It’s said the key to happy travels – indeed the key to a happy life – is letting go of expectations. I try to live by the principle. Yet when invited to stay at Raffles Hotels & Resorts’ first North American hotel, off I go to Boston, full of expectations.
The Writer’s Lounge at Raffles Boston, the hotel’s first foray into North America. Credit: Photography by Brandon Barré I conjure images of Sikh doormen in immaculate white turbans, chalky marble colonnades and an opulent 19th-century facade, bartenders pouring cherry-red slings – so well etched into travel lore is the original Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Of course, Raffles Boston is not at all what I had imagined.
It’s nowhere near Asia, for starters, and it opened more than 135 years after its Singapore namesake. But Raffles Boston is a pinnacle of modern glamour in a US city that knows a thing or two about old money and new, luxury hotels. The hotel opened in September last year in a sleek, 35-storey tower in the Back Bay neighbourhood of Boston, near upscale Newbury Street.
As American as the new property is, it remains true to the renowned Raffles legacy. On arrival on a sunny Saturday, I’m ushered to the Writer’s Lounge on the 17th floor to meet Raffles butler PJ. He’ll be on call during my stay, reachable by SMS.
Through the windows of the lounge, I see the open-air Long Bar & Terrace is packed, the well-dressed crowd enjoying some of the best views in the city. On the pool deck at Raffles Bos.