 Under the management of the brothers the E & O hotel would receive several major expansion works, culminating to the completion of the present hotel complex in 1929.Having failed to adapt to competition following World War II, the hotel underwent several decades of decline, and in 1996 a decision was made by the management to temporarily close down the hotel for major reconstruction.Although the front wing of the hotel, which would later be known as the "Heritage Wing", received restoration work, the rest of the hotel, including the easternmost 1929 "New Wing", was either gutted and refurbished or completely reconstructed in the style of the hotel's older architectural design; the mid-century E&O shopping annexe, which occupied the site of the original 1884 Eastern Hotel building, was also completely leveled for the new central wing of the hotel, which prominently features faux-cast iron-framed verandahs similar in style to those at the Raffles Hotel.