From its foundation
by the Sarkies brothers in 1885, the E&O was
patronised by colonial administrators, planters
and the local and international elite.
Among its more famous guests it
has welcomed Noel Coward, Douglas Fairbanks, Hermann
Hesse, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham.
Today, the E&O is still the
choice of many of the world’s discerning travellers. |
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In
its early days as an outpost of the East India Company,
Penang drew travellers of every shade and description
- merchants, missionaries, mercenaries, sailors
and adventurers.
From London to Singapore, one was
required to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, an
arduous journey which took four months on the average.
In the 1840s, an overland rail
route was established which made it possible for
travellers to bypass the Cape of Good Hope all together.
But it was not until the opening
of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the arrival of the
steamship, that travels to Asia assumed unprecedented
style and luxury. |
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Writers,
actors, playwrights, the rich and the titled, in Europe
and America, looked to the exotic East to satisfy their
wanderlust.
Suddenly, there was a new breed of travellers
- the globetrotters.
It was to meet the demands of the new
affluent travellers that the Eastern & Oriental Hotel
was born.
Already renowned in Southeast Asia for
their enterprise and business acumen, the Armenian Sarkies
brothers, Martin and Tigran, settled down in Penang and
established the Eastern Hotel in 1884. Encouraged by its
success, they opened another hotel, the Oriental in 1885,
on an adjacent piece of land facing the sea.
Combined, these two hotels became the
largest hotel in Penang, offering 80 comfortable and tastefully
appointed rooms.
In 1891, another Sarkies brother, Arshak,
joined the business. More flamboyant than his brothers,
he added a large ballroom in 1903. Before long, the E&O
(as it came to be fondly called) became the centre of
the social life and gaiety of Penang and its surroundings.
It was the venue of the island's major
functions, such as weddings, banquets and the annual St.
George's Day Ball. Visiting musicians and cabaret acts
also found their way to the E&O.
Famous guests who enjoyed its hospitality
included Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Noel Coward,
Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Hermann Hesse. |
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| In 1922,
Arshak secured a large plot of land for the hotel which
extended its already impressive sea frontage. On this
piece of land was built the magnificent Victory Annexe,
which added another 40 rooms.
By 1927, the E&O was pronounced in
advertisements as "The Premier Hotel East of Suez",
boasting more than 100 rooms, 40 of them with adjoining
bathrooms, hot and cold running water, individual telephones
and a 842-foot seafront, "the longest of any hotel
in the world".
Sadly, as the Great Depression set in,
Arshak's extravagance and mismanagement of the hotel also
caught up with him and the E&O slipped into a slow
decline. After Arshak's death in 1931, it changed hands
several times.
However, even at its lowest point, the
E&O retained its charm and weathered the passage of
time with character and grace.
Today, more than a century since its
establishment, the E&O has reclaimed its heritage.
And with its return to elegance, it would
not be a matter of wonder, as a writer once put it, that
"those who have once visited this famous hotel regard
the E&O as a haven to be sought again and again, as
the traveller returns to the home of his affection."
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