M&C’s Aloysius Lee (center back) and John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird (left) joining the choir at Hard Days Night Hotel.
MILLENNIUM & Copthorne (M&C), which has completed its acquisition of the world’s only Beatles-inspired hotel, Hard Days Night Hotel, in Liverpool, is now hard at work persuading Asian tour operators to launch London-Liverpool itineraries.
Aloysius Lee, CEO of M&C, is starting talks with Asian operators to combine London and Liverpool. The drive between the two cities is a long three hours, but the pain can be lessened for Asian clients especially with a stop at the Bicester Designer Outlet Village located halfway through the journey, he said.
Currently, coaches already operate from Millennium Gloucester Hotel London Kensington in London to Bicester. Lee figured operators could combine a few nights in London with a few nights in Liverpool, a city which has regenerated itself since 2008 when it was conferred the European Capital of Culture status.
Some 600,000 people each year visit Liverpool to retrace the footsteps of The Beatles. Attractions include Beatles Story, the world’s largest permanent exhibition, a psychedelic tour bus that stops at world-famous Beatles sites from Penny Lane to Strawberry Field, the Cavern Club where The Beatles had played nearly 300 times and the International Beatleweek Festival, the biggest Come Together in the world featuring over 200 bands from across the globe. The Hard Days Night Hotel has become part of this pilgrimage for some.
Fundamentally, the property is neither a theme hotel nor a museum hotel, but a stylish design hotel that pays homage to a legend in subtle and creative ways. It looks brand new, has the wherewithals to please the modern leisure and business traveller, and rests easily in the ‘lifestyle’ category – the current rage of hotel chains which are scared to lose out on the New Gen.
The hotel is profitable, Lee said. It’s a question of improving its performance and that’s why he needs the international market to fill the hotel during weekdays, when occupancy languishes, while weekends are a full house thanks to the domestic market.
General manager Michael Dewey said on average the hotel does an occupancy of 78 per cent and an ARR of £89.
“We compete with other brands such as Hilton and Crowne Plaza and outperformed them on all three measures, not that often on occupancies but always on rates and RevPAR. And we did that as an independent, i.e., without M&C, and without affiliations or alliances, but because of brand Beatles,” said Dewey.
“My market is everywhere, as everywhere in the world there are Beatles fans. But as an independent, we don’t have loads of money. And that’s why M&C suddenly gives us an international platform. I can’t see us doing anything but grow from strength to strength. We will be the busiest hotel, and there will be an increase in international customers.”
The hotel teamed up with John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird and a duo of Liverpool choirs to show its love for its new owners last week, singing All You Need is Love on the staircase of its grand entrance and handing out red roses to the public.
– I Want to Hold Your Hand – read the full analysis in TTG Asia, October 16, 2015
