We reported earlier about how BD Hotels was slashing rates on some of the rooms, but it appears 
they are making their money back by cutting out essential services. The following is from a column in The Guardian by Russell Brand. Is this guy joking or what? Sometimes it's hard to tell with these Brits:
When I phoned reception in the dead of night to ask for water, water, I was told: "There's a deli across the street." In Maslow's hierarchy of needs water is right there with shelter and excretion at the pyramid's foundation; they may as well dispense with the toilet and the building; they could just have a bellhop stood in the street charging you $200 a night for crapping in the gutter and snuggling up with Oscar the Grouch. Comprised neatly in this scenario is the perennial issue of the romantic versus the pragmatic - you don't stay at the Chelsea for room service, you stay because you're renting a little counter-cultural history for the night.
As far as we know, all of the rooms at the Chelsea are supplied with New York State tap water, which they tell us, ranks among the countries finest. Of course, you do have to get out of bed and turn on the facet. But isn't that easier than calling down stairs and asking them to bring you a bottle of water. Sure, the Chelsesa is a "bloody Dump," but author Brand must be a bloody cripple.
On the other hand, Brand does have it right about why people stay at the Chelsea: "to rent a little counter cultural history for the night." (BD should keep this firmly in mind.) And Leonard and Janis were lucky to even have sheets on their bed. -- Ed Hamilton
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