And so to Raffles. THE Raffles. You don't need to say the location. It just is. The welcome was warm as always. Happy, above, was the duty doorman. No fanfare of trumpets is needed: the serenade comes from the sound of arrival tyres purring over grey shingles that exactly and evenly blanket the arriving turning circle. Shingles that are so pristine they must be scooped up in the dead of night and put in a dishwasher.
Every time at Raffles there’s something new, or new to her, to uncover. On this visit, Girlahead was to discover two amazing things, high points that were new to her. One was Raffles Spa, somewhere in the mediaeval cloister-like rabbit warren of public arcades that occupy the giant complex that is Raffles. As soon as you walk to it, the green undergrowth sharing ground space with the history of the white buildings, you walk an area of inviting calm.
The spa experience was to be a marvellously memorable 60 minutes. No waste of time beforehand asking what pressure was wanted, and whether the patient was pregnant. It was a simple matter, but going into the treatment room to find a shower and toilet and dressing table facility showed that whoever designed this spa really took it seriously. The bed was heated. There was a warm coverlet, and for a solid hour there was a lovely sleep during Omorovicza’s Elixir Power Facial. How was it? Dreamy.
For any masochist who travels more than might be good for anybody’s body, arriving back at Raffles is like returning to your ancestral home, if only. You know, things are not pieces, are not so much old as revered, treasured and established. The pieces in such an establishment take on their own character. It's almost as though when the hotel guest goes to sleep, the bed has a silent conversation with a bureau nearby, and even with the splendid staircase that goes up to the high third floor. Raffles encourages creative dreams. Part of the plethora of welcome amenities fitted that ambition. There was a golden satin sleep mask in a matching, Raffles-labelled, bag, and an Onno aromatherapy roller stick by Solace Singapore – lavender, eucalyptus, ginger and rosemary.
Yes, they do make things beyond Slings in this City-State. Last time in town, by the way, the group helped make Slings in Raffles Long Bar’s hilarious and surely unique machine. See the video here. What would be new this time?
