The Strand, Yangon (Myanmar)
There’s always a debate with travellers about whether they should visit countries with an oppressive regime. On one hand, tourism brings in revenue and jobs; on the other does the tourist dollar support said regime? Myanmar has had a tumultuous history, but when you step into The Strand, it’s hard to believe it.
The hotel’s site opens with this quote from a 1911 book titled ‘Handbook for Travellers in India, Burma and Ceylon’ – “The finest hostelry East of Suez”; and it probably was. Built in 1901 and acquired by the Sarkies brothers (who also owned the E&O in Penang and Raffles in Singapore), it was one of the grande dames of colonial hospitality. It has undergone renovations courtesy of Adrian Zecha of Aman fame, and is rather slick now, but until recently had a musty ambience – like the air hadn’t changed since WWII! Sarkies Bar is brilliant and after a few drinks one could be lulled into thinking it was all pith helmets and knee-high socks again!
Raffles Hotel (Singapore)
From Yangon to the metropolis that is one of the most successful cities in Asia and the Raffles Hotel. In 1887, the entrepreneurial Sarkies brothers opened the hotel in a bungalow facing the South China Sea with 10 rooms. The following years saw literary adventurers like Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad and Noel Coward all passing through. Then there’s the famous story of the last tiger killed in Singapore under the Bar & Billiard Room in 1902.
The Singapore Sling was created here in 1915 ‘to allow ladies to enjoy alcohol in public’ (feminism had yet to have her day) and during the WWII it was taken over by the Japanese and renamed Sayonan Ryokan. Amongst all these events, the hotel served as a prolific space and venue to hold grand parties; and is considered one of the greatest colonial spaces on the island.
Note: Raffles Hotel is currently undergoing restoration works and will reopen in the second half of 2019.
Eastern & Oriental Hotel, Penang (Malaysia)
The third of the Sarkies brothers’ trifecta of hotels was the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang, which was the first colonial British trading posts in the East. When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, the world opened to steamship travel and travellers could access this mysterious part of the world.
This was the Sarkies brothers’ first hotel, opening in 1885 and touted as the ‘premier hotel east of the Suez’. Its main selling point at the time was having the longest sea frontage of any hotel in the world. It too welcomed esteemed guests like Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling and Douglas Fairbanks; and today, still retains an aura of old world charm, even more than its sister hotels in Yangon and Singapore many say. As George Town is a city beholden to the past and its heritage zones are located close to the E&O, staying here gives travellers an insight into what it was like during the colonial heyday. Book a room with a sea view for full effect.
Rex Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
Although it’s relatively newer than most historic hotels, the Rex is one of the most recognisable in modern history. Whenever there’s war, certain buildings become unlikely icons of the era and this is one of them. Built by a French (the French colonised Vietnam from 1887 for over 60 years) businessman in 1927 to house his auto dealership, the building was turned into a hotel in 1959 by a prominent local couple and the first guests in 1961 were 400 American soldiers.
The Rex came into its own during the Vietnam War when it played host to the daily press conferences by the American military command, referred to sceptically by journalists as the ‘Five O’Clock Follies’. The most famous part of the hotel was the rooftop bar where war correspondents and military officers would congregate and have what must have been interesting conversations, considering how the war turned out. The bar is still there – slightly jaded – and there’s a Chanel boutique downstairs, so French colonisation still exists but only with fashion.
Settha Palace Hotel, Vientiane (Laos)
Here’s a colonial era hotel you don’t hear about often, probably because it isn’t too grand and famous writers haven’t waxed lyrical about it. Built in 1932 while Laos was under French rule, the Theodas family ran it as a hotel in the 50s. When the country fell under the rule of the Pathet Lao, the family left everything behind and returned to France. The hotel was then turned into government housing and became derelict. After many years, the family returned and decided to restore and run it as a hotel again. Settha Palace re-opened in 1995 and is still run by them today.
Arriving at the Settha Palace is like going to a friend’s house – albeit a grand rambling mansion. There are 29 rooms and to say it’s relaxing here is an understatement. Much care has been taken into retaining its charm and there are rooms with proper four-poster beds, a delightful restaurant and café, and a pool to escape the tropical heat.
