In the song, the protagonist speaks of a time when ten years ago, he took his girlfriend to a hotel for a romantic night—only to find out that it was designed specifically to break couples up.

Record World praised Michael Jackson's lead vocal, the "hypnotic chorus backing" and the horn / string arrangement.

[3] The original title of "Heartbreak Hotel" was used and released commercially on 7" vinyl in many countries, though a 2-track 12" maxi single was produced and promotional-only copies, given to radio stations and reviewers.

A limited 2-track Japanese mini CD single (using the newly chosen title) was commercially released in November 1988 to coincide with Michael's Bad tour.

On March 23, 2014, a video clip of a live performance of the song from the Victory Tour was uploaded to the Jacksons' official YouTube account.