When the Royal Hotel opened its doors in Nottingham 40 years ago, it was a revelation to the city with its four restaurants and a Penthouse bar, quickly becoming the hotspot for the who's who of the time. "It was a mega operation. There has been nothing like it since," reminisced Geoff Riches, who was part of the hotel's heyday when stars like Elton John and Freddie Mercury were among the guests.
"You'd have 5,000 to 6,000 customers in the place. It was absolutely packed. All 201 luxury rooms were full, the reception, the arcade upstairs with all the palm trees was heaving. All the restaurants opened at 6pm, by 6.10pm they would be full." "The kitchens we had were space age. We were the first mega kitchen in Nottingham to have combination ovens and all the modern equipment. The kitchen that produced all the sweets, cakes, pastries and bread was like a mini bakery.
"It was an exciting time to have this super advanced hotel, so heavy on food and beverage and interior design, and space and ambience, a sheer buzz," says Geoff, who arrived in Nottingham to study art and design at Trent Polytechnic and initially worked as a waiter at the Savoy Hotel. "You had all the famous stars at the Concert Hall and afterwards they would be escorted by their security across that tunnel into the arcade and I'd meet them."
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