Let’s remember that time the Beatles stayed at the Edgewater Hotel, on this day in 1964 (August 21)
It was fifty-five years ago today, and the Beatles needed a place to stay.
(Sorry.)
In 1964, the Beatles were embarking on a massive tour that included a stop in Seattle. According to legend, no hotel in Seattle would accept lodging from the most popular band in the world due to the fear the Fab Four could not be adequately protected from their fans. The Edgewater stepped up to the plate and accepted them with open arms.
In 1964, during their first world tour, The Beatles stayed at our Seattle hotel, newly completed for the World’s Fair. At the time, no other hotel in the city would accept The Beatles as guests; however The Edgewater happily welcomed them.
Beatlemania so consumed Seattle that The Edgewater had to install cyclone fencing around the hotel to keep the screaming fans at bay. Some fans even tried swimming across Elliott Bay to reach the Fab Four. After their concert, The Beatles were rushed back to the hotel in an ambulance, while taxi cabs and stand-ins were used as decoys. During their stay, the band famously fished from the window their suite, the photo of which has become legendary.
Seattle Magazine offers some additional context:
If you don’t know the history of The Edgewater, here’s a quick run-down: The Sound-facing hotel was built as temporary housing for the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle with the promise that it was the only hotel from which you could fish out of your window. Unfortunately, the hotel was finished after the World’s Fair ended. Although the hotel is on a pier with a great view of the Puget Sound, many claim that The Beatles’ stay helped to make the Edgewater a historically significant landmark. “The Beatles Suite,” as to which it is still refered today, is available to current hotel guests and the Edgewater staff have maintained its Beatle-y decor.
History would just not be the same if they stayed at some other less memorable hotel.
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