Stay in the suite where Beatlemania was born
...and nine other historically important hotel rooms
By Steve Turner
1 ALIVE WITH ECHOES OF THE GREAT WAR
Reverend Clayton established
Talbot House in Poperinge, Belgium, in 1915 as a refuge for weary soldiers. It’s now a living museum full of iron bedsteads, witty signs and the almost tangible presence of warriors past. From €36, talbothouse.be/bb/home
2 STEP INTO THE HEART OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
The first Soviet government met at the Hotel National in Moscow following the Russian Revolution of 1918. Lenin stayed in room 107 and Trotsky was a guest. Some of the furniture was plundered from the palaces of tsars. It overlooks Red Square and the Kremlin. From €255, national.ru
3 SAVOUR THE BIRTH OF IRISH INDEPENDENCE
In 1922, under Michael Collins, the Constitution was drafted in room 112 of Dublin’s Shelbourne
Hotel. Now the Constitution Room, and available for private dining, it features the original antique table and chairs used for the landmark signing. Other famous guests include Grace Kelly, JFK, Michelle Obama, Charlie Chaplin and The Rolling Stones. From €427, marriott.com
4 RETURN TO THE SCENE OF A BRITISH SURRENDER
The Japanese symbolically made the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong their post-invasion HQ in 1941, and Governor Mark Aitchison Young signed surrender documents in room 336 on Christmas Day. From €465, hongkong.peninsula.com
5 EGYPTIAN VIEW THAT CHARMED CHURCHILL
In November and December 1943, top-level Cairo Conferences were held by Winston Churchill, Franklin D Roosevelt and China’s Chiang Kai-shek at Mena
House. Plans for the Normandy Landings were discussed. Churchill loved the view of the Pyramids from suite 623 and slept with the curtains open. From €91, marriott.com
6 FRISCO BOLTHOLE WHERE THE UN CAME TO LIFE
US secretary of state Edward Stettinius stayed at the Fairmont in San Francisco in 1945 during the drafting of the UN Charter. Key negotiations with the Big Five happened in his penthouse suite. From €257, fairmont.com/ sanfrancisco
7 THE STATELY HOME OF A POLITICAL SCANDAL
John Profumo met Christine Keeler, a guest of osteopath Stephen Ward, by the pool at Viscount Astor’s Cliveden House (now a hotel) in Buckinghamshire in July 1961. The resulting affair between the British secretary of state for war and the showgirl rocked Sixties Britain. From €618, clivedenhouse.co.uk
8 A BIG APPLE SLICE OF BEATLEMANIA
The Beatles were mobbed in New York in February 1964. Their appearance on TV’s Ed Sullivan Show galvanised American youth and changed the direction of rock. They stayed in the 12th floor Presidential Suites of the Plaza
Hotel (rooms 1209-1216) while girls screamed from the sidewalks. From €771, fairmont.com/theplaza-new-york
9 HOTEL THAT GAVE ITS NAME TO A CRISIS
In 1972, the Democratic National Committee was famously burgled for secrets, leading to President Nixon’s downfall. The theft was orchestrated from room 214 of the
Watergate Hotel in Washington. The Watergate Scandal Room comes with a 1970s typewriter and a key card reading No Need To Break In. From €259, thewatergatehotel.com
10 SURROUNDED BY PEACE IN BUSTLING JERUSALEM
An oasis of tranquillity in Israel’s tumultuous city of Jerusalem,
The American Colony Hotel has hosted distinguished visitors from Lawrence of Arabia to Tony Blair. In 1992, members of the Israeli government met the PLO in room 16 to thrash out the Oslo Accord. From €266, americancolony.com