Hotels don’t win Oscars, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make cameo appearances in movies tapped for Academy Awards. Almost every year, a movie with a scene or two set in a New York City hotel racks up a fistful of nominations or even strikes gold. See Scent of a Woman (filmed at the Waldorf Astoria and the Plaza), Godfather III (filmed at the Waldorf) and Wolf of Wall Street (filmed at the Four Seasons New York).

This year, A Complete Unknown, the history-steeped film that tracks Bob Dylan’s early career, gifted the legendary Hotel Chelsea with a whiff of Oscar magic.  Just a whiff, it turns out. Despite eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, the movie went home empty handed on March 2. Read more