A Hard Day’s Night that came together after 15 years

Feb 2 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

FIFTEEN years after the idea of the world’s first Beatles themed hotel was conceived, the dream has finally become a reality.

Speaking yesterday at the opening of Hard Day’s Night, in North John Street, Liverpool, John Lennon’s sister said the hotel was fabulous and a brilliant addition to the city “rising like a phoenix out of the ashes.”

Sat on a plush king-size bed in the £650-per-night John Lennon suite, Julia Baird said John would have loved the hotel – describing it as “gear” in Scouse slang.

In its finished state, it’s hard to believe the 110 rooms complete with individual Beatles’ artwork could almost never have been built.

The brainchild of Bill Heckle and David Jones of Cavern City Tours, plans for the hotel were almost scuppered by American terror attacks, bankruptcy and fate.

And it’s all thanks to Bob Young, songwriter with Status Quo, that the building of the hotel, just off Mathew Street, was chosen instead of other locations.

Mr Heckle said: “On such a momentous day, it’s easy to forget what a rough ride it has been.”

Their first business plan in 1993 proved too costly for a 40 room hotel on a different site.

It was after Bob Young suggested the present building on the doorstep of the Cavern Club, that the hard work began.

Mr Heckle said: “Bob looked at the old run-down building and said this looks like a hotel to me and the penny dropped.

“In 1997, we thought it would take us two years to buy the building and for all the existing business tenants to move out and get a developer but it took four.

“We had all the financing in place for the £7m development and were ready for a big press launch then the September 11 terrorist attack happened.

“The bank wouldn’t sign off the funding and we were plunged into a black hole. We had put so much time and money into getting the building and we had to carry on spending money to maintain it.

“It was a very rough ride but since 2002 the end has been in sight and the quality of the hotel far exceeds any previous plans. It was fate the first plan fell through, and fate that the hotel is finally being launched in 2008 - the Capital of Culture, an exciting time for the city and tourism.”

Although Cavern City Tours do not have any stakes in the hotel after selling the building to the developers, Mr Heckle has remained a consultant on the project and has shares in any merchandise sold.

Mrs Baird, who is also a director of the Cavern Club, said: “It’s thanks to Bill and Dave that we have this hotel and not just a crumbling building.

“John loved anything to do with the Beatles and anything to do with Liverpool. He’d have booked into the hotel because it’s brilliant for the city.

“The city has changed so much and like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the hotel will hopefully attract more people to Liverpool.”

laurasharpe