Goodwood Park Hotel
Tower Block of the Goodwood Park Hotel
The Goodwood Park Hotel (Chinese: 良木园酒店) is a heritage hotel in Singapore, situated in a 6-hectare landscaped garden on Scotts Road. It was first built as the club house for the Teutonic Club serving the expatriate German community in Singapore, and later converted into a hotel. The hotel was the first in Singapore to have a swimming-pool on the premises, and an air-conditioned wine cellar. The Tower Block of the hotel has been gazetted as a national monument of Singapore.
The Goodwood Park Hotel building was built in 1900 to the design of R. A. J. Bidwell, of Swan and Maclaren. Its architecture has an eclectic Victorian flavour, with its turrets and decorated façade. The Tower Block has elements of the Queen Anne Revival style and the tower itself may have been influenced by those found on castles in Germany's Rhineland region. The building was constructed for the sum of St$20,000. The Teutonia Club was an exclusive enclave first established on 28 June 1856 for the expatriate German community in Singapore. The club was housed in a couple of different locations until it purchased a piece of land on Scotts Road in 1861 to build a club house. Additional plot of land adjacent to the site was later purchased to enlarge the compound and construct a new building for the club.[1] Construction of the new clubhouse began in 1899. On 21 September 1900, the new clubhouse opened as the Deutsches Haus (German House) with a ball attended by about 500 guests, including James Alexander Swettenham, then Acting Governor of the Straits Settlements. However, when the First World War broke out, the British government in Singapore classified all Germans as enemy forces. Most of the Germans in Singapore either fled or were shipped to Australia, and the Teutonia Club seized by the Custodian of Enemy Property.
In 1918, the building was auctioned off by the Custodian of Enemy Property to three Jewish brothers – Morris, Ezekiel and Ellis Manasseh, who also bought five other houses behind it. The entire estate was renamed Goodwood Hall, after the famous Goodwood Racecourse in England. A bar was added, as well as a restaurant and café, and it was registered in 1922 as a restaurant-café-entertainment establishment,[4] It served as a venues for social gatherings and entertainment, hosting for example a performance by the ballerina Anna Pavlova. It also host sports amenities. In April 1929, the building was turned into a hotel named the Goodwood Park Hotel, with rooms added to the Tower Wing and the houses at the rear used as suites.
An Iconic Heritage Hotel in Singapore
The Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore has a rich heritage with a touch of luxury and exclusivity. Built in 1900, it began as the Teutonia Club – an elite enclave for the expatriate German community in Singapore.
In 1918, three Jewish brothers by the family name of Manasseh bought over the property and renamed it as Goodwood Hall after the famous Goodwood Racecourse in England. Goodwood Hall was registered in 1922 as a restaurant-café-entertainment establishment. One of its highlights that year was a glittering performance by one of the world’s greatest ballerina, Anna Pavlova.
In 1929, the Manassehs turned Goodwood Hall into the Goodwood Park Hotel, catering to travelling businessmen from Malaya. The hotel became one of the best-known hotels at the end of the 1930s and among the noted guests from that period was the Duke of Windsor, then the Prince of Wales of England.
Goodwood Park Hotel
Goodwood Park Hotel is a luxury heritage hotel located at 22 Scotts Road, off Orchard Road. Built in 1900, the building was originally the Teutonia Club for the expatriate German community in Singapore. The tower block of the building was gazetted as a national monument in 1989.
The German expatriate community in Singapore established the original Teutonia Club in 1856. The club was located on North Bridge Road behind the building that later became Raffles Hotel. The club moved six months later to the Blanche house premises on Mount Elizabeth. The growth of the German community resulted in the purchase in 1861 of a piece of land at what was then 7 Scotts Road. The new clubhouse, which occupied the site of a former nutmeg plantation, would later become the Goodwood Park Hotel.
Built in 1900, the new Teutonia Club was designed by architect R. A. J. Bidwell of Swan and Maclaren in the Queen Anne style, a mix of Dutch, French and English influences that was popular in England in the 19th century. Featuring a striking tower, the building included electric lighting installations that were considered advanced for its time. The building was officially opened with a grand ball on 21 September 1900 by Acting Governor of the Straits Settlements Alexander Swettenham. The Teutonia Club became the centre of German social life in Singapore, hosting stage performances, gatherings and visiting dignitaries such as Prince Adalbert, third son of the German Kaiser, in 1903.
Goodwood Park Hotel
Some of Orchard Road’s residents established clubs where they could gather to dine, drink and dance. The earliest club in Orchard Road was the German Teutonia Club (Teuton refers to people of German origin), which was originally founded in 1856 at North Bridge Road. In 1861, the club acquired land at Scotts Road, where it became so successful that a grander clubhouse with a castle-like central tower, designed by Bidwell, was built in 1900.
Teutonia Club became a popular hub for social and musical gatherings for the German community at this time. However, these parties came to a halt during World War I (1914-18) when Germans in Singapore were declared enemies and imprisoned, while the club was confiscated by the British government. In 1918, the former clubhouse was bought by three Jewish brothers – Morris, Ezekiel and Ellis Manasseh, who renamed it Goodwood Hall after a famous English racecourse. Goodwood Hall became a popular venue for weddings, recitals and balls. The Manassehs then expanded the building in 1929 into Goodwood Park Hotel. The hotel’s notable guests included Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Nobel Laureate William Golding and actor Jackie Chan.
In 1947, Ezekiel Manasseh’s stepson Vivian Bath took over the hotel. He added more rooms and a kidney-shaped swimming pool, making it the first hotel in Singapore with a pool. In 1968, the hotel was acquired by banker Khoo Teck Puat, who made it the flagship hotel of the Goodwood Group, Singapore’s first local hotel chain. The historic Tower Wing of the hotel was gazetted a National Monument in 1989.
