Reviews

Review: Raffles Singapore Afternoon Tea

a stuffed animal sitting on a post in front of a large white building with Raffles Hotel in the background

We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.


Review: Raffles Singapore Afternoon Tea

Raffles Singapore is a LEGENDARY spot to check out. The hotel opened its doors in 1887 and has set a standard for luxury ever since. If you don’t go there for any other reason than to gawk at all the luxury and history it’s worth it. As a family..we’re big Afternoon Tea people, so we made sure to hit up great spots in celebration of my mom’s 75th. We couldn’t come all the way to Singapore and NOT have an afternoon tea in the Tiffin Room at the Raffles Singapore. We came another day to have Singapore Slings in the Billiard Room ( the Long Bar was closed for renovation ). I’d recommend doing both, and separating them out. Yes, you can have Slings with the tea, but half the fun of having them in the Billiard Room or Long Bar is that you can throw your peanuts on the floor ( the only place in ALL of the Singapore that littering is ok). Here’s Raffles Singapore Afternoon Tea.

You must queue up. There aren’t any specific reservation times…doors open at 3pm. They close at 5:30pm
a group of people in a hallway

The Deets:

  • When: April 2017
  • Where: Raffles Singapore Tiffin Room
  • Hours: 3pm to 5:30
  • Cost…a screenshot of a message

The style of the Tea.

I’ve been to a lot of Afternoon Teas. I’m trying to think of when the vast majority of the meal presentation was buffet style and I can’t recall it. So I’ll say it’s unique until one of you tells me otherwise. The Tiffin Room feels like Afternoon Tea should be served in it, albeit a little tired. The Tiffin Room will be closing mid August until Mid 2018, and I’d love to go back when it’s fully restored. The hotel is truly a gem, and deserves the investment into it’s restoration.

a room with tables and chairs and a gate

The table setting.

a stuffed animal sitting at a table

The buffet

a buffet table with food on it

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The tower:

Overall:

Would I come here again? Maybe, because they’re redoing the Tiffin Room. Otherwise…I think you’re paying a large premium for the quality merely because you’re dining at the Raffles Singapore. Compare this to one of the best Afternoon Teas I’ve ever had at Rocco Forte’s The Balmoral in Edinburgh Scotland – The Balmoral is steeped in heritage and grandeur and their afternoon tea offering reflects those qualities. I thought the food, presentation of The Raffles Singapore Afternoon Tea was mediocre with a steep price. Is it worth doing once? Absolutely. Twice…There are too many other fabulous Afternoon Teas in Singapore to circle back without some big change…like the new restoration.

Don’t forget to grab a Sling tho…

Singapore Sling
Singapore Sling

You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Flights:

Hotels:

Lounges

Afternoon Tea

TIPS:

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with lines and symbols

Learn More

 Affiliate link 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

8 Comments

  • Patrizia von nieda April 11, 2023

    Overrated, the tea was from a tea bag!!! We were rushed, no table linen, waiter did not smile once , but manage to “ push “ the champagne, quite ordinary for 33$ a 1/4 of the glass. You don’t feel welcome, ok l did it so that it is out of my wishes now

  • […] Raffles, Singapore […]

  • Donald July 5, 2017

    The thing to do at Raffles is their Indian Buffet. It’s also in the Tiffin Room, but you can make a reservation and you’re not treated like cattle as during the Afternoon Tea. The Indian Buffet is only S$8 more than the Tea, but there is usually a discount through Singapore Airlines that gives you 25% off if you show a business or first class ticket stub. They run that promo just about all year every year. The service, china, silver and glassware are all top notch, and the food is amazing. Chicken, lamb, shrimp, fish, vegetables of every variety, a dozen different chutney, salads, desserts….and fresh naan whenever you ask. And unlike the tea, your table is yours for the evening as long as you like.

    The Tea always gets terrible reviews and is nothing but a tourist trap unfortunately. Dinner at Raffles is what you expect it to be and is well worth it! It’s a stop I include during every trip to Singapore I’m lucky enough to enjoy.

  • Evan July 5, 2017

    Raffles is completely overrated and a rip off in my book. I only narrowly avoided making the mistake of staying there – phew. However it’s one of those tourist boxes to tick. If you are only in Singapore once you’re going to do it. I can’t imagine ever going back. Love Singapore though.

  • Frank July 5, 2017

    Buffet style is the traditional Singaporean way of having afternoon tea! The Raffles version looks great, but don’t forget to check out the Grand Hyatt or the Regent for an even more lavish experience next time you’re in town.

  • Harlan V. July 4, 2017

    Loves it! Looks so fun!

Leave a Reply to Harlan V. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.