As you may know, our blog was profiled in The New York Times City Section this past Sunday. Teresa Klein from the Blog Business Summit was on top of the story, and called Stanley Bard to get his opinion on "Living with Legends." Judging from his quote, we think Stanely is softening up on the notion of blogs and that he'll offer to buy the blog any day now! We're reprinting the article below, with commentary where called for:
The Hotel Chelsea bills itself as “a rest stop for rare individuals.” The idiosyncratic hotel, which has been home to Mark Twain, Sarah Bernhardt, and Dylan Thomas among others, serves both long-term residents and short-term guests, and business is booming.
“We’re the busiest small hotel in the city,” Chelsea manager and owner Stanley Bard told me. “The whole world knows about us.” (Stanley isn't kidding. This blog has an international readership. We're especially big in Europe.)
The hotel, which was built in 1884 as a cooperative apartment complex, entered the 21st century a year ago. That’s when long-term residents Debbie Martin and Ed Hamilton began working on Living with Legends, a blog about the Chelsea’s past and present. Now, that blog is bringing the hotel even more attention.
“I don’t know whether I want blogs or logs or what I’ve got here,” said Bard. “I just want nice people to come and stay at this hotel.” (That's what Stanley said to us recently: "I want some nice people to volunteer for a rent increase." Seriously, though, a lot of the nice people who stay here have blogs, and an even larger number read them. Tourist's blogs have been a rich source of material for us.)
And while the venue is absolutely turning a profit, it’s not a marketing plan that makes it so successful. It’s the dedicated following, the characters and the history that keep people coming back. That’s why a blog is perfect for an establishment such as this.
And in this case, it’s probably even better for the Chelsea that the blog isn’t an official piece of the hotel’s business puzzle. Bard couldn’t have dreamed up a better marketing plan if he’d tried. After all, it’s the residents that make the Chelsea unique in all the world. (You got that right! That's what attracts people to the hotel: the fact that it's not a boring Holiday Inn. Anyone coming to the Chelsea looking for standard accommodations is bound to be disappointed.) (via blogbusinesssummit)
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