Grace and Audrey are young poets who constantly struggle with issues of art and love. Grace should love Frank, an artist who respects and understands her. But she still responds to the siren call of the lover who left New York for L.A. Similarly, Audrey lets impenetrable Val back into her life, knowing he will go off with Crutches to do something that could take him away from her forever. Down the hall, Bud is a writer who pretends that his wife, Greta, and his mistress, Mary, are his muses. But his eight-hundred page book is really fueled by an endless supply of alcohol. Ross and Terry are two musicians who have just driven in from Minnesota, eager to experience the Chelsea Hotel. These new hotel residents, young and full of expectations, mingle with the old hotel ghosts, ultimately becoming interchangeable. They form a community, linked by their dreams, their isolation, and their plan. The Chelsea Hotel never really leaves the people who live there, nor do they ever really leave it.