The Hotel Chelsea

There was never any question the legendary Hotel Chelsea would eventually face a significant update; it’s good for the Chelsea, and for New York, that it fell to Sean MacPherson to do it, along with partners Ira Drukier and Richard Born. MacPherson’s other hotels around town — the Marlton, the Bowery, the Maritime and more — help usher the romance of old New York into the modern era in a way that’s nostalgic but also authentic. And in the Chelsea, in particular, there’s much to be nostalgic about.

This is where just about every artist of any significance lived, stayed, or at least hung out; in its capacity as a residential hotel it hosted everyone from Mark Twain to Arthur Miller to Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and even Madonna. Its walls are still adorned with artworks donated (often in lieu of rent) by generations of well-known visual artists. And what’s perhaps most impressive about the newly updated Chelsea is how much of this romance remains intact, even as it’s been updated for 21st-century boutique-hotel travelers.

At the moment the opening is, as they say, rather soft — it’s a work in progress, and it’s no surprise, given the raw material, that some of its edges are still a touch rough. Perfectionists may prefer to watch and wait, but for many of us, the urge to experience the Chelsea legend, and to take part in a new chapter of its history, is too strong to resist.