For our first stay in New York City we tried to get a room at the famous “Hotel Chelsea”, but it turned out that the place is being renovated and won’t reopen before next year (wonder how much of its funky charme it’s gonna keep). Which probably saved us a good amount of money (although the “Chelsea” is not particularly expensive for a New York Hotel), since Tish eventually discovered “The Jane”! It’s not as famous as the “Chelsea”, but it’s also old and a legend in its own right. It’s located in the West Village, right next to the Hudson River. The room we rented came at a sensational 135 dollars – that’s the good news. The bad one is that is was so small, we couldn’t even bring in all our bags. We slept in a bunk bed (Etagenbett), and the bathroom was in the hallway. Not something you want to do too often, but pretty cool for one night.
Another good thing about the “Jane”: They supply free bicycles for their guests, so Tish and I took a little ride through the West Village and Chelsea. It seemed to us that New York these days is a fairly bicycle-friendly city.
Al least I got to take a look at the “Hotel Chelsea” on our little bicycle tour
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Here’s Leonard Cohen’s wonderful song about the “Chelsea” (and Janis Joplin), in a rare live version with a pretty good slide show:
(Written in Seattle, Washington, July 12, 2012)
andreasontheroad 