You can check out any time you like but you can never leave
If only! Whether it is the steel pan band at Sunday Service on Tobago or the soft rock house band on the Maldives.
It’s how we would want every holiday to end… not ending that is.
The epic Hotel California by the Eagles with its riff which was voted the greatest of all time by Guitarist magazine has spawned an industry in itself.
Around what the lyrics actually mean, where the hotel is that inspires the song, and the hotel that was used for the cover.
The band credit the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel, the hang-out for party people, as being the vibe for the song.
Celeb hangout
Visit nearby West Hollywood where the celebs go these days and you’ll be on Beverly Hills‘ doorstep.
Turn left out of your WH billet, the Kimpton La Peer Hotel, and you’ll be going in the general direction.
You’ll know you”re in Beverly Hills when you pass the arty sign.
The Beverly Hills Hotel, which predated the town’s existence, was the place to be under vice-president of Bank of America Hernando Courtright.
Galaxy of stars
And Fred Astaire, Cesar Romero, Carole Lombard, the Rat Pack, Humphrey Bogart and Marlene Dietrich were all regular visitors.
Amazon Marlene even got the Polo Lounge to change its policy on women having to wear a skirt.
I picture Marlene wearing a trouser suit and dominating the room in her husky cigarette drawl.
A day in the life
I’m taken here by CNN’s description of life in the hotel…
Back in the days when celebrity was worn with the elegance and grace of diamonds and mink the Beverly Hills was where the stars played. Humphrey Bogart and the Rat Pack tippled at the bar, Katharine Hepburn did a back flip into the tennis pool in her tennis clothes and Elizabeth Taylor honeymooned in the bungalows out back – six times.
I belong here!
The biggest star of them all
And perhaps the greatest star of them all, Marilyn Monroe, left her mark, staying at the hotel during the shooting of Let’s Make Love.
Marilyn’s back yard
Her favourite bungalow being No.7.
You’ll be surprised though where and who Marilyn is spending eternity with!
Listen here to The Eagles’ definitive version of Hotel California.
And get out your guitar and practise the riff.
And live like a star
Your Ultimate Staycation Offer at the Beverly Hills Hotel will give you a Superior King Room from €575, or the Stanhope Suite from €860.
When they’re back and open.
I might have to bring my own tennis clothes though!
