11:58am Friday 26th June 2009
1988 the summer of Michael Jacksons` World Tour and he and his entourage were staying at The May Fair Hotel just off Berkeley Square in London
The Penthouse Suite had 2 bedrooms, both with en-suite bathrooms featuring whirlpool baths large enough to accommodate 4 guests and complete with mirrored walls & ceilings…… you starting to get the picture ?
The main living area of The Penthouse consisted of a large lounge area with baby grand piano, dining area and the suite had its own kitchen should the 24 hour room service not be to your liking, as it was MJ had brought along his own chef to prepare his macrobiotic diet of fruit & vegetables
The suite also had its own private elevator which opened out onto an unmarked door in nearby Stratton Street so guests could come and go without needing to go through the main part of the hotel
I remember all these details clearly as a young sales manager at The May Fair I had my sales patter word perfect
The Suite had been further personalised for MJ by removing the furniture from one of the bedrooms and installing a 9 foot square dance floor and floor to ceiling mirrors
At that time the hotel had carved itself a niche as the place to stay for the rockn`roll fraternity with guests including Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, even Bros stayed there ( remember them ? )
My mate Andy, at the time a young trainee at The May Fair, still lives off the story of working in room service and being called to take 2 bottles of champagne up to The Monte Carlo Suite to find a rockn`roller in the whirlpool bath with 2 girls. After opening the bottles he was invited to get himself a glass and join the party
The staff were used to looking after rockn`roll royalty though details of who was staying was kept as quiet as possible through a system of code names so the actual VIPs name never appeared anywhere. However it was difficult to keep under wraps especially as MJ`s security insisted on parking 2 large blacked out limos directly outside the secret door in Stratton Street.
Even this turned out to be a clever bluff as he was spirited in and out of the hotel via a number of back and side doors
The Suite was booked for the best part of a month, such had been the demand the shows had sold out quickly and extra dates had been added. MJ was playing 5 shows at Wembley Stadium then heading over to Europe before returning to play another 2 shows
Most of us would probably just have checked in and out but MJ didn`t like the thought of anybody else staying in his room so it was booked and paid to stand empty for the 3 weeks he was in Europe
In between Prince arrived to play his own sell out Wembley show, checked in at The May Fair but then checked himself out when he discovered that he wasn`t staying in the most expensive suite
I went to one of the Michael Jackson shows and was lucky enough ( in Scotland that would be read as “Jammy enough” ) to be treated to pre-show hospitality in a specially built marquee just outside the stadium followed by seats close to the stage and a show that was simply stunning.
MJ will we ever see your likes again
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