Mandarin Hotel opened in 1971 as Singapore’s tallest building and largest hotel with 700 rooms. It was established by Lien Ying Chow, founder of the Overseas United Enterprise, which bought the hotel’s site from the Ngee Ann Kongsi in 1964. He named the hotel Mandarin after a famous hotel in Hong Kong. The 40-storey hotel featured Top of the M, Singapore’s first revolving rooftop restaurant.

The hotel rooms were furnished by Diethelm Furniture with furniture and interiors designed by Don Ashton Design Consultants of England.