We here at The Shankly Hotel strive to make our guests feel close to one of the greatest football managers of all time, Bill Shankly. In addition to offering accommodation inspired by the late manager, we also offer unseen memorabilia throughout The Bastion Bar & Restaurant from the Shankly family’s private collection.
People from across the world have joined us to learn more about Bill and explore our beautiful city. For this reason, we are delighted to have launched a truly unique experience, which will allow his fans to become closer to the manager than ever before.
Liverpool FC legends Ian St John, Ian Callaghan and Chris Lawler joined us for the launch, and were amazed to see a realistic version of Bill Shankly appear next to them on a screen on the wall.
Ian St John told the Liverpool Echo, “I’m not into new technology at all so, for me to see that, I go ‘what is this?’ It’s a new world, isn’t it? It’s fantastic.”
It wasn’t just Ian St John who was wowed by the animation, as Ian Callaghan remarked, “He’s on the screen, he’s sitting beside you and the next thing you know you’re on your best behaviour!”
It wasn’t just the Liverpool legends who couldn’t wait to experience the virtual experience, as Shankly’s family were delighted to introduce the new experience to guests.
Chris Carline, Bill Shankly’s grandson and Managing Director of The Shankly Hotel, commented: “Only a few places in the world do this and we’re all about unique experiences. It’s based on this idea of fantasy dinner parties. If you could invite one person, who would it be? So many Liverpool fans would choose Shankly and now they can have him there.”
The animation was designed by the forward-thinking software company Draw and Code, who have worked tirelessly to create a truly unique and impressive experience for our guests.
Andy Cooper, Creative Director at Draw and Code, said, “We wanted to create something really exciting that got across the experience of coming to The Shankly Hotel. We worked with the hotel to work out all the things that made Shankly really iconic, all the things that everyone knew him for when he was on the pitch, training with his platers and when he was speaking in front of his fans and trying to put those into a little bit of an experience.
“We worked with an actor who impersonated Bill Shankly, who studied all the tapes of Shankly that we could get access to, showing his mannerisms and how he walked, then our 3D artists were able to work on his expressions and trying to get the true feeling of Bill Shankly. It’s a very Liverpool production for a very Liverpool manager.”
If you would like to see the late manager for yourself with The Shankly Virtual Experience, call our friendly team today on 0151 601 5925 or email info@shanklyhotel.com.
