Despite the explanation there are some who have tried to capitalize on the song’s success. Owner of the hotel in Mexico, Todos Santos, say his hotel was home to the Eagles who wrote Hotel California from its rooms. Rumor turned into legend. According to Snopes.com, none of the Eagles band members ever stayed in the hotel.
Others say Hotel California was the nickname of the Camarillo State psychiatric hospital near Los Angeles. But there have been no facts to verify that either. Other odd rumors about the album include: it’s a place ran by cannibals who only take guests that they serve up for dinner – this is based on the lyrics “You can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.”
Or the song is about drug addiction due to the lyrics, “Warm smell of colitis rising through the air”, which does refer to the scent of burning marijuana, and that Hotel California is a code name for cocaine use and the journey into addiction.
Then there is the belief that the Hotel California represent satanic master Aleister Crowley’s mansion near Loch Ness, where weird happenings occurred. Crowley’s nickname was “The Beast”.
Despite the rumors, the song was a success, and the album Hotel California ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the United States. And there certainly is no mystery in the fact the album sold over 16 million copies in the U.S. alone and was #1 for eight weeks in early 1977.