It was absolutely the most hectic week in my entire life. Friends and people I had not heard from in years inquired about tickets for the Beatles' Ed Sullivan Show at the Deauville Hotel. One, a lady friend form Chicago, offered $2000 for four tickets for her grandchildren to fly in to see the show.
My two secretaries finally had to shut off the calls. Our switchboard was flooded. Companies form all over the United States send products for me to pass on to the Beatles to try. I had a storeroom full of shit. Coca-cola, Pepsi...
After the Beatles arrived, we had to completely surround the hotel with security guards. We had to issue special passes to our hotel guests and employees to get in and out. We actually found teenage girls camping out underneath the cars parked in the side driveway of the hotel, hoping to catch the security guards off-guard so they might sneak up to the suits where the Beatles were staying.
On the night the Beatles appeared on the Sullivan show, I strolled through the theater to see a sight I had never seen before: 5,000 people jammed in the Napoleon Room- screaming, weeping and fainting at the sight of the Beatles. The excitement and electricity generated in the Napoleon Room that night were indescribable. Only Judy Garland's famous comeback in that same room even came close to the Beatles Ed Sullivan appearance.
They seemed terribly frightened of the huge crowds. Paul was shy, but he was my favorite. I did everything I could to make him feel at home in America. I even promised him a nice Jewish girl. John was so talented, he frightened me.
they loved our hotel. They loved our service. I could see they just loved Miami Beach, period. They enjoyed water skiing, and our pool and cabana manager taught them how to snorkel in our Olympic-size pool.
they were terribly fascinated with our American style of men's clothes. They left word for an early wake up call one morning and asked me to take them shopping. I brought them to one men's store. They bought $6,295 worth of clothes and charged it to their hotel account. Eight months later, our credit manager had to sue Brian Epstein to get our money. I'm sorry, but we had to sue to get our money.
Tips? Brian Epstein handled the money. He loved the Beatles and he loved American money. He did not like to part with either. I did add a fifteen percent gratuity on the bill for the hotel staff. I did not receive anything from Brian Epstein or the Beatles. Come to think of it, I did get a few headaches. But I still love the Beatles.
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