Everyone from Arthur Miller to Andy Warhol stayed there, Bob Dylan wrote it into his lyrics, and Sid Vicious allegedly killed Nancy Spungen in one of the bathrooms. The Chelsea Hotel is the emblematic residence of New York musicians, artists, and writers — and it has a famously shabby bohemian aesthetic to match. Could its sale change all that?

Located in the upscale Chelsea neighborhood of New York, the hotel is an 1883 building with 12 stories and 250 rooms — about half residential and half hotel. The asking price was not publicly announced, but in a statement to the press, spokesman Loren Riegelhaupt said:

    "The history itself makes the hotel what it is. Anybody who's going to be looking to buy the Chelsea knows that the Chelsea is the Chelsea, and there's nothing you want to do to change what the Chelsea is."


Maybe so, but speculations on the hotel's sale have predicted its character could change for the worse — am New York alludes to the spectre of the Gramercy Hotel and other buildings that have undergone "upscale face-lifts in recent years that rendered them unrecognizable."

For a peek into the Chelsea's rooms and corridors as they were and are, click through the photos above.

AROUND THE WEB
• Haven for New York Artists, Chelsea Hotel for Sale | Reuters
• Manhattan's Landmark Chelsea Put Up for Sale | Bloomberg
• Plan to Sell Hotel Chelsea Troubles Some | am New York
• Chelsea Hotel Website
• Flickr Find: Details at the Chelsea Hotel | Apartment Therapy
• Restored Chelsea Hotel Suite by Greco Deco | Apartment Therapy

Photos: Historystuff2 used under Creative Commons License 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Historystuff2 used under Creative Commons License 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons, scalleja used under Creative Commons license 2.0 via Flickr, Wikimedia Commons used under Gnu Free Documentation License, VolaVale used under Creative Commons License 2.0 via Flickr, markhillary used under Creative Commons License 2.0 via Flickr, photomagnon used under Creative Commons License 2.0 via Flickr, Chelsea Hotel 1936 used under New York Public Library / No Known Copyright Restrictions via Flickr Commons, Mwillems used under Creative Commons License 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons, jerekeys used under Creative Commons License via Flickr

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