AUSTINTOWN TWP., Ohio - The California Palms Hotel was a place of controversy before it even opened back in April of 2015.

Owner Sebastian Rucci had problems at first getting a liquor license and then he had to change the name from the original Hotel California.

Now there is a new chapter in the hotel's saga.

California Palms will close and then reopen as a drug recovery center.

Sebastian Rucci says he had to make a decision. He was losing guests at the California Palms because he discovered hotel patrons favored loyalty rewards from staying at chains like Marriott, Hilton and Holiday Inn.

Rucci says he almost signed a deal to make the Palms a Wyndham hotel. But at the last minute he says he was drawn to make a much different choice.

He lost two brothers to drug addiction and Rucci is well aware that drugs are a growing epidemic here in the Valley.

Rucci tells 21 News that turning into an addiction recovery campus was way to get volume into his building and save lives at the same time.

“Right now if you look around there's only so many in their area. There aren't that many and their beds are full so there is a great demand,” said Rucci.

Everything seemed to fall into place according to Rucci, from getting licensing to finding the right people to staff the facility.

He'll need 120 employees, many of which will be professionals.

“You have a lot of counselors and case managers. The counselors do group sessions and individual sessions who are working with them for addiction and addiction recovery and other things,” said Rucci.” We have the benefit of being a hotel. You can stay here while we take you through the steps.”

Hotel suites will be transformed into group session rooms and hotel rooms will be used for double occupancy resident rooms, about 200 beds in all making this the largest addiction recovery center in the state and maybe the Midwest.

Families will be able to meet with the patients here or as Rucci calls them, "students." He says on weekends there will be entertainment, so families can be together to make sure the students don't feel completely isolated.

The final concert at California Palms is scheduled Sunday night, January 29, with disco inferno, and the hotel will close later this week.

They hope to open the actual recovery center by March 1st.