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Historic hotels in New York City

The Inn at Irving Place

These hotels are intimately connected to the city's life and times, whether they're housed in an Art Deco skyscraper or an 1830s brownstone. They've played host to visiting royalty and political types, rock stars and movie moguls, literary lions and just about every stripe of celebrity there is.

The Hotel Chelsea
222 West 23rd Street
212-243-3700

www.chelseahotel.com
This hotel has always been a little on the seedy side, although the building started out as a perfectly respectable co-op apartment complex (it was the city's tallest building when it went up in 1884). Among the celebrities who have lived here at one time or another are O. Henry, Thomas Wolfe, Brendan Behan, Dylan Thomas and Andy Warhol, not to mention Sid Vicious and Lance Loud. Today, the lacy iron balconies overhanging West 23rd Street look a little precarious, and the lobby could use some sprucing up. But if raffish charm is what you like, this is the place for you. Rates range from $225 to $700.

The Inn at Irving Place
56 Irving Place
212-533-4600
www.innatirving.com
The Inn at Irving Place, composed of two 1834 townhouses near Gramercy Park, has the feeling of a small London hotel. Rooms have high ceilings and are decorated with antiques and reproductions. Tea in the afternoon is a cherished institution here. Rooms are carefully appointed with Frette linens, cable TVs and CD players. Rooms start at $325 per night.

The Algonquin
59 West 44th Street
888-304-2047
www.algonquinhotel.com
The Algonquin Round Table -- that congregation of legendary wits headed by Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott -- spiced up lunchtime at this hotel throughout the 1920s. Long after they moved on, the hotel continues to draw its share of visiting literary types to its guest rooms and the bar that stretches across the lobby. A 1992 renovation restored many of the hotel's architectural details to their turn-of-the-century glory. Room rates start at about $284 per night.

The Roosevelt Hotel
45 East 45th Street
888-TEDDY-NY
www.theroosevelthotel.com