A byword for colonial grandeur, and a favourite watering hole of such literary luminaries as Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling, Raffles Hotel, home to the Singapore Sling cocktail, has been put up for sale for up to $450m (£300m). Apparently, the hotel's owner, Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia, is feeling the pinch.

According to The Times Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, in which the Prince's Kingdom Holding Company has a controlling stake, is seeking buyers for its remaining hotel assets, despite the depressed state of the property market, and it is understood he may even be prepared to sell his stake in the company itself.

The Times