Tourism chiefs in Liverpool today announced plans to build a Beatles-themed luxury hotel in the city. The Hard Day's Night Hotel will be built in a restored listed building in the heart of Liverpool's city centre, and will have 120 bedrooms, each with its own Beatles mural and decor.
The £8m hotel will stand just yards from the site of the original Cavern Club, where the band played many times during the early days of Beatlemania. It will be connected at basement level to the new Cavern Club, a replica of the original Mersey beat haunt.
Cavern City Tours boss Bill Heckle, who owns the new Cavern and is the man behind the hotel project, said: "All funding is now in place and we are delighted to have been given the go-ahead for the project. Full planning permission and listed building consent has been granted, so work should start almost immediately."
The individual Beatles murals will be based on an event, place or song associated with the band, and will be created by muralist Shannon, who lists MGM, Disney and Sylvester Stallone as previous clients. The building development will be carried out by architect John Tweedie, who has previously restored the throne room at the Sultan's Palace in Brunei. Kuwait-based Mr Tweedie said: "I am looking forward to returning to the town where I was trained to work on such an imaginative project - and on such an architecturally important building with so much potential."
The four-star hotel, which will charge around £60 for a twin room, was welcomed by national tourism chiefs. Jeff Hamblin, chief executive of the British Tourist Authority, said: "Britain's popular culture is a big draw for overseas visitors wanting to come and stay here. The opportunity to stay in top-class accommodation, themed on the internationally renowned Beatles, can only serve to enhance Britain's already sterling reputation as one of the top tourism destinations in the world."
The scheme was partly financed by a £2.3m grant from the European Regional Development Fund, in which Liverpool is ranked as one of the poorest areas in Europe. The Hard Day's Night Hotel project was announced as Liverpool prepares to welcome 300,000 people to the ninth annual Mathew Street Festival, which celebrates the legacy of the Beatles.
