Hotels in Liverpool

[Scarecrow]

That sounds great, but you should you have been paying that much attention to your surroundings on your wedding night?

Good to see you're a local as well.

Apparently there is no demand for a 5* hotel in Liverpool (according to surveys, probably by Manc based hotels).

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum, and make yourself at home.

*I take it the price was £250 for the pair of you, not per person? Always baffles me when honeymoon suites are priced p.p.

[bustcapl]

Originally Posted by T0M

My wife and I were fortunate enough to stay here on our wedding night, back in Nov 2004 not long after it had opened. We seriously looked at every hotel in the city, and were shocked at how poor the selection of decent hotels were. In the end we found the Hope Street Hotel by chance (on t'internet) and paid £250 for one night in the 'honeymoon suit' and it was worth every penny! It's a great location, and has a really intimate, friendly atmosphere, with beautiful detail everywhere in the building design - brick walls, wooden beams and in our room, a mezzanine bathroom with a freestanding Italian wooden bath!

The staff were wonderful (which you'd hope for that price, but they weren't at all snooty, which was refreshing) when we arrived we were too exhausted (from the stress of the wedding) to go to the bar for a drink so they offered to bring complimentary cocktails of our choice to our room for us. They also have a selection of CD's and DVD's you can order up to your room (at no charge) to watch on the amazing 30" Bang and Olufsen TV.

http://www.hopestreethotel.co.uk

I checked up on their prices the other day and the same room is now £350 a night - a 30% increase in 18 months, they must be doing well! (Sad to think that I'll never be able to afford to stay there again though..) Glad to hear about the extension plans, and the increase of this type of hotel in the city with the likes of 62 Castle Street and the potential development of the Irish Centre, not forgetting the good old SAS either!

Long live the ridiculously priced boutique!

Cheers Tom, good job you were not getting married a couple of years earlier of you would have had the bridal suite in the Formula 1 (ha ha). liverpools Hotel stock has risen a great deal recently but still has much too deliver before the city can consider itself in the premier league of short break destinations.

plenty of positive news at the moment though which is all good!

[T0M]

Hi y'all, thanks for the warm welcome!

Yes, the room was for both of us, and technically it's classed as a 'suite', and we could have easily lived in there for a week without leaving (and not just admiring the decor either..)

We were getting really frustrated with the lack of quality hotels on offer, and really didn't want to end up in the Speke Marriot (like so many of our friends before us) and were considering looking outside the city before we stumbled across this gem. My then-fiancée emailed me the link, we went to have a look that evening - they showed us several rooms (starting at about £100 p/n) and finally the newly nicknamed 'honeymoon suite'. We knew it was a lot of money, so we tried to act casual and non committal when we were viewing it, but when we got back out to the car we both knew that after having seen it nothing else would ever measure up, so as soon as we got home we booked it.

The staff really went out of their way to make our stay as comfortable as possible, and the manager let us check out 2 hours later than normal because our flight wasn't until mid afternoon. He was also a lifesaver when I realised that I'd forgotten to print out our flight confirmation and directions to the villa in Spain (who left me in charge of organising the honeymoon?!)- and let me use his own computer in the staff office to access the internet and print off everything I needed. They all just seemed like really friendly, decent local people, with all the warmth and witt you'd expect at a top Liverpool Hotel (or should expect) our first greeting on arrival was the woman at reception repeatedly saying (in a very scouse accent) "Oh my God, she's so beautiful in that dress" and threatening to burst into tears whilst calling her colleauges to come and admire my blushing bride! (I couldn't have paid them for a better welcome) Suffice to say we were sorry to leave (although we did manage to block the plug hole in the bath with some odd petal fizz bombs from Lush so I'm not sure if we'd be welcome back!).

Whenever we look to stay somewhere (in the UK or abroad) we always look for this sort of simple yet stylish type of hotel, and I'm glad that a few developers are beginning to cotton on to the fact that we're probably not the only ones.

I was however slightly alarmed to hear that Ms Condomliza Rice recently stayed in the Hope Street Hotel, I really hope they didn't give her our room, I can't bare to have those wonderful memories sullied! They’re obviously not screening their cliental as well these days.

[bustcapl]

Originally Posted by T0M

Hi y'all, thanks for the warm welcome!

I was however slightly alarmed to hear that Ms Condomliza Rice recently stayed in the Hope Street Hotel, I really hope they didn't give her our room, I can't bare to have those wonderful memories sullied! They’re obviously not screening their cliental as well these days.

do you think the receptionist gave her the same warm welcome????

[T0M]

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if she started crying....

[sloyne]

In today's (Monday 5, June 2006) business section of the Toronto Star appeared an article about the latest building approved by Toronto City Council of a five-star 100+ story hotel (Hotel Shangri-La by name) at the corner of University Ave & Adelaide St West and the five-star 70 story Trump Tower Hotel. The following appeared in a box accompanying the article:

"Just because a hotel chain sets out to build a five-star property doesn't automatically mean it will earn that rating. That's up to the Mobil Travel Guide, regarded worldwide as the gold-standard hotel rating system. Mobil, the oil company, began rating hotels for travellers in 1958, and it's guide has rigid standards, currently rating only three in New York, three in Chicago and one in Boston as five-star.

What makes a hotel five-star?
Mostly service, says Shane O'Flaherty, vice-president of quality assurance for the guide. "Anyone can build a five-star facility, but five-star experience is the differentiating factor".

The article goes on to explain that service is the differentiating factor in what Mobil considers five-star quality.

[scouserdave]

A warm welcome and make it sincere

Jun 5 2006

By Graham Davies Daily Post Staff

LIVERPOOL hotel staff are being banned from using Americanised phrases like "have a nice day".

Workers at the city's Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inns will be taught to stop behaving like "robots" towards customers.

Hotel firm Centre Island Group is hoping employees will exude "warmth and sincerity" through the English Tourist Board's Welcome to Excellence training programme.

Helen Aldous, North West training manager for the tourist board, said the programme was aimed to steer away from so-called "false friendship" imported from the USA.

She said: "Welcome to Excellence is about promoting genuine customer service with a real sense of warmth.
"It's aimed at combating the alienation felt by customers who encounter the kind of insincerity that comes with robotic stock phrases like 'have a nice day'.

"When it is devoid of any real warmth and connection, that kind of cardboard courtesy can be counterproductive.

"What we're aiming to do is to train staff to bring their own personality into play and to leave customers with a positive image of English hotels."

Ms Aldous said the programme would also encourage staff to think independently.

Read more

[Pietari]

http://www.apartmentsliverpool.com/i...095&pid=170095

On the doorstep, or just beyond !

South Road

Step out of the front door in to South Road an you will find cosmopolitan high street with some of the best restaurants & bars in the area. Listed below are all the restaurants & pubs in the road starting from the bottom end.

The Marine Pub & Restaurant – Nice Pub, lovely food, great decked beer garden.

Antonelli’s Restaurant – Fine Italian Cuisine

Tapas Tapas Restaurant – Genuine Spanish Tapas Cuisine

Wilson Café Bar – Wine Bar

Jalons Restaurant – International Cuisine

Nicolas Restaurant – Italian Cuisine, a warm welcome from Franco, recently refurbished

The Raven Pub – Good for cheap drinks

The Old Bank Inn – Pub, entertainment live music.

Bohem Restaurant – French Cuisine

Suzanna’s Wine Bar – Lively Wine Bar

Gate of India Restaurant – Long Established Indian Restaurant, Excellent Food

Taj Mahal Restaurant – One of the best Indian Restaurants in the area

Esperanto’s Café Bar – Live entertainment, see http://www.esperantocafebar.co.uk/

Casa Lounge – Continental style bar

Lion and Unicorn – (Church Road) Multi screen sports bar

Touchwood Restaurant – (Church Road) Nice little bistro, reasonable priced

Parnell’s Café Bar – Nice Café Bar serving bistro food

Stamps Café Bar – Bistro food, real ale & live music

Dragon Inn Restaurant – Chinese Cuisine

Eaze Bistro – International Fayre

Tsosan Restaurant – Chinese Cuisine

The Liver Pub – One of the oldest pubs in Liverpool, some 500 years old.

South Road has also many shops and takeaway restaurants, in fact you can buy almost anything. At the bottom end of the road (the river end) is located Marine Terrace, some of the finest Victorian merchant houses lie along this road including one of which lived a certain Captain Edward John Smith, Master of the Titanic. Beyond Marine Terrace lies the marine park, sailing lake and Crosby beach which stretches some 4 km North. At the top end just round the corner lies the Plaza cinema.

Antony Gormley's Another Place

On the beach at the bottom of South Road, Another Place consists of 100 cast-iron, life-size figures spread out along three kilometres of the foreshore, stretching almost one kilometre out to sea.

A world renowned piece of art.

Crosby

3 km to the North of Waterloo along A565, contains plenty of nice pubs, wine bars and shops. There is also a Crosby Leisure Centre with a swimming pool, gym, sauna, steam room, squash courts located on the seafront at Mariners Road, Crosby. A Short ride on the bus away.

Formby

For nature lovers Formby Point nature reserve is set in a beautiful pine forest near to the shoreline, some excellent walks can be found here, take the train towards Southport and get off at Freshfield station only five stops down the line.

Sefton Coastal Footpath

One of the great 'walks' of North West England and it starts at the beach end of South Road, full details here of the Sefton Coastal Footpath

Southport

Lord Street with its splendid Victorian thoroughfare packed with interesting shops, cafes and restaurants. There is also a large amusement park there, Pleasureland, well worth a visit. Take the train from Waterloo 25 minutes. Tourist info here.

Chester

Roman fortress city, full of English history. Some of the most stunning old English architecture in the UK around the shopping district. Around 40 minutes by train (change at Liverpool Central). Tourist info here.

http://www.apartmentsliverpool.com/i...095&pid=170096

Things to see and do in the City ......

Night Life

The city is bustling with energy and vibrancy and things to do, we have one of the best night life in the UK. Where should you go ? well, that depends on what you want to do. For pubs and bars and for a rip roaring night out head off downtown to the Mathew St area, or to the Concert Square area (Off Hanover Street). For a lively night out and some of the finest restaurants head for Hardman St / Hope Street area, and for a laid back evening set sail for the Albert Dock for fine food & wine. If you are looking for a table for the night and first class entertainment head off to Blundell Street restaurant.

For theatre goers we have the Empire, Playhouse, Royal Court, Everyman and the Philharmonic, a variety of entertainment awaits.

The Cavern

Everything you wanted to know about the famous Cavern

Links

There is so much to do in Liverpool it’s impossible to list so we have provided some useful links below to sites that tell you what’s going on

http://www.visitliverpool.com/

http://www.liverpoolcityportal.co.uk...bert_dock.html

http://www.beatlesstory.com/

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/

http://www.myliverpool.org/

http://www.merseyworld.com/home/

[buggedboy]

Construction team checks in to Beatles-themed hotel

Construction work has reached the halfway stage on the £17 million Beatles-themed hotel in the heart of Liverpool's Cavern Quarter, it was announced today. The project is on schedule to transform the grade-two listed building, which is adjacent to the Cavern Club, into the 110-bedroom Hard Day's Night Hotel.

The four-star hotel is set to open in autumn 2007 and each room will tell a different part of the Beatles story, through original artwork by high-profile American artist, Shannon. A real boost for Merseyside tourism, the new hotel will feature subtle references to the Beatles throughout.

Offering conference and meeting facilities with a twist, The Hard Day's Night Hotel is set to become a hit with both business and leisure travellers. The hotel will also include an exclusive bar and restaurant.

Terri Lynn, National Sales Director at Hospitality Management International and management consultant for the Hard Day's Night Hotel, is determined to get the concept right. She said: "People have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Hard Day's Night Hotel and I'm delighted to confirm that we're able to give an opening date of Autumn 2007.

"Guests can expect everything they would normally associate with a luxury boutique hotel and the understated Beatles references should provide a fun twist without being intrusive," explains Terri.

The Beatles were known for placing subliminal messages in their lyrics and artwork and this is echoed by the Hard Day's Night Hotel. Even its logo has a few stories to tell, if you look close enough.

As well as being an illustration of the first chord of 'Hard Day's Night', the logo also denotes the classic Beatles stage plan with Paul and George on the left, John on the right and Ringo at the back.

The team behind the Hard Day's Night Hotel is hoping the news will hit the right note with Beatles fans, as they begin an international marketing campaign at trade fairs in Louiseville (USA) and Hamburg (Germany) next week.

The Hard Day's Night Hotel is part funded by Objective One and Liverpool City Council and the new hotel forms part of Liverpool Vision's regeneration policy.

Find out more and keep up to date with the latest developments of the Hard Day's Night Hotel at www.harddaysnighthotel.com.

[T0M]

I'm liking this! Sounds cheesy, but unique, and let's face it, the Beatles still bring in the tourists and the money. I do think this city can be accused of being a tad too Beatlecentric at times, but what we need is a couple of high quality attractions and themed venues, and less tatty gift shops selling Beatle tour tea towels. I actually went to the Beatles museum for the first time a few years ago and was thoroughly impressed by it! A good quality hotel in that part of town certainly won't go amiss (and it helps to keep all the looney tourists in the same place!)

[Damon]

Looks like they're trying hard to keep the cheesiness in check, which is good.

I can't help thinking they're going to have a hard time with stuff going walkabout. You know what these obsessive collectors are like. They're going to have to search people's bags on the way out!

[bustcapl]

Just a pity that we have had to wait so long for it, i am sure i first heard about this when i arrived in Liverpool!

[Damon]

Indeed, this has been in the air for years.

[Pietari]

Originally Posted by T0M

I'm liking this! Sounds cheesy, but unique, and let's face it, the Beatles still bring in the tourists and the money. I do think this city can be accused of being a tad too Beatlecentric at times, but what we need is a couple of high quality attractions and themed venues, and less tatty gift shops selling Beatle tour tea towels. I actually went to the Beatles museum for the first time a few years ago and was thoroughly impressed by it! A good quality hotel in that part of town certainly won't go amiss (and it helps to keep all the looney tourists in the same place!)

Whilst not being a massive `Beatles` fan myself - their ability to maintain peoples imagination remains undiminished.

I was doing a `Beatles Tour` in 1984 and in those days there still wasn`t a lot for `Beatles` fans though much more than before when `Mathew Street` was all but a desert and only the first phases of `Caverns Walks` and the `Beatles Story` gave a glimmer of what could be.

This couple had travelled all the way from the small U.S town of `Boring` (or Boaring) Oregan to attend the `Beatles Convention` held at the Adelphi hotel.

They were totally thrilled to be in Liverpool `where it all began`.......

They only had one bar in their town and one duke box and EVERY record was a `Beatles` record.....

[Pietari]

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/t...name_page.html

Why he's working like a dog to launch Beatles-theme hotel Jul 19 2006

Daily Post

A THEMED hotel is something that could be done very well, but also very badly. Jonathan Davies is well aware of this. He is the director of Bowdena, the developer behind Liverpool's £17m Beatles-themed Hard Day's Night Hotel.

Movie buffs may recall the scene in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta and Uma Thurman visit a 50s' themed restaurant called Jack Rabbit Slims, a gaudy monstrosity where the serving staff look and sound like famous film or rock and roll stars, the walls are festooned with memorabilia and diners eat their meals in replica Chevrolets.

That, insists Davies, is definitely not how the four-star Hard Day's Night Hotel, due to open in autumn 2007 and part funded by £2.3m of Objective 1 money, is going to be.

Certainly no John Lennon lookalike bellboys then.

"There will be subtle and clever references to the Beatles," said the 34-year-old former banker.

"But if we have someone staying in the hotel who doesn't happen to be a Beatles fan then we don't want to hit them in the face with it.

"It is all about getting the balance right. You can't just cover the place in Beatles memorabilia. Each of the 110 rooms will have 110 photographs charting the history of the band.

"This is certainly going to be a very different type of hotel and we think people who are fans of the Beatles are going to love it.

I've invented a word to describe it - bouthemed - a mix of boutique and themed."

Davies' contribution to the English language isn't his only creative input.

He also came up with the logo for the hotel - a guitar fretboard with circles representing the chord that is played at the beginning of Hard Day's Night.

Internet conspiracy theorists might also like to note that the position of the fingers on the chord also replicates the positions where the Fab Four used to stand while on stage.

Bowdena was set up specifically to deliver the hotel project and is 50:50 owned between Davies' father, Allen Davies, and another local businessman, Tony Criss.

Davies senior acquired the site - Central Buildings - about four years ago from Bill Heckle's Cavern City Tours.

Heckle first came up with the idea for the hotel a decade ago, first looking at the building that now houses the Living Room bar/restaurant, but eventually settling on Central Buildings. However, by late 2001 the project was still not off the ground and in the aftermath of falling tourist revenues following the September 11 attacks, Heckle had to sell the site to Allen Davies.

Although no longer an equity partner, Heckle and Cavern City Tours remain part of the project team, offering the benefit of their expertise in all things Beatles.

Davies junior became involved three years ago, while working as a risk manager for National Australia Bank, owners of Yorkshire Bank.

Internet conspiracy theorists might also like to note that the position of the fingers on the chord also replicates the positions where the Fab Four used to stand while on stage.

Bowdena was set up specifically to deliver the hotel project and is 50:50 owned between Davies' father, Allen Davies, and another local businessman, Tony Criss.

Davies senior acquired the site - Central Buildings - about four years ago from Bill Heckle's Cavern City Tours.

Heckle first came up with the idea for the hotel a decade ago, first looking at the building that now houses the Living Room bar/restaurant, but eventually settling on Central Buildings. However, by late 2001 the project was still not off the ground and in the aftermath of falling tourist revenues following the September 11 attacks, Heckle had to sell the site to Allen Davies.

Although no longer an equity partner, Heckle and Cavern City Tours remain part of the project team, offering the benefit of their expertise in all things Beatles.

Davies junior became involved three years ago, while working as a risk manager for National Australia Bank, owners of Yorkshire Bank.

"My dad asked me to come and take a look," he said.

"He wanted me to get involved in the project so I said yes. At one point we discussed turning the building into apartments but we eventually decided to go for the hotel.

"We have had to change the project team along the way and that did put things back a bit. We are very lucky to be building something like this in this location - right on the corner of Mathew Street, yards from where the Beatles legend was born."

Literature put out by Bowdena about the hotel points out in the small print that the project is not endorsed in any way by the Beatles record label, Apple Corps, or by The Beatles themselves.

Keeping Apple sweet, added Davies, has been an important part of the project. The company, which is owned by Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, is fiercely protective of the band's music and image.

Davies said: "We have to be very careful with Apple and we have kept them informed every step of the way. Recently, we turned down an advert to go on the building's scaffolding for iPods, which are of course made by the other Apple. Given the recent court case we didn't think that would be a great idea."

Davies was brought up in Formby, attending St Mary's College in Crosby. He then went to university in Leeds, graduating with a BA Honours in business management and Spanish.

During his time as a student, he spent a year in Spain working for Banco Santander, now owner of Abbey National.

After graduating, he went to work for North West Securities, now part of Capital Bank, as a sales representative in the asset finance department. He later had spells with Lloyds TSB in Manchester and National Australia Bank in Leeds, but his ambitions lay outside banking.

"Although I went down the asset finance route I really always wanted to work in property," he said. "When the offer to work on the hotel came along it didn't take me long to say yes.

"I also have my own residential property company, Wellcare Developments, but 70% of my time is taken up with the hotel. It has been a very steep learning experience for me and I'm very excited about it. I can't wait to see it finished.

"I don't think we'll have any trouble filling it, certainly not for the first couple of years at least.

Our website is still only under construction but we are already getting around 100 hits a day." The Beatles magic seems to have rubbed off on to Davies who has now taken up the guitar, although he is finding it a frustrating experience.

He added: "I'm really enjoying learning to play but it is very difficult. I would really like to be good enough to play in a band one day."

Maybe by the time the hotel opens next autumn, Davies will be sat in the lobby, strumming Beatles' tunes as the first guests arrive.

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk

[1878EFC]

What builiding is this hotel in, its sounds great i hope its a success but i have no doubts it will be

[Wormella]

Right on the corner of Matthew street - it's pretty hard to miss it.

[Doug Roberts]

EFC some pics of Central Building taken a while ago, now covered by scaffolding and 2 extra floors built on top of the roof.

[JUXTAPOL]

You can see this building through the coverings, and the stonework has been cleaned to reveal the golden colour of the sandstone. It's a great old building with a modern extension on top, yet more activity for the city centre, can't wait for it's completion.

[1878EFC]

Thanks