The Hotel Cortez is inspired by the Hotel Cecil which has a dark history which includes several suicides, murders, and was stayed at by serial killers Richard Ramirez a.k.a. the Night Stalker and Jack Unterweger. The Hotel Cecil made news in 2013 with the mysterious death of Elisa Lam (to whom season five is dedicated).
The continuation of tying all the seasons of American Horror story up. "Seasons 1-5 aren't chronological. But they will fit together like pieces of a puzzle. We will be meeting a few new characters, but we will be revisiting those from the past." -Ryan Murphy
On February 25th, Lady Gaga announced on her Twitter page that the theme for season 5 would be 'Hotel'. Later, it was confirmed that she was cast as one of the main roles.
While Freak Show (season 4) was airing, show creator Ryan Murphy told that an image of a top hat was a major clue for season five.
Top Hat (1935) is a 1935 movie starring Fred Astaire, and is set in a hotel.
The song 'Cheek to Cheek' was written for the movie. Lady Gaga's last album was called 'Cheek to Cheek'.
The carpet in the hotel lobby is a similar pattern and color as the carpet in the hallways of The Overlook Hotel - the fictional hotel in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980).
Announced after the first episode of the fourth season (Monsters Among Us (2014)) was released due to high ratings.