Miami Beach Hotel That Hosted the Beatles Is Demolished
A famous hotel in Miami had been booked to accommodate the Beatles for two weeks in early 1964. The Beatles and their manager, Brian Epstein, had made plans for their visit to Miami to visit the hotel that had been featured in the film A Hard Day’s Night and, in the words of George Martin, had “a great pool in the middle of the lobby with a waterfall.” The hotel, the Delray Inn, was designed by architects of Le Corbusier, and had been featured in two films: A Hard Day’s Night was filmed there, and the Beatles had been booked, along with other famous guests, to stay at the hotel. At the time of the film’s release, the hotel was undergoing renovations, and after an evening at the hotel, George Martin and the other Beatles had to sleep in Miami Beach rather than return to London.
The Delray Inn would be demolished in 1966, and the building and a beachfront lot would be built for a condominium complex known as Delray Beach. The Delray Beach hotel, built just west of the Delray Beach Hotel, was to be a high-end, high-rise hotel and condominium complex, with an estimated $40 million price tag. The Delray Beach hotel was to be one of the largest in the United States, and had more than 20,000 square feet of space. Its architect was John L. Polak, who designed several other large buildings on the South Florida peninsula, including the John F. Kennedy Building and the Sears Tower. Some of the first tenants at the Delray Beach would include the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the Duke of Windsor’s wife, Sarah.
Construction on the Delray Beach began in 1965, only months after the hotel was booked to accommodate the Beatles for two weeks. The first few rooms were completed in 1966, but the hotel was not opened until 1970, after extensive renovations which included the addition of a swimming pool. The Delray Beach Hotel would not have a swimming pool, nor would it have many of the other amenities that would be found at the Delray Beach Hotel. The hotel would have an elevator, and the restaurant served Italian food. The hotel would not