Travel with Trev December Issue

Hotels that Talk?

Over years of travel, I have stayed at hundreds of hotels. Most are just blah! I don’t mean bad, but I often think just another room. Even the 5* hotels that offer all the fabulous facilities and amenities, many are soulless hotels.

But there are hotels that talk to you. You are captivated the moment you arrive. I was very recently at the Caravelle Hotel in Saigon and got the feeling the hotel could talk. Later that night, I was talking to the Swiss GM of the hotel about what hotels captivated us.

Whilst many are now 5* hotels, they were not always. It seems that these hotels have been singled out for rejuvenation, so I am not alone in my thoughts. I have listed a number of these hotels in Asia.

A glass of wine or a cup of tea before you continue further may be in order…

Raffles – Singapore

My first Singapore Sling at the Long Bar at Raffles was in 1975 and the hotel was a far cry from what it is now. Raffles Hotel began as Beach House, a private home built in the 1830s. There were a couple of opening and closing attempts of a hotel from 1878 to 1887, then three Armenian Sarkies brothers established the hotel as Raffles, and announced their intention to turn it into a hotel of 10 rooms offering fine accommodation and cuisine.

In those early years, Raffles Hotel had developed a long list of distinguished guests that included Charlie Chaplin and Somerset Maugham, who is reputed to have spent his days writing at the Palm Court. The Writer’s Bar is named for the numerous literary figures that have visited the hotel, such as Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling and Noël Coward.

Unfortunately, with the onset of the Great Depression, the Sarkies brothers accumulated debts of $3.5 million and by 1931 were declared bankrupt. Fortunately, the hotel survived and was incorporated in 1933 as Raffles Hotel Limited.

The impending war and Japanese Occupation prompted the Raffles staff to bury the hotel silverware, including the silver beef trolley, reportedly in the Palm Court. After the Japanese surrender, M. S. Arathoon, whom the Japanese had retained as assistant manager, reopened the hotel in September 1945.

Many of the local staff had remained with the hotel during the war years, and other displaced staff returned. The silverware was duly retrieved from its hiding place. The hotel became a temporary transit camp for prisoners of war who were to be repatriated.

During the 1950s and ’60s, the hotel faced new challenges due to changing political, economic and social circumstances.

With the withdrawal of the British colonial administration, it encountered competition from more modern hotels that had sprung up along Orchard Road. By the 1970s, some of the hotel’s former glory had faded, and its buildings needed refurbishment.

1975 is when Trev had his Singapore Sling, and you could stay for a song; it was a great place to reminisce. It was Singapore’s most storied hotel then, and still is today, even with the new wings, upgraded deluxe everything.

The Strand Yangon, Myanmar

I stayed at The Strand in 201?? and was immersed in an amazing hotel built in 1901 and a country from a bygone era.  After independence from Britain and its colonial era in 1948, the country faced immediate internal conflicts and ethnic strife. A Military Coup in 1962 a military junta taking control, leading to decades of repression and civil unrest. A short period of democracy from 2011 to 2020 led by the election of Aung San Suu Kyi was then overthrown by another military coup in 2021, resulting in a humanitarian crisis and ongoing conflict.

During this brief time of democracy, I was fortunate enough to be in Yangon, having drinks and dinner with a former Australian Detective working for an Australian overseas aid project and a European expert on security and justice. In other words, a view from the front-line and an academic’s view.

I sat back a listened to one of the most amazing conversations I had ever heard about politics, slavery, child trafficking and prostitution, plus a host of other untouchable subjects. One such point was what was happening in Bangladesh, and that there would be a student uprising. Within 18 months, there was. 

Even in troubled times The Strand Hotel has stood strong and is still operating having gone through the glory days when the hotel attracted luminaries including George Orwell, Noël Coward, Rudyard Kipling and Britain’s Prince Edward VIII, to name a few. 

In 2016, The Strand underwent a six-month renovation that preserved its structure and relics, including rare Myanmar marble, teak wood floors, Burmese antiques and chandeliers and paintings. Today, you can stay there for as little as A$162.00 per night, + $30.00 for breakfast.

Caravelle – Saigon

Like so much of the former French Indochina, there are many stories of days gone by. Here in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City is arguably its most famous hotel, the Caravelle.

In the early 1950s, when the colonial powers were still running the show and Saigon was still very much a French concern, two entrepreneurs, Monsieurs Antonin Emery and Marius Mallein, set out to build the tallest, most luxurious and modern hotel the city had ever seen. Indochina was booming.

On one of Saigon's most prestigious addresses, the site commanded views of the opulent opera house and the city's most cosmopolitan thoroughfares.

Air France signed on as a co-owner and major ground-floor occupant, and they are still there. The Australian Embassy would occupy the entire seventh floor with it being said the CIA were on the floor above during the Vietnam war. And the Catholic Church bought into the property.

The 10th floor was The Caravelle's pièce de résistance - an expansive rooftop terrace offering unsurpassed panoramic views of the city. As the highest accessible point in Saigon, the location boasted inimitable appeal, offering views of the Opera House, Tu Do Street (formerly Catinat), Theatre Square and across to the other districts.

The rooftop was destined to become one of Saigon's most popular daytime and evening haunts, and it started the hotel's enduring renown. Where a double was priced at $9 at the Continental or Majestic hotels, well-heeled travellers, expats, and officers with lavish expense accounts were happy to fork out $13 for a room at The Caravelle.

In the summer of 1961, a year-and-a-half after the Caravelle opened its doors, the wider world wasn't paying much attention to the brewing conflict in the former French colony. With the American involvement, the Caravelle was to become the headquarters of America’s 60 Minutes, working out of the CBS news office. The rooftop was the prime location to watch the war live.

After the Vietnam war the hotel went into decline, staff were paid in rice and tips. You were considered lucky if you had a job at the hotel. John Pilger was an Australian journalist, writer, scholar and documentary filmmaker, critical of the US, Australian agenda which he considered to be driven by an imperialist and colonialist agenda. He stayed often at the Caravelle and made numerous documentaries on the Vietnam war. He returned in 1989 and was quoted "At the Caravelle Hotel rituals and people have been preserved rather like flowers pressed in a forgotten book.”

In the 1990’s things began to happen in Vietnam, the hotel was bought, a new wing added, importantly the rooftop and history still remain, and it is still a good hotel. I’ve always wanted to stay here and last October I did just that and enjoyed it very much. 

E & O (Eastern and Oriental) Hotel, Penang, Malaysia

In its early days as an outpost of the East India Company, Penang drew travellers of every shade and description – merchants, missionaries, mercenaries, sailors, writers, actors, playwrights, the rich and the titled and adventurers, bored with Europe and America, looked to the exotic East to satisfy their wanderlust. Suddenly, there was a new breed of travellers – the globetrotters and the E & O was built.

In the 1920’s this was the place of parties, weddings or any event of note. Famous guests who enjoyed its hospitality included Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Noel Coward, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Hermann Hesse.

The glory days were over with the Great Depression, and mismanagement saw the hotel fall into decline.

However, even at its lowest point, the E&O retained its charm and weathered the passage of time with character and grace. I visited the hotel in the 80s, and it very tired and in need of some TLC. In 1994, a property consortium purchased the hotel for 60 million Ringgit (A$22 million). This marked a turning point, as extensive refurbishment of the E&O was undertaken and completed in 2001. Now she is back as the pearl of the Orient.

Just before covid I did an inspection as we travel agents do, of the restoration of the Heritage Wing. I was then invited to do a cooking class at the E & O with one of their top chefs. This was a trip to discover the E & O and street food in Georgetown.

The Oriental Hotel – Bangkok

Two Danish Sea Captains founded the Oriental in 1865 during the reign of King Rama IV when Siam opened to trade. Unfortunately, the original building is no longer standing. The history of the Oriental Bangkok, the first hotel in the city, is taken from 1876 when the old wing was built. This building is still there.

The tradition of famous writers’ dates back to 1888, when Konrad Korzeniowski, a Polish merchant navy officer, sailed up the Chao Phraya and docked next to the Oriental Hotel. Nicknamed "Polish Joe" by his shipmates, he later became known to the literary world as Joseph Conrad.

Others were to follow in Conrad's footsteps. In 1923, Somerset Maugham, an English writer stayed everywhere including the Oriental Bangkok where he wrote the children's tale, "Siamese Fairy Tale" while sitting in the river terrace gazing out at the Chao Phraya.

Noel Coward, another English writer, stayed at the Oriental Bangkok in 1929. Conrad, Maugham, Coward and the American, James Michener, four literary giants, became the founding fathers of the Authors' Wing.

The Oriental suffered damage, disrepair and looting during World War II. After the war, Allied officers waiting to return home made the hotel their living quarters.

In 1945, another legendary figure entered the scene. Jim Thompson, the American who later made his name in Thai silk, became one of the owners of the Oriental and a resident as well. Thompson with five others, foreigners and Thai, pooled their funds in an attempt to revive the hotel. Owing to personal differences, Thompson left the group a year later.

The hotel went through a second major construction when the Garden Wing was completed and opened in 1958. In 1967 there was another change in ownership. It was then that Kurt Wachtveitl became General Manager.

The turning point came in 1974 when Jardine Matheson set up the Mandarin Hotels Group and bought a 49% stake in the Oriental Bangkok. This provided the impetus for a major expansion with the new 376-room wing, ballroom.

The new River Wing opened in 1976, with suites honouring Barbara Cartland, John le Carre, Gore Vidal, Graham Greene and Norman Mailer. John le Carre was said to have finished "The Honourable Schoolboy" here.

At a 160, the charming grand dame still holds court by the Chao Phraya. The tradition of famous writers’ famous writers lives on.

From experience, The Mandarin Oriental is a remarkable hotel.

The Metropole Hotel – Hanoi

Officially opened in 1901 by French architect Alexandre Vildieu, the Hotel Metropole was founded by a group of French investors led by André Ducamp. The building was originally intended to be an elite club for the French elite living in Hanoi at the time. From the very beginning, the hotel was a symbol of European luxury and sophistication in Hanoi. It had a library, a bar, and a pool, and was known as the “social centre” of the French colony.

Among its famous guests, it was the honeymoon venue for Charlie Chaplin after his secret wedding to Paulette Goddard in Shanghai. Others include the likes of Aristide Briand and George H.W. Bush. More interestingly, activists Joan Biaz and Jane Fonda sheltered from American bombardments in the air-raid shelter near the Bamboo Bar at the Metropole during the Vietnam War. The air-raid shelter was rediscovered by accident and reopened in 2011, and is a legacy of those who sheltered there.

Having been closed for a number of years, on 8 March 1992, the hotel reopened again. I first saw the Metropole Hotel when I was in Hanoi in 1998. It was impressive then, and it is today. It has no equal in Hanoi.

The Peninsula - Hong Kong

The hotel opened on 11 December 1928 and was the successor of Hong kong Hotel. The Peninsula was located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, directly opposite the quays where ocean liner passengers disembarked and near the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton railway.

Following the opening of the hotel, The Peninsula held Sunday concerts, nightly dinners on the terrace and twice-weekly dinners in the Rose Room. Dinner dances were held every night, with regular Afternoon Tea Dances.

The Peninsula then became a popular meeting place for the entire community. It also became a place to spot celebrities. All that ended on 25 December 1941, when the British Governor surrendered the British and allied forces to Japan.

The hotel was restored after the end of World War II and has been a place of prestige ever since. Well, except the time when one poor travel consultant, Trev, decided, with a bunch of other poor travel consultants, to hang out in our Black-tie attire at “The Bar” on the top floor of The Peninsula. I had been at the gala dinner of the Australian Federation of Travel Agent back in the late 80s. As everything was expensive at The Peninsula, Trev decides, in his half-intoxicated state, to sneak a bottle of red wine, opened with the cork pushed back in, from the gala dinner inside his jacket and discreetly bring it out at The Bar at the Peninsula.

Like most decisions made in haste, it was not terribly well thought out. I discreetly got the bottle out, but we had no wine glasses. There was much mirth and merriment of whether we take a swig from the bottle or pick up some used glasses from another patron, wash them in the W.C and bring them back. All this comment brought us to the attention of the fine waiter, who started walking towards us. “Oh, I’ve been sprung”. The waiter came over to me, everybody now silent and says, “How many glasses would you like, sir?”. He has legend status for handling that so well.

And I have run out of room for the palace hotels of India, Nepal and China, particularly along The Bund in Shanghai. There are many more hotels around the globe that come to mind, that I should create another chapter.

In the next issue, which coincides with January...

How to make 2026 a vintage travel year.