The Gramercy Park Hotel is a New York landmark, one I saw many times. I loved seeing this documentary about its history and the people who stayed there. And though people feel like its shabby, depressed self should stay as it is and not benefit from the Ian Shrager touch, I agree in one sense. There is something amazing about all that history, but on the other hand, it deserves to be renovated to have more life and more history. And Shrager, at least in the documentary, seems to really care about the renovations.
The other interesting part of the story is that of the owners, the Weissbergs, who have suffered a good bit of tragedy in their lives, not to mention the drug addiction of some of the younger generation. This is where it got a little disjointed for me - I would have liked more focus on them, not so much jumping around for person to person. Also the hand-held camera made me a little queasy after a while.
Nevertheless, worth seeing especially if you are interested in this landmark.
