10 The Eastern & Oriental Hotel

The Eastern & Oriental Hotel along Farquhar Street, George Town, is one of the most elegant hotels in the Orient. Often called the E & O, it was the first of a chain of hotels founded by the four Armenian brothers, Martin, Tigran, Aviet and Arshak Sarkies, collectively known as the Sarkies brothers. Some of the best known hotels in the Far East were started by them, including the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Strand, in Rangoon, Myanmar. By 1892, the brothers were spread across Southeast Asia.