Peabody Hotel Lobby: Southern Gentility & Civility!
Written: Mar 24 '00 (Updated Mar 24 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Duck March, lobby bar, enjoy without a "sleep over!"
Cons: None I can think of.
|
|
|
| vickie's Full Review: Memphis |
Part of the Memphis scene for more than 120 years, the Peabody Hotel is a great sampling of the grace and charm of the South. While I didn't stay in the Peabody during my recent visit to Memphis, I visited after work more than once. The lobby is grand and stately--I'll describe this more a bit later. There is a wonderful lobby bar with a grand piano and a pianist playing it "for the cocktail hour" each evening. It provides a sophisticated and upscale ambiance for an after-work drink. And….there are the famous (infamous?) Peabody Hotel ducks! These ducks spend their days swimming in the main lobby fountain! Legend has it that the ducks in the fountain started as a joke-and the legend bears telling.
In the 1930's, General Manager Frank Schutt was returning from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. He and his friends thought that it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (at that time it was legal for hunters to use live decoys) in the Peabody fountain. Three small English call ducks were the guinea pigs! They got a warm reaction from the guests and the ducks have been in the fountain since then!
In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, formerly a circus animal trainer, volunteered to care for the ducks and taught them to march into the lobby-thus beginning the famous "March." Mr. Pembroke was made the Duckmaster and served in that position until 1991.
Today, mallard ducks are used. They are raised by a local farmer and live in a lavish "Duck Palace" on the roof on the hotel. Every day at 11:00 am they are led by the current Duckmaster down the elevator to the Italian Travertine marble fountain in the lobby. Red carpet is unrolled and the ducks march through crowds of spectators to the tune of a John Philip Sousa march. The processional is repeated at 5:00 pm when the ducks retire to their rooftop palace. At least that's the way things are supposed to unfold.
On my first visit to see the "March", things proceeded as planned. Three little female mallards followed the lone male in the fountain out, onto red carpeted stairs and into the elevator. During a later visit, the scene was much different. This time the male jumped quickly out of the fountain and ran all the way to the elevator, leaving his female compatriots swimming around merrily. When hotel personnel attempted to assist the Duckmaster in getting the ladies out of the fountain, chaos broke out! Some of them bolted out of the fountain only to be startled and hop back in. Two of them made a quick run for the bell desk and a stairway to the mezzanine. The male duck waited patiently in the elevator, making no attempt to assume responsibility for the girls! The hotel staff treated the ladies lovingly but it must have taken a good 45 minutes to get things back in order! I highly recommend a stop to see the duck "March", it may be more exciting than you think!
A few more words about the lobby. I really like this place! As I mentioned, there is a mezzanine balcony all around the lobby. It has a gold metallic and wood railing and adds drama to the already impressive height and decoration of the lobby. Huge pink marble columns are positioned around the space. The ceiling is panels of painted glass interspersed with panels of white and all are trimmed with gilt and painted dark wood accents. There are a dozen, mirrored clusters of deco-style lights around the perimeter of the lobby, as well as small chandelier-type accent lights which hang from the ceiling below the mezzanine. The Italian Travertine fountain sits in the center of the lobby. It is the image of 4 cherubs on dolphins supporting the fountain bowl, which slowly runs water over it's sides (creating a waterfall for the waterfowl!). The fountain base has a short, black marble ledge around it, which creates a mosaic-bottomed water pool.
There is a fabulous store in the lobby called "The Lucky Duck". It sells all kinds of products, from toys to home furnishings, all of which feature some manner of ducks. It's great! It's fun to peek around in here after the duck "March" and before enjoying a drink at the lobby bar. One side of the lobby provides tables for 4 with luxurious padded chairs. The other side has a lovely pink marble bar with a mirrored, free-standing backdrop of bottles and glassware. Sofas and upholstered side chairs with glass coffee tables and stately wooden end-tables are positioned throughout the lobby as are some potted palms and other greenery. You can hear the subtle notes of the piano (playing movie scores) throughout the lobby. It's an oasis of civility and gentility in a downtown area marked by development construction!
The history of the Peabody Hotel is summarized in a brief quote from a booklet about the hotel. It reads: "It has served Memphis and the Mid-South for more than a century, through yellow fever and ragtime, Great Depression and post-war boom, urban flight and economic ruin-its lobby host to Ole Miss pep rallies, debutante balls, the Jubilee Singers, and U.S. Army troops, who slept on the carpet when no other room was available." The mezzanine of this hotel has a room devoted to a robust collection of memorabilia and photography about the hotel throughout the years. This place is definitely worth a visit!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
vickie
|
|
Location: Waltham, MA
Reviews written: 75
Trusted by: 113 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.