Halloween at the Elephant Bar: a full house and witches in the garden

On Saturday 31 October, Raffles Hotel Le Royal celebrated Halloween at the Elephant Bar. The night was fully booked. With a live band, seasonal cocktails, face painting and a best-dressed prize, the hotel went all in, right out into the garden, without ever tipping into gore.

Three witches around their cauldron, in the smoke under the garden’s string lights.

At the entrance, a pair of elephant tusks frames a “Happy Halloween” garland. A hostess in an orange witch’s hat greets guests. On an easel, the event poster sets the mood: “The lights dim. The music stirs.” The dress code fits on one line: your finest, or your darkest.

Further in, reaching the counter takes some patience. Every table carried a small “Reserved” card. There wasn’t a seat left. Some guests came in full costume. Others arrived in everyday clothes, a witch’s hat their only prop. At the bar, people waited shoulder to shoulder for their drinks.

At the Elephant Bar counter on Saturday night. The event was fully booked

A haunted garden at Raffles Hotel Le Royal

Most of the decor is outside. The team turned the hotel garden into a fairy-tale set. Under a canopy of string lights, three witches lean over their cauldron in a cloud of smoke. A path is lined with skeletons draped in orange veils, lit from within. Giant rope spiderwebs stretch between the trees, where fabric ghosts hang from the branches. Near the banana palms, a Grim Reaper holds up his lantern. Behind it all, the 1929 façade glows red.

A path lined with skeletons and glowing orange veils

Halloween in Phnom Penh, the elegant way

None of it is bloody. No fake blood, no severed limbs. In the lounge, the skeletons are made of paper and wear party hats. Black bats have settled on the gold-leaf screens. By a window, a pink skeleton wears a crown of flowers. The most unsettling figure of the night is a life-size witch with glowing red eyes and a purple crystal ball in her hands. She draws more smiles than shivers.

Under the elephant’s head

At the bar, the large bronze elephant head looks down over the shelves. Candles, a crow and a hooded skull have joined the counter. So have bottles of Casillero del Diablo, the Chilean wine whose name means “the devil’s cellar”. Hard to find a better fit. The menu offered themed cocktails for the night. The staff joined in, wearing pointed hats and spiderwebs painted on their cheeks.

Behind the bar, a server in a witch’s hat, with a spiderweb and a crescent moon painted on her face

Live music and face painting

From 7 pm, a band sets up in the room whose walls are lined with old photographs of the hotel. Keyboard, bass and drums. A golden angel, wings and halo included, steps in front of the musicians, microphone in hand.

In a corner, the face-painting stand draws a crowd. On the table sit colour palettes and a catalogue of designs: skulls, butterflies, tigers, witches’ faces. Guests pick one and hold out an arm or a cheek. Small white ghosts and red flowers appear on forearms. For the most inspired, a best-dressed prize was up for grabs.

A golden angel, microphone in hand, in front of the live band

The Elephant Bar, a Phnom Penh landmark

The Elephant Bar did not need Halloween to fill the room. The hotel opened in 1929. This is where Jacqueline Kennedy drank the first Femme Fatale during her visit to Phnom Penh in 1967. In May, the American magazine Food & Wine named it one of the ten best hotel bars in the world.

The Femme Fatale is still on the menu. On Saturday night, it met a lot of witches.

See all the photos from the night in our Facebook album.