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Rock 'N' Roll Hotel
From the outside, the twelve-storey Hotel Chelsea in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea isn't much to look at; in fact, it looks like the kind of place you'd check-in to after you had been told there was no room over at Trump's place. With 'Hotel Chelsea' lit up in seedy neon lights, it has all the makings of a great Hollywood horror. And that is probably why many of its rooms are still used by production companies today, with its distinctive architecture and dramatic spaces making the perfect backdrop for photo-shoots and movies. Built in 1883, the property was a hive of activity in its heyday, with musicians, artists and writers choosing Hotel Chelsea to engage in all kinds of bad behaviour. Indeed, it was the first cooperative apartment complex, with many of its tenants staying longer than the usual week-long occupancy. As a testament to its heady past, the walls are still dotted with original art-works donated by many of its famous visitors, and there's even said to be ghosts of stars gone by wondering its halls. Whether that's a grand stunt by the hotel's PR machine or actual fact is unknown, but it all adds to the allure that is Hotel Chelsea. Inside, guests will find 250 rooms that define grunge chic, with dingy colour palettes and tattered fabrics. But it is the people who have lived and stayed here before that is the hotel's biggest draw, even if guests are terrified of being stabbed to death in the Norman Bates-style bathrooms. Having recently undergone a change of management, from family-run business to corporate control, times are changing at Hotel Chelsea, with many of its long-time residents being evicted. Nevertheless, a landmark in the city that never sleeps, Hotel Chelsea will always be one of America's most notorious, revered icons.
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