Chelsea Hotel

 

"I remember you well from the Chelsea Hotel..." Leonard Cohen

I never thought I would stay at the Chelsea Hotel.  I never really thought I would stay in any hotel in New York, which is fast approaching another place I live, rather than travel to.

But when a friend asked me if I knew a hotel, I knew one.  And it turned out to be surprisingly easy and affordable to stay there.  Not to mention, awesome!  I guess the ghosts liked us.

If I'm going to join the crowd that splits their time between somewhere and New York, I might just need my own place.  At least from time to time.

I never thought I would check into a hotel to have the privacy to just talk, and I never thought that I would have one of the best nights of sleep in years if not ever in a hotel, let alone a run down, famous artist, rock and roll, druggie hotel that’s being sold and recently opened a nightclub.

But, you never do know, do you.

Life just keeps on happening.

I was in the midst of reading Just Kids by Patty Smith, and Leonard Cohen holds the place in my heart among musicians and poets of: worth living for.

And there I was.

I never thought the lobby would be so small.  Or that it would be 7 degrees outside.

We got a large room on the 6^th floor, with two big beds, a bathroom with a tub, and a desk with a mirror over it, and a TV.

It didn’t smell like anything, the room, or the hallways, to my surprise.  The hallways were faintly musty, but the room had very calm air.  It was somehow airy and just the right temperature all the time.  Even though, it had old radiators and I’ve never been in a hotel where the air was quite right.

The staff was friendly and welcoming, even as they tried to keep the club goers from taking over the lobby to warm up on the coldest night of the year.

But the most striking thing about the Chelsea Hotel were the spiral staircases with all the art hung along them.  I took the elevator up, but walked down several times.  And I tried to capture that staircase in the photo.

Comments

[Robin Hadley Ketro]

Thank you, Marion. It was great fun! Sometimes a hotel is more than a place to sleep. But it's great if you can get a good night's sleep, too.

[Marion]

Oh, lovely. All of it. Especially the air. I agree, ever quite right. What a wonderful night's stay. Cherish this.