The storied Hotel Chelsea is a Boho mecca.

The storied Chelsea Hotel. Writers have chronicled it, artists have spawned movements here, and musicians of all ilk have found their muses within these walls. The Chelsea also has some unsavory connotations — from the stabbing death of Nancy Spungen, allegedly by boyfriend Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols to the demise of Dylan Thomas from alcohol poisoning, and all sorts of other bad behavior.

Hotel Chelsea's lobby is a shrine to contemporary art.

The striking 12-story red brick building adorned with lacy iron balconies was built in 1883 as a private apartment co-op. It was the tallest building in New York until 1899. At the time, the Chelsea district of Manhattan, and particularly the stretch of West 23rd Street where the hotel is located, was the heart of New York’s Theater District.

The hotel welcomes guests but this Bohemian mecca is legendary for a revolving door long-term luminaries. This cast of notables includes Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac, Dennis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick, Janis Joplin, Robert Mapplethorpe, William Burroughs, Willem de Kooning, Jimi Hendrix, Jasper Johns, Patti Smith, Arthur Miller, Joni Mitchell, Charles Bukowski, Leonard Cohen, Allen Ginsberg, Mark Twain, and Madonna. Quite a roster.

You, too, can mingle with the Chelsea’s ghosts and soak up the Boho ambiance. Average room rates range from $179 per night for a studio with a shared bath to $439 per night for a one-bedroom suite. Not bad considering the company you’ll be keeping.

Leonard Cohen was a celebrated resident.

Hotel Chelsea
222 W 23rd Street
New York NY 10011
Telephone: (212) 243-3700
www.hotelchelsea.com

Photos by Lisa Dion of friscomama