The mythical reception staircase is decorated with works by past and present tenants of the hotel.
Concierge and musician William Benton embodies the “coolness” of the Chelsea.
From the sealed plaques to the neo-Gothic cast iron columns of theChelsea hotels attract the gaze of passers-by. The words of Leonard Cohen, “I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel…”, lined up after a night in the arms of Janis Joplin in 1968, open the door to the memories that inhabit this mythical address a few strides from the Flatiron Building. The twelve-storey building with red bricks and wrought iron lace balconies is the work of Franco-American architect Philip Gengembre Hubert who, in 1883, designed one of the first private housing cooperatives in New York. dizzyingly high for the time. The common areas are intended to be generous to encourage meetings and discussions. But this beautiful utopia faded at the dawn of the 20th century and the building was converted into a hotel. It’s under the bar Stanley Bard that it opens up to the vanguard. The visionary agrees to host young artists with empty pockets in exchange for a work that goes to join other treasures hung on the walls of the living rooms, corridors and staircase, where a swarm of painters, poets, photographers and musicians exchange breaths of art and air. Patti Smith finds refuge on the 10th floor, in 1969, with a Robert Mapplethorpe on the edge of the abyss. Their small bedroom with a mattress on the floor, sketched in Indian ink by Lou Doillon for the French anniversary edition of Just Kids, published in 2020 by Denoël, is part of Chelsea’s iconographic heritage.
The lounge at the entrance to the Chelsea.
The breakfast room has a few metal and concrete tables by Paul Kingma.
Some of those tenants are still there. The trio formed by Sean MacPherson, Ira Drukier and Ricard Bornwho bought the building listed as historical heritage in 2016, had to deal with its exceptional guests to restore it. “We have made every effort to retain the spirit of this magnificent building. Hotel Chelsea has a rich history of unique guests behind it; so we wanted to reflect it”, says Sean MacPherson. Cautious at the idea of entrusting this renovation to a designer who might have been tempted to “polish” the decor, the new owners took care of it themselves, respecting the original plans. The woodwork and moldings, which had disappeared under false ceilings or behind partitions, have been revealed, and vintage furniture, sourced from around the world, scattered in large living rooms resurrecting New York’s golden age. If the rooms, with marble, marquetry and velvet, evoke a vanished luxury, doors painted by neighboring artists plunge us into a more intimate creativity. And that’s perhaps where the bohemian spirit that still haunts the place lies.
One of the 155 rooms with period stained glass windows.
A marble and gold metal bathroom.
The woodwork and moldings in the living rooms recall the chandelier of New York’s golden age.
The Hotel Chelsea, 222 West Twenty-Third Street, New York, NY 10011.
Room from $345/night.
