The Sarkies Brothers, Martin (1852–1912), Tigran (1861–1912), Aviet (1862–1923), and Arshak (1868–1931), were a group of brothers of Armenian ethnicity best known for founding a chain of luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s throughout

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. The brothers were born in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Region, Isfahan Province, Iran. It is lo ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

.The History of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia
Amassia.com.au. Retrieved on 2011-10-23.

History

It was 23-year-old Tigran who took the first step into the hotel industry, seeing it as more profitable than his fledgeling auctioneering business. Taking over the lease of a large compound house at 1A Light Street, George Town,

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

, he named it the Eastern Hotel (now Eastern & Oriental Hotel), announcing on 15 April 1884 that the hotel was open to receive boarders. The brothers went on to found several hotels in the region, including the

Raffles Hotel Raffles Hotel is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern S ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and the Strand Hotel in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

(Yangon). Arshak, the last of the brothers, died on January 9, 1931. On June 10 of the same year, a bankruptcy case was filed against the Raffles Hotel, eventually resulting in the Sarkies family losing control of their hotels. The Sarkies name still lives on in Singapore through the namesake Sarkies Road. However, the road was named after Regina Sarkies (née Carapiet), the wife of Arathoon Sarkies, who was a cousin of the brothers and fellow hotelier. In addition, Sarkies Corner, the coffee shop in the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, is named after the brothers. Arathoon's descendants continue to reside in Singapore.

Hotels

File:Raffles Hotel 2012 0076.jpg, File:Eastern & Oriental Hotel Penang Dec 2006 004.jpg, File:Yangon, Strand Hotel, Myanmar, Burma.jpg, File:KITLV - 80044 - Kleingrothe, C.J. - Medan - Government Villa at the Crag Hotel Penang - circa 1910.tif, In chronological order, the hotels founded or run by the brothers were:Sarkies Brothers
Famous Hotels. Retrieved on 2011-10-23. * 1884: Eastern Hotel,

George Town, Penang ) , short_description = Capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang , image_map = , map_caption = Location of George Town in Penang , pushpin_map = Penang#Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_maps ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. * 1885: Oriental Hotel,

. Previously the ''Hotel de l’Europe''. * 1887:

. * 1889:

Eastern & Oriental Hotel The Eastern & Oriental Hotel (popularly known as ''E&O Hotel'') is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in George Town, Penang, Malaysia that was established in 1885 by the Sarkies Brothers. The sea-fronting hotel is known for its luxurious ac ...

formed as a result of the renaming of the Oriental Hotel, and the selling of the Eastern Hotel. * 1901: Strand Hotel,

(Yangon),

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Myanmar). Sold by the brothers in 1925. * 1905:

Crag Hotel The Crag Hotel, Penang is an abandoned hotel, and former school building on the north edge of Penang Hill. Hotel history The original site was first occupied by a Mr Bright in 1845, and was most likely a private residence. By the early 1850s, i ...

Penang Hill Penang Hill is a hill resort comprising a group of peaks near the center of Penang Island, Malaysia. It is located within the Air Itam suburb, west of the center of George Town. Penang Hill is also known by the Malay name ''Bukit Bendera'', ...

, Malaysia. Sold to

Federated Malay States Railways The Federated Malay States Railways (FMSR) was a consolidated railway operator in British Malaya (present day Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore) during the first half of the 20th century. Named after the then recently formed Federated Malay ...

in 1925, abandoned in 1954. * 1923: Sea View Hotel, Singapore, originally built in 1906 and operated by the Sarkies Brothers under lease until 1931. Closed in 1964, with original building demolished shortly thereafter. In addition,

Kartika Wijaya The Kartika Wijaya, now éL Hotel Kartika Wijaya is a colonial-style hotel located in Batu, East Java. The address is at Jalan Panglima Sudirman 127. It was founded in 1891 by the Armenian Sarkies Brothers, who were also the founders of the Raff ...

(originally ''Jambe Dawe'') in Batu,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

was built in 1891 originally as a vacation villa for the Sarkies, and was later turned into a hotel. The brothers' cousin Arathoon Sarkies (1882–1932) also managed the Adelphi Hotel in Singapore from 1903 to 1908, while Hotel Majapahit (as ''Hotel Oranje'') in

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern border of Java island, on the M ...

was founded in 1910 by Martin's son Lucas Martin Sarkies (1876–1941), which stayed in the hands of their descendants until 1969.Hotel Majapahit
. Hotel Majapahit (1945-11-10). Retrieved on 2011-10-23.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkies Brothers Hoteliers Businesspeople from Isfahan Armenian families Armenian businesspeople Persian Armenians Armenian diaspora

History

Hotels

See also

References

External links