Review and Photos by Clifford Unsworth

The Hard Days Night Hotel is located slap bang in Liverpool’s City Centre, just around the corner from The Cavern Club and the eye of the storm as far as Beatles tourism is concerned. The Hotel is a renovated grade II listed building, built as merchants offices in 1884 and as grand as the Port of Liverpool was in the 19th century.

It would be safe to say I had some reservations as far as what to expect. In my mind I had visions of the woeful Sergeant Peppers film meets Faulty Towers! Thankfully my fears were completely unfounded, although as you would expect, there is a very strong Beatles theme running throughout the hotel but at no point does it move from quaint to overpowering, with the utterly garish exception of the yellow submarine jukebox in the reception area which looks as though Fisher-Price made it for a lark.

The Hotel boasts Blakes Restaurant (entered into the Good Food Guide 2010 as Liverpool’s top City Centre restaurant) a rather snazzy cocktail bar aptly named Bar Four. Both are priced rather competitively for an upscale City Centre Bar and Restaurant.

All of the rooms in the hotel contain monsoon showers, free Wi-Fi (which is an absolute bonus) and flat screen TV's large enough to keep you hypnotised 'til you fall asleep or drag yourself out into the real world. The location is about as central as one could get in Liverpool, conveniently located within walking distance to some of the finer things Liverpool has to offer, like Tate Liverpool, the newly opened Liverpool One shopping complex and the world famous Pier Head for ferries across the Mersey.

If I would have to choose anything to pick apart it would the carpet in the halls. It’s hard to explain but I don’t think it did the grandeur of the building any justice and only helped to make the halls look gloomier but that’s if I’m being super picky. I was half expecting the staff to be wearing Beatles costumes and talking in bad fake Ringo accents.

All in all the Hard Days Night Hotel is a fine place to stay for Beatles obsessives and normal tourists alike. The staff let me know it can be a little noisy on the weekends being located next to Matthew Street, so if you are planning a quiet romantic one and not out with the throngs of weekend revelers let the staff know and I’m sure they will be happy to put you on the quieter side of the Hotel.

Hard Days Night Hotel 41 North John Street Liverpool, Merseyside L2 6RR, United Kingdom 0151 236 1964