A Collection of Matchboxes from Singapore: A look at Hotels in the 80s
Earlier this year, I rummaged through my mother’s collection of old matchboxes in search of unique treasures I wanted to document in a blog post. I selected matchboxes from some of her favourite discotheques, hoping to bring a slice of Singapore’s history to those who have not lived through that time. It was a great bonding activity for both of us. I remember sitting on the living room floor looking at all of the matchboxes and asking my mum questions about the places she used to visit.
Even though I’ve showcased a small fraction of her collection, there are still tons of stories that I have yet to share. In today’s blog post, I hope to be able to show you matchboxes from established hotels that have been thriving in Singapore since the 80s. Some of these names and logos might even be familiar to you!
Royal Holiday Inn Singapore
Originally named Holiday Inn, the Royal Holiday Inn was renamed when the property was sold to a Brunei Investment Agency in 1983. Since then, it has been through a series of name changes and relaunches. Most notably, in 1997, the hotel was relaunched as Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza following massive renovation works to convert the 4-star hotel into a 5-star hotel. However, just 2 years later, the hotel was once again renamed to Royal Plaza on Scotts, a familiar name that still remains today.
Back in the 80s, the Royal Holiday Inn was a popular hotel with several Customer Service Awards to its name. In particular, they received an award in 1985 for superior ratings on guest comment cards and for having the least amount of complaints per thousand room nights sold.
While looking through old newspaper reels regarding the hotel, I also came across an advertisement by the Royal Holiday Inn for the ‘Oktoberfest’ they were holding in their Garden Ballroom in 1984.
The Glass Hotel Singapore
Named for its amazing skylight and grand observation elevators made of glass, the hotel has been through a few unfortunate experiences since its opening in 1985 after several delays. The hotel was initially owned by an Indonesian tycoon but creditors took over the hotel in the November of 1988 as the owner ran into financial troubles. Fortunately, the property was bought over by businessman Ong Beng Seng for 99 million dollars the very same month. It was renamed to ‘Concorde Hotel’ in 1991 following a huge renovation and later ‘Holiday Inn Atrium’ in 2005.
Taxi drivers often get mixed up between the ‘Holiday Inn Atrium’ and the ‘Le Meridien Hotel’ that was renamed to ‘Concorde Hotel’ in 2008. If you want to visit, it’s located at the junction of Havelock Road and Outram Road.
Before the big sale in 1988, the Glass Hotel was home to many events including a Bridal Show in 1986. Check out the retro poster for this event:
Novotel Orchid Inn
Opened in July 1970, the Orchid Inn Hotel offered a range of family mansionettes and suites for expatriates searching for ‘homely’ environments while working in Singapore. The hotel was sold to Novotel Group of France 1982 and was renamed ‘Novotel Orchid Inn’. Advertisements announcing this change were also published in local papers.
In 2005, plans to redevelop the site into a condominium was announced and the iconic building along Dunearn Road was demolished in April 2011.
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I had a great time looking up the history of these iconic hotels and reading blog posts from people who have memories of these buildings. This has fulled my curiosity about interesting building from a time passed. I would really love to hear about iconic hotels from other cities. If you have a story to share, please feel free to leave us a comment!
