 The Eastern Hotel was founded by the Sarkies Brothers in 1884.Within one year, the hotel had prospered and surged in popularity such that the brothers established another hotel, the Oriental Hotel, in 1885, leading to a merger of both hotels into the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in 1889.The success of the brand led the brothers to establish sister hotels, the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1887 and the Strand Hotel in Rangoon, Burma, in 1901.