The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. It is the flagship property of Raffles Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International which is owned by French multinational hotel group AccorHotels.

The hotel has commenced Phase 3 of a three-phase restoration programme on 13 December 2017. Raffles Hotel is now fully closed, with a planned reopening in mid-2019. The original Singapore Sling drink is now served at a pop-up Long Bar located at 3 Seah Street, next to the Raffles Gift Shop, which remains open throughout restoration.

Raffles Hotel Singapore started as a privately owned beach house built in the early 1830s. It first became Emerson's Hotel when Dr. Charles Emerson leased the building in 1878. Upon his death in 1883, the hotel closed, and the Raffles Institution stepped in to use the building as a boarding house until Dr. Emerson's lease expired in September 1887.

Almost immediately after the first lease expired, the Sarkies Brothers leased the property from Syed Mohamed Alsagoff,its owner, with the intention of turning it into a high-end hotel. Just a few months later, on December 1, 1887, the ten-room Raffles Hotel opened. Its proximity to the beach, and its reputation for high standards in services and accommodations made the hotel popular with wealthy clientele.

According to wikipedia