Hard Rock Hotel opens in London

The building housing London’s former five-star Cumberland Hotel took on a new mantle last week with the opening of the UK’s first Hard Rock Hotel, with the company celebrating the event as “continuing the brand’s legacy in its original birthplace”.

In partnership with London’s largest hotel owner-operator, glh, the property (left) boasts 900 rooms and "Rock Royalty" suites (below), a Rock Royalty Lounge and a Hard Rock Café. Officials say it will continue to expand the brand’s blend of music, entertainment and merchandise.

Hard Rock Hotels senior vice-president Dale Hipsh said: “The first Hard Rock Café was founded in London in 1971 and here we are, building on where it all began.

"Every Hard Rock Hotel is one-of-a-kind, but this one represents something special. This hotel is the culmination of three concepts – the cafés, hotels and Rock Shops – coming together as one in an open-lobby, community-driven environment with Hard Rock’s memorabilia as the design thread binding them together.”

Memorabilia round the building includes a 1958 letter written by Buddy Holly while he was staying at the hotel that is now the Hard Rock, and the Kirkwood piano on which Freddie Mercury of Queen practised as a teenager.

www.hrhlondon.com    

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