For over 50 years until 2002, it was owned by Australian nightclub owner and property developer Abe Saffron,[1] whose plan to demolish the hotel was successfully opposed by the Art Deco Society of Western Australia in a ten-year campaign.

[4] The facade, and in particular the nature and placement of the forward extension of the hotel, reveals a conscious effort on the part of the architect to respect the importance of the newly constructed Applecross District Hall to the community and its streetscape value.

Other significant works by Bennett include the Plaza Theatre and Arcade in central Perth (1936–7), the Kalgoorlie Olympic Pool (1938), the Chalet at Araluen and other structures (1937), and the Beaucott Buildings (c.1937) in Beaufort Street.

[5]: p6 Raffles Hotel reveals the new design aesthetic then in vogue of streamlined functional forms with an emphasis on horizontal lines admirably suited to the site.

The pitched roof over the first-storey section was covered in colour-blend tiles, and green-painted circular steps led to the entrances of the hotel from the Canning Highway frontage.

[5]: p9  A nightclub, The Raffs, was also constructed on the eastern (river) side of the building, and a drive-in bottle shop built on the Canning Bridge Road frontage.

[4] The hotel was listed in the City of Melville's Municipal Heritage Inventory (which was adopted 19 December 1994) and classified by the National Trust of Western Australia on 3 July 1995.