The Chelsea Hotel used to be a grand place to live for New York City artists like Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe and Jimi Hendrix--who all passed through the hotel's corridors. Although the iron facade has become rusty, new dreamers come every day hoping to become inspired by ghosts of the past. Grace and Audrey, for instance, are two young poets constantly struggling with issues of art and love, while Bud, a writer down the hall, pretends that his wife and his mistress are his muses. Ross and Terry are two musicians who have just driven in from Minnesota. Ultimately, they all form a community linked by their dreams, their isolation and their plan.