The Edgewater Hotel was only about two years old when the Beatles came to Seattle for the first time on their world tour.
The craze surrounding them turned off hotels. Many declined to house the band in August of 1964.
One hotel, the Edgewater, said yes.
The Beatles stayed in room 272 for $72 per night.
Today, on the concert's 50-year anniversary, the so-called Beatles Suite costs $1,500 per night.
An iconic photo was taken of the 4 as they fished out of their window in Elliott Bay.
Women tried so desperately to get to the Beatles, they swam around the hotel.
The room was gutted soon after because people were stealing memorabilia. Employees later tore up the carpet and sold squares of it to support Children's Hospital.
Since the Beatles stay, the Edgewater has grown to be a destination for artists like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, the Supremes and Led Zeppelin.
A fan remembers
Beatles fan Margaret Delourme remembers the excitement of the Beatles' visit:
We were so excited, my friend and I, and the minute (The Beatles) arrived in Seattle, we were headed to try to see them. Our imaginations ran wild, trying to second-guess where they would be. My father gave me a few rules before I left the house. One of them was, "no photos" (don't embarrass the family with such silliness, I presumed was the message) and he was rather worried for our safety. I tried to convey (at 14), just how much this meant to me and that we'd be very careful. We had dreams of meeting them for real. This was our chance.
My friend and I had good tickets for the concert. We had saved our money and were determined to see the Beatles. We took an early bus to downtown Seattle, getting some insider information from another friend whose father was a policeman, that the Fab Four would be staying at the Edgewater Inn. We stood in the heat for hours, just trying to capture a glimpse of them.
While wearily standing, a PI photographer asked me to pose, duck down and peer through the fenced area. I squinted with the full sun in my eyes, bent down and tried to looked wistful, as asked. The fence now was in front of my face, giving me a penned prisoner effect. The photographer asked for my name. There were so many people there, what would be the chance or harm? My girlfriend teased me and said that maybe I'd get my photo in the paper. Then I remembered what my dad had said. We giggled. "Ha-ha," I said sarcastically.
The concert was so "char," "moss," "berry" and cool. We hardly heard a thing, even where we were sitting. But, they were singing and playing right in front of us. Girls were fainting, screaming and sobbing. We looked all around at the loud, deafening mayhem; police officers in the aisles assisting the over-come, faint and hysterical and we couldn't stop laughing. We laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. It was magical. Barbara and I were at a "Beatle's" concert!
The next morning, my dad walks into my room and sets the picture page of the newspaper on my bed. He waits for me to open my eyes and acknowledge the photo. I'm aghast. The caption reads, "Margy Grondal, 14, ...peers wistfully for the Beatles." I think my mouth opened and my eyes popped out. Wearing a stiff smirk,
my father told me to return a call to my grandmother, as she had called and had asked to speak to me. As it turned out, she thought my exciting adventure was wonderful, and so did the kids at school. My girlfriend and I talked about it for years. We had the best day ever with the Beatles. I wonder if if they took a look at the local newspaper to review their success in Seattle. If so, they saw my photo; therefore, they saw ME!
Many thanks to John, Paul, George and Ringo for the fond memories in Seattle. Their prolific music continued with new sounds, as they experimented musically. It profoundly affected my world.
When I turned 64 this year, I had to hear, "will you still love me, will you still want me, when I'm sixty-four." Undeniably appropriate, don't you think?
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