Family members and hotel guests tell stories about their experiences either owning or living at the hotel in this offbeat documentary. It's worth watching just to see Debbie Harry and others reminisce by talking to the camera, with a happiness and sadness at the same time. More than one of the former occupants talks about how beat up and decrepit the furnishings were, and now we see the hotel is under-going renovation.
Much like the 1997 film "Wonderland" by O'Hagan, which described the families that originally moved into Levittown after WWII, H.G.P. will also show you the characters and celebrities that have lived and stayed here. While the owner/father always seems to be on the phone, his son and a cousin tell us about a brother, mother and grandfather, the family history, and the losses they have experienced. Some cursing. Newspaper headlines and on-screen words help fill in some of the blanks. It would have been helpful if they had explained exactly what Ian Schrager's connection is/was to the family and the hotel; did he buy it to renovate it, and then sell it back to the family? some un-answered questions here. It felt a little more warm and fuzzy when it was just a family business, and not a commercial enterprise being flipped for profit. Who owns it now? Being shown on Sundance channel during June 2012.