Hotel Chelsea — Hotel Review Rating: 2.5 Pearls

Oyster Review Summary

Photos and review by Jessica F., Oyster Expert Hotel Investigator.
Updated: July 28, 2010

Oyster Hotel Photos

Above Standard Room with Balcony (32)

Junior Suite (17)

Restaurants and Bars (23)

The Hotel (120)

Standard Room One Double Bed (66)

Suite (23)

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Hotel Chelsea - Chelsea, New York City

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Ace Hotel NY - Flatiron, New York City

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The GEM Hotel - Chelsea - Chelsea, New York City

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Rooms at Hotel Chelsea

Two Double Beds Room 2 Doubles beds.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
Standard Room King Bed King bed.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
Junior Suite Queen bed.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
Suite Queen bed.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
Two Bedroom Suite Queen and Queen. 2 separate bedrooms.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
Standard Room One Double Bed Double bed.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
Shared Bathroom Room Double bed.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
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Oyster Hotel Review

 Scene

An iconic lobby

With its wrought-iron balconies and red-brick exterior, the Chelsea Hotel is more historic institution than convenient downtown lodging. Conjuring up New York's fabled artists' past, the Queen Anne-style landmark is haunted by some of the last century's greatest artists, musicians, thinkers, and writers, who took up residence when the hotel first opened as an apartment cooperative in 1883. Legendary residents include Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Stanley Kubrick, Jimi Hendrix, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Patti Smith, Arthur Miller, and countless others. Featured in more than 30 songs (like Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel" and Nico's "Chelsea Girls"), and the subject of numerous books and a documentary, the Chelsea Hotel holds particular appeal for historians, art lovers, locals, and travelers wishing to get closer to the ghosts of greatness. Guests sacrifice amenities like a fitness center and room service, as well as cleanliness (the rooms and hallways are not always up to snuff) to experience a fun throwback to '60s boho life.

Today, a little more than half of the 240 units are used strictly as a hotel; long-term stays -- the kind that allowed the penning of great American novels here, such as Jack Kerouac's On the Road -- are no longer permitted. Still, about 100 apartments remain occupied by permanent, long-time residents, who can often be found kibitzing with hotel staffers in the eccentrically decorated lobby. The "rest stop for rare individuals" (as the hotel calls itself) hosts mostly European and East Coast vacation and business travelers, avant-garde honeymooners, and "plenty of ghost hunters on the lookout for paranormal activity," according to one manager.

Colorful artwork covers nearly every wall surface in the hallways, stairwells, and lobby -- some inspired by the hotel's storied past, like the painting by current artist resident Robert Lambert of a knife-wielding Sex Pistols bassist, Sid Vicious, who famously stabbed his girlfriend Nancy in one of the hotel's first-floor apartments. Guests can also quiz the knowledgeable staffers if they wish to see the room doors that Leonard Cohen (#424), Bob Dylan (#215), Thomas Wolfe (#829), and Janis Joplin (#125) once locked each day (one of the veteran managers even leads a hotel history tour once a month).

But the Chelsea Hotel, like any aging rock star, still gets away with plenty of bad behavior. Though the management has done much to refresh and update the property -- adding a business center and Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, restoring the lobby's fireplace, and refurbishing many of the guest rooms -- the grit still remains.

 Service

The front desk

Service is very basic -- don't expect chocolates or cigarettes on your pillow at the Chelsea. Still, staffers are kind and helpful. If a guest asks for advice or assistance with something out of the ordinary that's still manageable, a staff member will usually oblige. But it's not the hotel for those who expect traditional hotel service. Even though the majority of the property gets used for temporary guests, the staff can act a little more like they're running an apartment building. At least there's always a beefy security guard standing out front, willing to hail you a cab.

• Front desk can help with random inquires and requests, including questions about the neighborhood.
• 24-hour security
• Daily housekeeping
• Wake up calls available
• No room service; front desk staffers can provide menus from local restaurants for delivery.

 Location

View on a Larger Map

The Chelsea Hotel is located on a busy, two-way street in the center of Chelsea, a neighborhood known for its hopping restaurants and nightlife, both modern and prewar apartment buildings, numerous mom-and-pop operations, and recognizable chain stores. The neighborhood has an eclectic mix of artists, professionals, and a vibrant gay community. Overall, it maintains a come-one-come-all attitude.

Because of the heavy nightlife traffic, the area is a safe place to roam -- but expect weekend nights in particular to be packed with boisterous partyers, many of them daytripping from New Jersey and Long Island.

• Neighborhood is a mix of business and residential with plenty of restaurants and shops within a few blocks.
• Located equidistant from the 1 train and the C and E trains
• 23rd Street is a main thoroughfare -- getting a taxi is a cinch.
• The famous Flatiron Building is two blocks away; the huge sports and entertainment complex, Chelsea Piers, is three blocks away.
• Manhattan's newest park, the elevated High Line, is worth the six-block walk.
• One hour ($45) from JFK International Airport; 30 to 40 minutes ($40) from LaGuardia Airport; 1.5 hours or more ($40 and up plus tolls) from Newark Liberty International Airport

 Airport Transportation

New York has three nearby airports: JFK, La Guardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Flying into JFK or LaGuardia is typically easiest and the least time consuming. From JFK, it's a flat-rate $45 (one hour) taxi to anywhere in Manhattan. From LaGuardia, it's about a $40 (30 minute) metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 (plus tolls) and can take over 1.5 hours. Don't forget to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

To save some cash, group shuttles are available at all three airports for about $14 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. You can also take public transit from any of the airports for as little as $7 per person, but travel times can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairs. For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.

 Rooms

One of the standard rooms with hand-painted walls

This hotel is certainly known for its rooms -- and not in a good way. Most guests choose the Chelsea Hotel to walk the hallways Bob Dylan once whistled in, not to luxuriate on high-thread-count linens. This isn't the place for a souped-up hotel room -- if you want that, go to the W at Union Square or the Ace Hotel instead, both a little bit further east, and, of course, a bit pricier. If a nice room downtown is what you want, consider the Holiday Inn NYC on 26th Street and 6th Avenue, which has newer -- though generally smaller -- rooms with more amenities but nothing near the character and cool factor of the Chelsea Hotel. Rooms here vary greatly, so it's best to speak to the management beforehand if you want to know what you're getting.

• Rooms are one-of-kind, each with the potential to thrill or chill -- talk with the management before booking.
• Free in-room Wi-Fi
• Beds can feel old; lots of worn-out mattresses
• All rooms have air-conditioning, some have flat-screen TVs, others have old tube TVs; all have basic cable (no HBO or pay-per-view).
• Bathrooms include full-size tub with showers; wallet-watchers can opt for a room with a shared bathroom; hotel-brand toiletries.
• Mini-fridges are included in most rooms.
• Many studios and suites have full kitchenettes with multiple burners, microwaves, small fridges.
• No original art in the rooms

 Features

Residents' art adorns all of the stairwells.

The Chelsea Hotel doesn't offer many traditional features -- there's no fitness center, spa, or restaurant on-site -- but it does offer just enough to remain a viable lodging option.

• Recently opened business center adjacent to the lobby includes two computers, a printer, and fax machine. (It was under construction during our visit, so photos are currently unavailable.)
• Circular, 12-flight staircase and hallways display countless works by local artists -- primarily permanent residents of the property.
• Wi-Fi is free -- and speedy -- in the lobby and all guest rooms.
• No fitness center, though the hotel is working to strike up a deal with a local gym for fitness passes.
• Jerry Weinstein, a front desk clerk for over 30 years, hosts a monthly history tour of the hotel, popular with locals, journalists, and guests.

 Pets

This hotel has a long history of welcoming animals. Back in the day, the traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus used the Chelsea Hotel as their living quarters whenever the troop landed in the city; the hotel allegedly let their goat feed on the roof's grassy knoll.

Today, it maintains the come-one-come-all sensibility with pets, so long as they don't weigh more than 50 pounds. "Dogs, cats, boa constrictors, they're all allowed," said the manager, but let the hotel know before checking in.

 Family

Suites have kitchenettes, great for families.

The child-appropriateness of Chelsea Hotel appears to vary from floor to floor. During my stay, the smell of freshly baked Toll House cookies pervaded one hallway, but two flights up, my nose filled with the aroma of residents getting baked. Still, management says they see plenty of kids at this hotel, perhaps because the artwork gives it all a whimsical appeal that young, hip families are drawn to.

• Parents with toddlers may find the hotel's trademark stairs a little daunting to maneuver with a stroller (though there are two small elevators); watch little limbs around those wrought iron banisters.
• Rooms are a mixed bag; call in advance to discuss the specs of a desired room.
• Some suites include a kitchenette, ideal for a family hoping to save a little money and eat breakfast inside. (There is a popular Whole Foods market half a block away.)
• Free cribs; rollaway beds are $20 a night; requests for both should be made in advance, though the hotel can't guarantee either until check-in.

 Cleanliness

As a true outpost for bohemia in New York City, this hotel "keeps it real" -- a mantra that extends to its overall cleanliness. But, considering the Chelsea Hotel is more than 125 years old, it's not that bad. A bit of grunge is in order -- harkening back to the hotel's rock-'n'-roll past.

• In my standard room, I found an Art Deco-pattern carpet etched with a little bit too much late-night fun.
• Mold between the bathroom wall tiles
• A fake gilded mirror encrusted with dust
• Marks of someone's loose change that once upon a time lived on the wooden desk (most likely in a puddle of coffee next to a manual typewriter)
• Grooming and upkeep are an ongoing process; when I visited, the lobby had just gotten a fresh coat of paint.

 Food

Best Spanish restaurant in town

The landmarked Chelsea Hotel building houses the city's oldest Spanish restaurant, El Quijote. Though not officially the "hotel restaurant," El Quijote has, since the 1930s, functioned more or less as a place for artists and other eccentrics to languish over a caparina and tapas. Today, you'll be hard-pressed to find any famous actors crying into their glasses of the restaurant's Secret Sangria; patrons include plenty of locals, however, who come for great seafood dishes and a popular daily lobster special.

• No room service, though the front desk has a well-curated stash of takeout menus; late-night munchers can turn to the New Venus 24-hour diner for delivery.
• Dinner at El Quijote is an old New York experience; entrees range from $14 to $40, though a few small dishes -- tapas -- can be equally filling; fans include Spain's prime minister who declared it the best Spanish restaurant outside of Spain in 2002.
• Downstairs bar, Star Lounge, is a popular spot for late-night parties, especially among the "bridge-and-tunnel" crowd (from Long Island and New Jersey); the scene is a little unpredictable since the party theme changes daily; ladies get in free many nights.

 Bottom Line

This legendary landmark in Chelsea -- part hotel and part residence -- has housed many of the last century's artistic and intellectual greats, from Bob Dylan to Jasper Johns. While the hotel has taken some steps toward modernity with a new business center and free Wi-Fi, the majority stays here for the cool bohemian history, not the old rooms and scattershot housekeeping.