A new chapter in storied King Eddy

Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post Published: Wednesday, October 07, 2009

The Beatles slept in its Royal Suite in 1964, paying the princely sum of $85 for the night. In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their bed-in for peace in the same suite. Moralists picketed when Richard Burton shacked up in the suite with Elizabeth Taylor, who was not yet his wife. Earlier in its history, Ernest Hemingway had lived there, and hung out with his writer buddies in the basement cafeteria.

Those were the glory days of the King Edward Hotel. Today the hotel remains proud and bustling — if not as exclusive — on the corner of King and Victoria streets. News came yesterday that yet another new owner is taking over the storied pile of marble, plaster and brick.