There was no shortage of locations that fitted the bill in the band's home town of Los Angeles, but Henley looked further afield for his creatives, turning to the British art director Kosh, who had made his reputation with The Beatles (most notably 1969's Abbey Road) and consolidated it with work for The Who (1971's Who's Next).

Having moved to the US West Coast a few months earlier, Kosh was brought in by Eagles management to meet the band and hear a rough cut of the title track from their next album – a hummable but hollow-eyed tale of LA burnouts populating a hotel from which you 'can check out any time you like, but you can never leave'. Then, with the vibe established, it was down to business.

In a 2007 interview with The Rock And Roll Report, Kosh recalled that "Don wanted me to find and portray the fictional Hotel California hostelry – a hotel which would exemplify a classic California hotel – and to portray it with a slightly sinister edge".