One Of New York City's Best Hotels Is A Chic, Centrally Located Gem That Feels Like An Apartment

New York City has numerous iconic hotels with beautiful architectural features, from the Beaux-Arts opulence of the Plaza on Central Park South to the towering Art Deco splendor of the Waldorf Astoria. These hotels and others represent classic elegance and world-class service with touches of modern amenities. If you want something uniquely bohemian, however, head to Hotel Chelsea at 222 West 23rd Street, a centrally located address near the unique Chelsea Market, the free-to-visit floating Little Island, and NYC's most scenic trail.

When Hotel Chelsea opened in 1884, architect Philip Hubert intended the building to be a cooperative apartment block, but bankrupt finances saw his project repurposed as the Hotel Chelsea some 20 years later. For the next 40 years, the Hotel Chelsea was a luxury establishment that counted Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, and John Sloan among its patrons. It wasn't until the 1950s, '60s, and '70s that the Chelsea would become an icon of the counterculture.

Chelsea's economic decline following the Second World War attracted artists including Jackson Pollock, poet Dylan Thomas, and playwright Arthur Miller. Droves of famous names would stay, live, and work at the Chelsea through the latter 20th century, from musicians Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen to Beatnik writer William Burroughs, Andy Warhol, and Sex Pistols punk Sid Vicious, who fatally stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in room 100. With a history like that, it is little surprise that Hotel Chelsea ranks among the best haunted hotels in America.

The Hotel Chelsea's clientele has changed, but the institution hasn't lost its sense of style. In the lobby are modernist artworks, a wrought-iron chandelier, and eclectic wood, leather, and fabric furniture. The character continues in the lobby bar, with its sweeping wooden bar, ornamental millwork, fusion vintage furnishings, and a relaxing ambience of warm lanterns and airy natural light.

Above is the buzzy Café Chelsea, a rooftop spa, and a fitness center located in former artist lofts that look out over the epic skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan. Some may balk at such modern conversions, but the Hotel Chelsea's 155 rooms possess plenty of character and are much fresher than in years gone by. 

Expect the smallest rooms — called Petite Chelsea — to be a tasteful blend of marble surfaces, a wood-framed queen bed, and a rainfall shower. Higher up the scale, in the Grand Suites and Two Bedroom Suites, luxuriate in up to 1,700 square feet of antique fixtures, Lacanche French ranges, and king beds with Bellino linens. With such space, flair, and character, you'll feel like you're in a luxe Manhattan apartment, not a mere hotel room.

Examples of Hotel Chelsea's cultural legacy abound. Jack Kerouac wrote part of his iconic roman à clef "On The Road" here in the early 1950s and both Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick developed their respective versions of "2001: A Space Odyssey" within the Chelsea's walls.

Miloš Forman adapted "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" here, too, and he recalled more than a few strange incidents from his stay during a conversation with Vanity Fair. "Once I was going up in the elevator to my room on the eighth floor," he explained. "On the fifth floor the door opened, and a totally naked girl, in a panic, ran into the elevator. I was so taken aback that I just stared at her. Finally I asked what room she was in. But then the elevator stopped and she ran away. I never saw her again."

You're unlikely to find such unhinged behavior in the Hotel Chelsea today, but throwbacks from that era are still present. The 2022 documentary "Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel" concerns the hotel's last artist residents and how their lives have changed amid the wholesale gentrification of Chelsea, Manhattan, and New York City in general. Watch the film, or sit back with a copy of "On the Road," before your trip.