The "Hotel California" is a Fake and Doesn't Warrant a Visit (for the thousandth time!)

[SelectSys]

Too many times, I see many people suggesting that they want to visit the "Hotel California" as a pilgrimage to the epic-center of the Eagles song of the same name. After responding yet again in a Cabo thread, I decided to start this thread as a warning to all.

 

The bottom line is that the hotel in Todos Santos has nothing to do with the Eagles and their song.  In fact the Eagles sued the hotel over the use of the name and eventually settled with the hotel's Canadian owners.

 

Todos Santos is a charming, "Pueblo Magico" and is worth a visit if you have exhausted all the possibilities of the Los Cabos area.  Just don't think visiting a tourist shop and bar has anything to do with the Eagles or their 70's hit song and album.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/things-eagles-hotel-california/story?id=36375155

“It’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about,” Henley said in a 2002 interview with "60 Minutes."

“We were all middle class kids from the Midwest," Henley said. "'Hotel California' was our interpretation of the high life in L.A.”

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/19/579145980/eagles-v-hotel-california-after-lawsuit-band-reaches-a-settlement

The Eagles accused the Hotel California, located on the Baja California peninsula, of trying to trick visitors into thinking that it is one and the same as the "lovely place" of its most-successful song.

 The Mexico-based hotel also filed an application in 2015 to trademark the phrase "Hotel California" in the U.S., and according to the complaint was selling "substantial" Hotel California merchandise in the U.S.

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eagles-settle-lawsuit-over-hotel-california-name-204993/

The hotel, which is located across the U.S. border about 1,000 miles south of San Diego, had been called Hotel California when it opened in 1950, Reuters reports. Its name changed over the years, but when Canadians John and Debbie Stewart purchased it in 2001, they decided to restore the name.

[Hlitner]

Just noticed the older post and say, Hooray!  This ole guy has been an Eagles fan forever and Hotel California is still of my favorite songs of all time.    The Eagles have made it very clear (many times) that there was never a Hotel California (which makes the lyrics all the more amazing).  

 

By the way, one shocker (for this ole) guy happened on the MSC Divina about 4 years ago when they had an Italian duo (male guitar player and female singer) that played nightly in their lounge that sits just above the casino.  DW and I became immediate fans (we were at least twice the age of the other fans) of this duo since they were talented rockers.  One night they did Hotel California and the guitar player (from Southern Italy) riffs were absolutely brilliant and would have even been praised by Don Felder.  He even got a standing ovation in a sleepy bar/lounge on the ship and I "demanded" they do that song every night :).   

 

Hank

P.S.  Some younger folks would be shocked that even some seniors are big rock fans.

[CruiserBruce]

23 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

 

By the way, one shocker (for this ole) guy happened on the MSC Divina about 4 years ago when they had an Italian duo (male guitar player and female singer) that played nightly in their lounge that sits just above the casino.  DW and I became immediate fans (we were at least twice the age of the other fans) of this duo since they were talented rockers.  One night they did Hotel California and the guitar player (from Southern Italy) riffs were absolutely brilliant and would have even been praised by Don Felder.  He even got a standing ovation in a sleepy bar/lounge on the ship and I "demanded" they do that song every night :).   

 

Hank

 

But could he play all 3 guitar parts in Hotel California.

 

Will be seeing Eagles next month in SF...for about the 10th time.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

But could he play all 3 guitar parts in Hotel California.

 

Will be seeing Eagles next month in SF...for about the 10th time.

OMG!  I am truly envious.  Love those guys.  And that Italian guy did a terrific job rearranging the parts for a single player and he pulled it off.  But nobody has ever done it like the real guys.  I guess they let them out of the Nursing Home :).  Henley is a year older then me and I am older then dirt.

 

Hank

[CruiserBruce]

37 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

OMG!  I am truly envious.  Love those guys.  And that Italian guy did a terrific job rearranging the parts for a single player and he pulled it off.  But nobody has ever done it like the real guys.  I guess they let them out of the Nursing Home :).  Henley is a year older then me and I am older then dirt.

 

Hank

They are starting the tour they had scheduled for 2020 (I think they started it on Aug 24)...you could get out and see them...

 

We are in NorCal...we have gone as far as Philly to see them...a long story, but a fun trip.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

They are starting the tour they had scheduled for 2020 (I think they started it on Aug 24)...you could get out and see them...

 

We are in NorCal...we have go ne as far as Philly to see them...a long story, but a fun trip.

Their only East Coast date is tomorrow night in Washington, DC and we have a family obligation.  It turns out that tomorrow night will be a major problem for the Eagles as what is left of Hurricane Ida will likely be moving through the D.C. area around the time of their concert.  It will likely be a real soaker which will not make life easy for the concert goers.   I just looked and there are still tickets left (which is surprising) but family must stay at the top of the list.

 

Hank

[njhorseman]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Some younger folks would be shocked that even some seniors are big rock fans.

This big rock fan senior citizen and former rock and roll DJ doesn't even consider the Eagles a rock band. 😁 

By 1977, when Hotel California was released rock and roll music as I knew and loved it it was already  a thing of the past.

In cruise ship lounges when the performers start Hotel California, as happens nightly, I pick myself up and go elsewhere.

To each his own...😉

[Hlitner]

24 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

This big rock fan senior citizen and former rock and roll DJ doesn't even consider the Eagles a rock band. 😁 

By 1977, when Hotel California was released rock and roll music as I knew and loved it it was already  a thing of the past.

In cruise ship lounges when the performers start Hotel California, as happens nightly, I pick myself up and go elsewhere.

To each his own...😉

I will give you that the Eagles do not fit nicely into the Rock genre.   Sometimes they are country, sometimes country-rock, sometimes blues, sometimes, rock, etc. etc.  Some (including me) would argue that is a big part of their greatness as makers of music.  When they released "Long Road Out of Eden" one of the discs was country and the other rock.   Wiki (we all know they are the ultimate authority :)) does call them a "Rock" band.   But Jerry Lee Lewis they are not :).

 

But since this is Cruise Critic perhaps we could agree that if they were to ever work on a cruise ship it would be a cruise to remember.

 

Hank

[Mike45LC]

On 8/31/2021 at 8:58 PM, Hlitner said:

But since this is Cruise Critic perhaps we could agree that if they were to ever work on a cruise ship it would be a cruise to remember.

 

Hank

Hank, off-topic, but have you ever heard of the "Happy Together" tour?  Two of the Turtles (now only one joined an an Archie), plus the front men from a variety of old groups, with what I think of as a studio band.  Each front man would come up and do a few songs from his former band.  Then, everyone came up in the end for the farewell, “Happy Together.” 

 

Over the years, the line-ups have changed, but they have included The Grass Roots (“Midnight Confession”), the Cowsills (“Hair”), The Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”), The Association (“Wendy”, “Along Comes Mary”), Paul Revere and the Raiders (“Indian Reservation”), Mitch Ryder (“Devil in a Blue Dress”), The Archies (“Sugar, Sugar”), and of course, the Turtles. 

 

What does this have to do with cruises?  Every year, they have a cruise with this tour on board.  It is sold out every year.  Google "Flower Power cruise."  We have gone to several of the Happy Together concerts (and we had tickets for one that got cancelled by Covid) and we were supposed to go on a Flower Power cruise but it too got cancelled by Covid.   NJHorseman, I know that this is not Black Sabbath or Edgar Winter, but it is still classic "rock."

 

[Hlitner]

No, never heard of that Happy Together Concerts.  But I do know about the Flower Power cruise which does seem to get some decent groups.   l see that their 2022 cruise is sold out.  DW and I tend to go on much longer cruises but I could see us making an exception for the Flower Power and perhaps the Smooth Jazz cruises.  We might get the prize for being the oldest passengers on those cruises :).

 

Hank

[CruiserBruce]

@Mike45LC, DW and I used to go to a charity concert at a winery nearby every late September, typically in idyllic fall conditions, absolutely fantastic atmosphere, with beautiful views over the vineyards, hosted by the manager of the Doobie Brothers, who owned the winery. The Turtles were one of the opening acts probably 5 years in a row...wife loved them, and the commentary by Flo and Eddie about the evils of the music business during the 1960s were great. The group played music from many bands...but the focus was always on Flo and Eddie. 

[Mike45LC]

On 9/3/2021 at 6:36 PM, CruiserBruce said:

@Mike45LC, DW and I used to go to a charity concert at a winery nearby every late September, typically in idyllic fall conditions, absolutely fantastic atmosphere, with beautiful views over the vineyards, hosted by the manager of the Doobie Brothers, who owned the winery. The Turtles were one of the opening acts probably 5 years in a row...wife loved them, and the commentary by Flo and Eddie about the evils of the music business during the 1960s were great. The group played music from many bands...but the focus was always on Flo and Eddie. 

Bruce, it was Flo and Eddie who did the Happy Together Tour, and they were great!

 

I put together a play list based on the Happy Together Tour, and right now, I am listening to Bang-Shang-A-Lang by the Archies from this playlist!  I guess this dates me!

 

[SelectSys]

Glad to see some reaction to this thread and the fakery that is the Hotel California in Todos Santos!

 

BTW - in my opinion, the best cover of the song was done by the "Gipsy Kings."  A portion of this cover is used in the movie, "The Big Lebowski."

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

Glad to see some reaction to this thread and the fakery that is the Hotel California in Todos Santos!

 

BTW - in my opinion, the best cover of the song was done by the "Gipsy Kings."  A portion of this cover is used in the movie, "The Big Lebowski."

Now you are talking my language.  We live in Puerto Vallarta for part of the year and really enjoy some of the local bands who often try to copy Gipsy Kings music.   I think that most in Mexico think the Gipsy Kings are either Mexican or Spanish.  Kind of a shocker that they were all born in France :).   Their "Bamboleo" is still one of the more popular pieces of music we hear in PV.   I have enjoyed their version of Hotel California but while I think their guitar work is amazing (with that many great guitar players that is no surprise) but the vocals are not even close to the Eagles.   

 

Hank

[SelectSys]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

...   I think that most in Mexico think the Gipsy Kings are either Mexican or Spanish.  Kind of a shocker that they were all born in France :)...

 

My understanding is that they are mostly descendants of the Spanish diaspora that  left the country during the 1930's revolution.  Michael Portillo, who served in Margret Thatcher and John Major's governments, is descendent of a Spanish university professor that also left the country at that time.  People may also remember Portillo from the BBC Great Train Journey series.  Manu Chao is another French citizen that sings in Spanish.  His father also had a death sentence put in place by Franco's government. 

 

Regardless, lots of people record in Spanish as the market is quite large.  It's probably #2 after English in the West.  Laura Pausini, for example, has made way more money recording in Spanish than English.  She is so popular in Mexico that she served as a coach in the Mexican version of the Voice rather than in Italy.

[cardqb]

Thank you for this information!  It saved us from wasting our time.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

To be clear, the Hotel California in Todos Santos isn't "a fake", it was the Hotel California long before the Eagles became a group or ever thought of writing a song. That doesn't mean it has anything to do with the song, but it is unfair to tag it as "fake".

 

That multimillionaire rockers were able to bring a lawsuit against a couple who owned an 11 room hotel and bully them into a settlement is hardly surprising.

[sfaaa]

Likewise, no Glenn Frey and  Don Felder makes the current band fake Eagles.

[sfaaa]

On 8/31/2021 at 4:09 PM, Hlitner said:

 By the way, one shocker (for this ole) guy happened on the MSC Divina about 4 years ago when they had an Italian duo (male guitar player and female singer) that played nightly in their lounge that sits just above the casino.  DW and I became immediate fans (we were at least twice the age of the other fans) of this duo since they were talented rockers.  One night they did Hotel California and the guitar player (from Southern Italy) riffs were absolutely brilliant and would have even been praised by Don Felder.  He even got a standing ovation in a sleepy bar/lounge on the ship and I "demanded" they do that song every night :).   

 

 

That's the Alma Duo. I saw them again performing in TV Studio Bar on MSC Meraviglia in 2019. Hardly anyone showed up to watch their nightly performance this time around.

[SelectSys]

On 10/16/2021 at 12:13 PM, scottca075 said:

To be clear, the Hotel California in Todos Santos isn't "a fake", it was the Hotel California long before the Eagles became a group or ever thought of writing a song. That doesn't mean it has anything to do with the song, but it is unfair to tag it as "fake".

To me it is fake because the Canadian owners market the hotel in a way to create confusion in unsuspecting tourists.  Everyone is complicit in this as even cruise lines - according to the link below - are in on the act as a way of extracting money from tourists.  Is it the worst scam ever?  No, but it is a scam none the less.

https://kathrynreed.com/destinations/hotel-california-in-todos-santos-tried-to-capitalize-off-eagles-song/

 

On 10/16/2021 at 12:13 PM, scottca075 said:

That multimillionaire rockers were able to bring a lawsuit against a couple who owned an 11 room hotel and bully them into a settlement is hardly surprising.

The lawsuit occurred when the Canadians tried to exclusively trademark the name to support merchandising in the US.  That was the basis of the lawsuit which would have eliminated the Eagles business entity from rights to the name.

 

On 10/17/2021 at 10:00 PM, sfaaa said:

Likewise, no Glenn Frey and  Don Felder makes the current band fake Eagles.

It's now effectively a cover band, but I will bet some of the proceeds go to Glenn Frey's estate.  Same for merchandise and music sales.  I am not sure what Don Felder gets based on his leaving the band.

 

It's not even clear if many of the classic bands when they tour are actually even playing fully.  Gene Simmons makes the following rant in 2015 suggesting a dishonesty in many bands.

https://www.nme.com/news/music/kiss-9-1209494

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

To me it is fake because the Canadian owners market the hotel in a way to create confusion in unsuspecting tourists. 

https://kathrynreed.com/destinations/hotel-california-in-todos-santos-tried-to-capitalize-off-eagles-song/

 

Who is Kathryn Reed and why do I care about what she has to say?

 

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

The lawsuit occurred when the Canadians tried to exclusively trademark the name to support merchandising in the US.  That was the basis of the lawsuit which would have eliminated the Eagles business entity from rights to the name.

 

The Hotel California had the name before the Eagles did. Why didn't the Eagles file for trademark protection in the 1970s?  Why did they wait?

 

The Hotel California in Palm Springs, CA opened in 1942, the one in Palo Alto in 1952 and there were many before that. THEY should have sued the Eagles for the unkind things said.

 

Pretty much since Hernán Cortés landed in Baja in 1535 and named the place"California" there have been many places called, Hotel California. The Eagles shouldn't own the name.

[SelectSys]

1 hour ago, scottca075 said:

...

Pretty much since Hernán Cortés landed in Baja in 1535 and named the place"California" there have been many places called, Hotel California. The Eagles shouldn't own the name.

 

The name isn't fake, marketing the connection between the Hotel in Todos Santos is what is fake and results in people being scammed.  It may be a largely harmless scam as it plays into a popular fantasy, but it is still a scam in my view.

[Mike45LC]

4 hours ago, SelectSys said:

It's not even clear if many of the classic bands when they tour are actually even playing fully.  Gene Simmons makes the following rant in 2015 suggesting a dishonesty in many bands.

https://www.nme.com/news/music/kiss-9-1209494

 

To me, Gene Simmons will always be a pudgy exercise guru, not some shock-musician in Halloween makeup.  Alice Cooper completely filled that niche for me.

 

Most if not all of the musical performances I attend have replacement guys filling in for some of the original band members.  I admit it, I am getting old.  I saw the Righteous Brothers recently, only one Brother is still performing.  Of the Cowsills, only three remain.  Journey, the Who, even the Stones, have had to replace members.  I saw the Drifters, the Coasters and the Platters at the Sahara about a decade ago, not one had the original band members -- I think one of them have NONE of the originals.

 

I am getting old and so are the bands!  Now, this does not excuse pre-recorded music being played instead of live.  I am not going to see Milli-Vanilli or whatever its name was.

 

[SelectSys]

11 minutes ago, annabelle77 said:

Well, you know how His Dudeness felt about the Eagles, don't you?

Yes, my neighbor's favorite movie is "The Big Lebowski."  I tease him at times by threatening to play the Eagles.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, Mike45LC said:

To me, Gene Simmons will always be a pudgy exercise guru, not some shock-musician in Halloween makeup.  Alice Cooper completely filled that niche for me.

 

I think you are confusing Richard Simmons and Gene Simmons.