Before visiting England last week, I made several mental notes of Duran Duran historical sites to visit (ok, I made an entire Google map of places). I assumed Nick, and perhaps Simon, would be in town and I fancied I’d bump into them if I walked around enough. Turns out, London is a large city and I was limited on time. I only made one significant Duranie stop on my travels and it left me in a bit of a boy panic!
Arriving in London by train, our first stop of the day was Oxford Street where my wife made for the shops and I ducked into the new Hard Rock Hotel. After admiring one of Bowie’s t-shirts and snapping a picture of an incredibly bland Phil Collins suit, I found the crown jewel of the property: John Taylor’s bass guitar as seen in the “(Reach Up for The) Sunrise” video. I took a nearby seat and enjoyed a cocktail before heading to the day’s main destination.
The Savoy Hotel carries itself with the regal splendor of a property that knows how perfect it is from the architecture to the quality of staff. It is truly like walking into a different world as the noise and congestion of London fades behind you. With a few screenshots from the “Girl Panic!” video on my phone, my wife politely indulged my fandom and we explored the hotel in search of the famous colored lifts.
The lobby lifts were ornate, but green, so we headed down a corridor. Splitting up, I took a turn to a golden door for a lone lift. When it opened, the mystery of the red lift was solved. After a few pictures as bewildered staff walked by, we continued our exploration.
There were functions room everywhere so finding the right one seemed a bit hopeless. Summoning up my courage to not sound like an awestruck American, I asked one of the hotel staff about the band’s video. While not familiar with, certainly, the biggest day in the history of The Savoy, she kindly obliged my interest and I showed her a picture from the video. She immediately recognized the room and she whisked us through the correct doors. The room looked much like it did when Duran Duran filmed here. With a hotel this beautiful, you really don’t need to change much.
As we returned to the lobby, I was still curious where the blue lift might reside. Feeling a bit cheeky after my earlier success, I approached a member of the hotel staff in a small office area. She was also unaware of the Duran Duran video but was excited that I asked about the blue lift. We headed off towards a staff area and she let us see where Roger once took the best elevator ride ever! No luck on seeing the suite but maybe next time I’ll book it (yeah, right!).