The Chelsea Hotel closes to guests, rock & roll basically over

Amid negotiations and renovations, the legendary New York landmark that Patti Smith, Jack Keroac, Iggy Pop and Bob Dylan called home has closed to guests, confirming rock & roll's slide into a thing our parents or grandparents did.

During its long life, Hotel Chelsea , otherwise know as the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea, has been home to Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, amongst others, and rose to noteriety as the place where Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious, was found dead. Now, as of the 1st August, the hotel has closed its doors to transient guests.

Although the 100 residents who lived in the hotel before the change of policy are allowed to remain there, this means the building, which is a New York City landmark, will no longer function as a hotel, and therefore no-one will have the chance to experience staying within its history-filled walls for the foreseeable future.

This insightful New York Times feature , which documents the final night of guests staying at the hotel, explains that the building is in the process of being sold, and its future is unclear.

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