real meaning of hotel california?

The myth about it being satanic is just that .. a myth. You can read about it indepth at Snopes, the most reliable hoax busting site on the net.

http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/hotel.htm

Here's an except from the site, an explanation from Henley himself about the meaning of the song:

"Hotel California is an allegory about hedonism and greed in Southern California in the 1970s. At the time of its release, the Eagles were riding high in the music world, experiencing material success on a frightening level.

Though they thoroughly enjoyed the money, drugs, and women fame threw their way, they were disquieted by it all and sought to pour that sense of unease into their music and to warn others about the dark underside of such adulation.

In a 1995 interview, Don Henley said the song "sort of captured the zeitgeist of the time, which was a time of great excess in this country and in the music business in particular." In another interview that same year, he referred to it as being about a "loss of innocence."

The album has as its underlying theme the corruption of impressionable rock stars by the decadent Los Angeles music industry. The celebrated title track presents California as a gilded prison the artist freely enters only to discover that he cannot later escape.

The real Hotel California is not a place; it is a metaphor for the west coast music industry and its effect on the talented but unworldy musicians who find themselves ensnared in its glittering web."

That tour was my first concert! 1976 Houston Texas... Jimmy Buffett and The Eagles...pretty good stuff!

my father told me hotel california was turned into a satanic church. lolz dont know what he sniffed we he told me such thing.

its not really satanic it has couple of meanings their is stanic, a correctional facility, marriage but Don Henley said on VH1 that him and the band dont no what the real answer for the questian really is but i dont care its a great song thats all that counts.

Does it matter? I mean,the lyrics. I was touched by the music it is so sweet .Even though it is an oldy one young people like it. I wonder why? is it spelled?

I don't think it is satanic, as quite a few have somehow proved it is not.

But it does have a few New Age stuff and ideas like killing the beast and not being able to leave the Hotel.

All in all, it is quite a nice song and is the favourite of many guitar players, especially the ending guitar duet.