Hotel is an American Prime Time Soap that aired on ABC for five seasons from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988. Based on a 1965 novel of the same name by Arthur Hailey (which had previously inspired a 1967 film), the series was produced by Aaron Spelling.
Wealthy, aristocratic Victoria Cabot (Anne Baxter) runs the elegant St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco along with general manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) and his assistant Christine Francis (Connie Sellecca), the latter two of whom become romantically involved. Alongside an eclectic group of employees, they have to face the daily problems that come with the hotel and its guests.
This series features examples of:
- Dirty Harriet: One episode in which a man tries to get his son to lose his virginity (with the twist that the son already lost his virginity, but respects the girl's privacy too much to tell) has the woman whom the son ultimately choses revealed to be an undercover cop who busts him for soliciting sex.
- Framed Face Opening: The series has two sets of framed face montages. The main cast roster is shown inside a large oval mirror, while the guest stars are presented over a framed glass window motif.
- One-Word Title:
- The show itself is simply titled Hotel.
- Various episodes have just one word as a title: "Blackout", "Choices", "Charades", "Secrets", "Flashback", "Confrontations", etc.
- Professional Sex Ed: In one episode, a father firmly believes that his son needs this trope to become a man. Privately, his son confesses to a hotel employee that he isn't a virgin but doesn't want to tell the girl's name to his father out of respect for her. His father himself frequents prostitutes and asks one to help him out in this respect. However, his son runs out on the "date". The hooker then suggests someone more his age and sets up a "blind date". However, instead of the girl, his son ends up picking up another woman, who looks like a professional. Except she turns out to be an undercover cop, who busts him for solicitation. Whoops. In the end, the father finally accepts that his son is a man.
- Sex as Rite-of-Passage: One episode has a man try to get his son to lose his virginity to a hooker friend of his. The son privately admits to one of the main characters that he's not a virgin anymore but respects the girl's privacy too much to tell his father. When the son runs out on the hooker, she suggests someone more his age and calls another call girl. The son finally gives in and approaches the woman he assumes is the other hooker. Except the woman he approaches turns out to be an undercover cop and busts him for soliciting sex.
