Beatles fans now have the chance to vacation in the very building that housed one of the first venues where the band played in Liverpool, U.K., the Casbah Coffee Club. Original Beatles drummer Pete Best and his family, who own the building, have turned it into an Airbnb.
Five rooms are available to rent, each one named after an original member of The Beatles— John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, founding bassist Stu Sutcliffe, and Best himself. A room named after Ringo Starr, Best’s replacement in the group, is noticeably absent.
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[RELATED: On This Day in 1962: The Beatles Replaced Their “Lousy Drummer” With Ringo Starr]
Best’s late mother, Mona, purchased the building with money she won betting on a horse race. Wanting to bring live music to her neighborhood, she opened the Casbah Coffee Club in the building’s cellar in 1959. The Beatles predecessor band The Quarrymen played the club 13 times, while The Beatles eventually had a regular residency at the venue and played more than 40 gigs there.
The Casbah club closed in 1962, but the Best family later turned the building into a tourist attraction. In 2006, the building was given Grade II status as an English Heritage site.
More About the Airbnb
According BBC News, Pete and his half-brother, Roag, began working on converting the building into an Airbnb in 2020. Roag’s father was Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall, who later became an Apple Corps executive.
“I became not just the supervisor on site, but part of the workforce,” Roag told U.K. newspaper The Guardian. “I’ve gone from plaster in my eyes, to a nail through my foot, to a scaffold bar hitting me on head—so I’m a fully fledged builder now.”
Roag also noted that he was born on the room that’s now designated as the Paul McCartney suite.
“I was … presented to John, Paul and George, who were here that night, they’d played the Cavern [club in Liverpool],” he shared. “So some of the first people I ever saw in the world were the Beatles.”
Each suite features Beatles-related memorabilia, including photos, posters, and guitars hung on the wall.
Prices for the rooms start at 150 pounds (about $196) a night, and so far, the suites have been booked by people from Canada, the U.S., Scotland, and, of course, England.
Why There’s No Ringo Starr Suite
Pete Best was fired by his Beatles bandmate in August 1962 and replaced by Starr. Roag told The Guardian that wasn’t the reason why they chose not to name a suite after Starr.
“Everything we do is about being authentic and the Beatles that performed and partied here were John, Paul, George, Pete and Stuart,” he maintained. “Ringo was never a member when he was here.”
Pete, meanwhile, told the newspaper that he’s overcome any bad feelings he may have had about his firing from The Beatles.
“I still don’t know the reason today, but it doesn’t worry me one iota,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, it happened 60-odd years ago, and I’ve lived my life, I’ve had a great life.
Pete added, “It did cause me initial heartache and resentment, but that’s showbusiness.”
The Best Brothers Think Their Late Mother Would Approve of the Airbnb
Mona Best died in 1988 at age 64 after suffering a heart attack.
Pete told The Guardian that he feels his mother would “be delighted” about how he and his brother were utilizing their old home.
“I think if she’d still been here today—and she’s watching from above, I’ll tell you that now—she’d be very proud, of the legacy that’s been left, and the legacy that we’re building,” the 82-year-old musician said.”
He also noted, “She had a dream … she brought music to the kids of Merseyside.”
Roag added, “My mum would be absolutely over the moon with how this property looks now. So it’s nice to make her proud, you always want to make your mum proud.”
Roag Best also opened the Liverpool Beatles Museum, which is located several miles from the site of the Casbah Coffee Club.