instant karla
Jul 19, 2006, 03:48 PM
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.
"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
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.
"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