The 392-room Furama Hotel was part of a 24-storey complex consisting of a tower block with a podium section that served as a shopping centre. The complex was situated at the junction of what is today Eu Tong Sen Street and Havelock Road in the Chinatown area. Initially called the Furama Singapore Hotel and Shopping Centre, the project was developed by Veneer Hotels with funds loaned from the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and the Bank of China. The building work was carried out by Japanese construction firm Kajima, while the management of the hotel was contracted to All Nippon Airways (ANA) Hotels. Officially opened on 29 October 1984, the hotel featured state-of-the-art computerised management systems and ‘talking’ lifts with information panels. The hotel was renamed the Furama City Centre in October 2004 following the takeover of the hotel’s management by Furama Hotels International Management (FHI).
