a social and architectural biography.

The Chelsea Hotel has been a fixture in New York since 1884. I have seen the popular hotel in passing, but have never stayed there, and was completely unaware of its history. It doesn’t surprise me though, that it was the creative and literal home to artists and vagrants, from Bob Dylan to Andy Warhol.

Sherill Tippins educates readers on the history of the Chelsea Hotel in her history read titled Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York’s Legendary Chelsea Hotel. From its founding in 1884 to present day, Tippins has created a bit of a memoir, one the hotel itself would have written (if hotels could do such things) about the lives and accomplishments of its notable guests over the past 125 years. The history is slowly uncovered, and the stories are divulged in chronological order filled with sexcapades, murder, along with literary and musical genius. The Chelsea herself would be pleased.