55 - John and Yoko 1969

THE HILTON HOTEL, Amsterdam

Early Beatles (Google archives)

     The Beatles hit international super-stardom the year I finished school.   In 1964 I was in my last year at Campbell College in Buies Creek, North Carolina (the only place I've ever lived which was even smaller than Aberdeen),  and I recall their record being played on the radio virtually non-stop.  It was Love-Me-Do, and it was the first time I had been aware of what was being described as the "new sound."

Whenever you awakened in the morning,  got into an automobile, or crawled into bed in the evening, it seemed Love-Me-Do was within earshot.  In my teens I had been an Elvis fan, and had followed all of the Little Richard-Fats Domino-Bo Diddley rock and rollers throughout the fifties.   I loved the early Beatles hits, but for some reason I never evolved with any pop music after that.

I not only completely missed the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and everything else that followed, I kind of lost all notion of the Beatles, themselves, after their first couple of years revolutionizing pop music.

By the time I had moved to London at the end of the Swinging Sixties, I was aware that the Beatles were taken seriously, not only by the kids, but also by musicologists and intellectuals.  Further than that, I didn't really have a clue, and I didn't much care one way or the other about their later, more ambitious music.

At UPI, there was an older guy who manned a special United Kingdom desk.  He was the established rock music specialist, and cultivated close contacts --probably on his own time-- with many of the top rock stars.  He wasn't generally a very friendly person, and I didn't normally have occasion to work with him, but one day he proposed that I go to pick up a statement from one of the Beatles.

It turned out to be John Lennon who was just on the point of marrying Yoko Ono.  There was a lot of talk of dissension and infighting within the Beatles, and Yoko was thought to have added to the bad vibes.  It was 1969,  and although the group had not performed for over two years, no one would have dreamed at that time that they were never to appear together again.

Yoko and John 1969 (Evening Standard photo)

The fact was that John Lennon as an individual entertainer held little interest for me.  Yoko even less.  Had I been scheduled to meet the entire Beatles quartet, I would have been thrilled, but just one of them (and I wasn't entirely sure which was which) meant nothing.  With hindsight today, I find my attitude bafflingly ignorant.

So it was that with a minimum of enthusiasm and even less preparation, I went off to Apple Headquarters on Savile Row, where the group had its London offices, to pick up the press release from John and Yoko.  


I was ushered into a large office with white leather sofas around an executive desk.  John sat on one of the couches, I on another, and Yoko kind of draped herself on a cushion more or less at the feet of her future husband.  I don't think she ever opened her mouth, and I erroneously assumed she was overcome with some sort of Asian timidity.

John handed me the press release which because of his special friendship with my UPI colleague was  to be an exclusive.  He explained that he would be waiting twelve hours before releasing it to anyone else.

Wedding day (AP)

  It was the time of the Vietnam War.  The Lennons (along with most everyone else of my generation whom I knew in London) were vehemently anti-war, and they were announcing a seven-day "bed-in" at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam to celebrate their imminent marriage and to protest U.S. participation in the Asian conflict.

I cannot conceive today that I would have had no further questions, but I think I found all the information I needed in his prepared announcement.  So after a few banalities of which I have little memory, I thanked them and left.

Today I cringe when I think how out of touch I was, how oblivious I was to his importance in 20th Century music.   Lennon was very relaxed and friendly.  He may well have been intrigued that I showed so little interest in them, but he undoubtedly knew that his project would be reported throughout the world via United Press International, so he was probably not displeased.

The only part of the day that has left a really vivid memory occurred after the meeting.   Lennon accompanied me to the door when I left, and as he ushered me onto the courtyard, I heard little squeals  coming from behind the gates.  Just then we came face to face with a group of five or six excited teen-aged girls who proceeded to release a flurry of rose petals in our direction.

It may have been boringly routine for John Lennon, but it definitely made my day!

Apple Headquarters, 3 Savile Row

SIDEBAR:  The Honeymooners

Newlyweds in The Amsterdam Hilton's Presidential Suite (AP)

John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent their exceedingly mediatized honeymoon in the presidential suite on the ninth floor of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.  

Photo call (AP)

  Having been married for long-forgotten reasons in Gibraltar, the eccentric couple received members of the international press corps from their bed for a week in what was alternatively tagged as their bed-in or love-in peace protest.  Lennon later reminisced about the event in the lyrics of his song "John and Yoko." 

Much of the American press was put off  by what was often perceived as Lennon's shrill anti-American statements, and the couple's frequent publicity stunts were often seen as self-serving.

So when Lennon was refused a U.S. visa (ostensibly due to a previous marijuana possession arrest) to re-stage the anti-war stunt in New York, he received little sympathy in the local press.

They later flew to Montreal where they more or less repeated the bed-in, taking over much of the 17th floor of The Queen Elizabeth Hotel. 

Hilton by night, Amsterdam 2013 (Wikepedia)

  

Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr

CROSS REFERENCING … a look at other postings

Another rock star, this one from the Beatles'  biggest competition,  was featured in blog No. 29, "An Encounter With Keith"  (to access, click on title).

54 - Seventy-one Years at The Saturnia

THE SATURNIA e INTERNAZIONALE, Venice

Veteran Venetian hotelier Ugo Serandrei with blogger (photo Andrea Scarpa)

     Ugo Serandrei was born at The Saturnia Hotel (room 20, to be exact) 71 years ago.   He has been there ever since.

Probably no city in the world is quite so choc full of hotels as Venice, and the Saturnia is one of the special ones.   Ugo's grandparents, fresh from their native Hungary, bought the hotel --at the time all eight rooms of it-- in 1909, and it is one of the rare Venetian hostelries to remain in the same family for over a century.   It has been transformed and enlarged over the years, now boasting 89 rooms.

« I never thought of doing anything else," Serandrei said recently.   « I have always worked here.  Starting when I was about 13 years old, in the most menial of jobs, I worked with my brother in the kitchen.  I was the one who took the orders from the waiters and relayed them to the cook. It was a start.”

View from the Saturnia's rooftop sun deck 

The Saturnia was one of the first hotels I discovered in the 1970's when I started coming regularly to the City of Doges.  I stayed there several times with Ann in the early days, later with others. 

Originally converted from what remained of a 14^th Century palace, it is located on one of the city's most elegant shopping streets leading off of Saint Marc's Square.  Sitting just behind La Fenice opera house, it has its own little canal for taxi and gondola deposits.

When Brenda and I planned our trip last October, we decided to stay at more than one hotel.  The Gritti was already on our calendar, and I opted for The Saturnia the first few days, for old times sake (see "Back to Venice and The Gritti").   I have always had pleasant memories here, and this last visit was no exception.

Our very spacious room 204

 

* * * * * * * * 

Ugo Serandrei is the opposite of an absentee landlord.  He is omnipresent, usually at his familiar desk, able to see and be seen by all the arriving and departing guests.  After over 50 years of running this Venetian landmark, he still comes to work seven days a week well before most of his clients have had their breakfast, and he is often still there when they come down for dinner in the evening.

“I spend many, many hours behind my desk here,” he said. “and I love it. I love it just as much today as when I started 50 years ago.”

 Three of Serandrei's children assist him (above), each sibling in charge of a different part of the hotel. 
 From left to right:  Gianni, next to his father, Kim and Greta-Zoe.   

As with the majority of properties in Venice, costs of maintaining even just the status quo --the non-stop job of protecting and preserving from the elements-- tend to be astronomical; and sometimes in a city where the price of real estate reaches unimaginable heights, the lure of an international chain might be hard to resist. I asked Serandrei if he ever thought of selling.

“Never!” he said, almost angry at the thought of such an unappealing idea.

“Many, many hotels in Venice have been sold little by little over the years to large companies. I have seen so many leave the hands of the original family.   It saddens me that they are all gone, all sold," he said.

“Of the important hotels, we are one of only two remaining family owned.  But we remain.  And as long as I am alive the Saturnia will never leave the family."

Andrea,  Lifting the Level ...

Andrea, The Saturnia's prize concierge

  

     Andrea Scarpa, the head concierge for the last 15 years, is possibly The Saturnia's most valuable asset.   He is one of those exceptional concierges who by virtue of his passion and talent for the metier, lifts the level of the hotel a notch or two.

«  He is very, very special, a wonderful concierge.  Ask him any question, he knows everything ! » said Serandrei.

A little like his boss, he likes to say he started at the bottom, though he calls it "the bottom of the top,” washing dishes at the Lido's premiere luxury hotel when he was 17 years old.

From there he climbed just about all the echelons in the hotel world –barman, waiter, night porter, accountant, finally concierge.

After reaching what seemed to be the pinnacle of his career, an important  boutique hotel offered him the plum job of managing director.   No sooner had he started preparing for this new executive job than he realized he had no desire to continue.  He soon left to return to his real love, that of concierge.

  “Management is quite particular.   It just isn't what attracts me in the hotel world.   I like to meet people, different people every day from all over the world.  I enjoy greeting Mister Pleasants and kissing the beautiful lady,” he said with a wink towards Brenda.

“It is the opposite of working in an office.   You have to speak all the languages (In addition to fluent French, Spanish and English, Andrea acquits himself impressively in Japanese as well).   And you must be able to do three things at once,” he explained, as he effortlessly answered the telephone, while simultaneously signalling for a bellboy and  collecting another guest's keys. 

“What I often ask myself is 'Why is Andrea still with the Saturnia when he could find higher paying positions with some of the finest hotels in the world,'” said owner Serandrei. “I just count my blessings that he chooses to remain with us.” 

 Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr

[Photos are mine, unless otherwise credited]