this it is 'the best hotel in Singapore' was embarrassed to have to hoot his car horn several times before anyone materialised to help us.
We were shown to our room and told about the 'magic button' that, when pressed, would alert our butler in minutes. The magic had clearly worn off because pressing the button might mean a phone call after about 15 to 20 minutes. We took to calling room service direct.
Service at breakast on the first morning was appalling but feedback to staff was worthwhile as they did try to improve,
There is wooden flooring throughout the building. This looks great but we were in a ground floor room which meant that we could hear the guests above moving about their room at all hours.
The pool bar can cope with simple requests such as a beer or a coke but all food and drinks from their 'speciality. menu come from the main kitchen which takes at least 20 minutes. Don't expect all diners to receive their meals at the same time either! When we ate lunch there the food arrived at different times so that some of us had finished our meal before the others had even got theirs.
The pool itself is situated immediately above the main kitchens which means that whilst relaxing in the sun or swimming guests are subjected to the smells of whatever is cooking - we could smell onions, curry, fish etc. Not very pleasant! The hotel needs to decide if it is hotel or a theme park and act accordingly. A stay there is very expensive and not value for money. We will not return.

Stayed here with my family in Oct before going on a 6 day cruise and frankly was disappointed. I had booked a tower wing room for all of us but was offered a garden wing room for an extra fee. I asked to look at both. The garden wing they showed us was very shabby and run down. Certainly not what I had read on this website. The tower wing room was nice but very small. I expected so much more. We had breakfast at the line restaurant which was excellent and the pool area was nice also. The location is too far out for my liking even though the taxi's are cheap and readily available. We stayed at the Raffles Plaza on the way back from cruise and it was so much better. Location was excellent as was the very large room overlooking the whole city with large balcony. I know where I will be staying next time and it certainly will not be the Shangri-La.

We stayed at Raffles on a two day stopover on the way to Melbourne and we found that the hotel lived up to its luxury reputation.My wife and I found the hotel was a wonderful place to stay and the staff could not do enough for us.A previous review mentioned that the courtyard rooms were dark and they are ,but that is how they were designed years ago to provide a cool room to sleep in and I found the size of the room compared to normal hotel rooms was excellent.If you want great chinese food try the Royal China restaurant on the third floor which is expensive for Singapore but not for the UK.As mentioned this was a stopover but we will come back to Singapore again and we will come back to Raffles.

we stayed at raffles on our way back from phuket ,from the minute we arrived until the minute we left we were in 7th heaven .the first sight of raffles is a never to be forgotten moment and it just gets better and better .the staff are friendly and helpful and are justifiably proud of their hotel ,nothing is too much bother .
we stayed in a courtyard suite which was truly beautiful,we had a 24 hour valet ,although my husband wouldn't let me test that !
the hotel pool and spa suite are lovely ,very refreshing to swim in the rooftop pool at night .
the breakfast buffet was huge !5 types of milk alone !the service was unbelievable ,its well worth paying for the breakfast which is very reasonable ,£13 each at that time .
staying at raffles is not like any other hotel , its a raffles experience ,its like taking a step back in time ,a truly elegant place to end a holiday on a complete high ,until the next time !!!!
the holiday was booked through virgin .