HotelChatter

A renovated Standard Queen room.

We found rooms for next weekend at $229 a night. During the week, the prices are under $200 with the last week of March starting at $159 a night for a tiny standard queen room (about 200sq.ft.)

Yes, this is sort of what the Sanctuary/Portland Square has been saying all along--remember those "Dress Rehearsal" rates from last fall? But Freid and his son Brandon, who is handling the construction/renovations of the hotel, are promising us a May opening.

Right now, when we skip over to SanctuaryHotelNYC.com, you can't reserve a room until June 1 for $295 a night for the standard queen room but Freid assured us again that rooms will open in May.

Still, we had to ask--what took them so long? While Freid joked that he was a "slow worker" the real reason was, as it often is in these situations, the economy. But with economic conditions on an upswing, Freid said he has made completing the Sanctuary renovations a priority since the start of the year.

And with the opening of the pop-up restaurant, The Feast tomorrow night, it looks like the Sanctuary could soon provide an actual sanctuary for guests visiting Times Square and Broadway. In the meantime, we'll be keeping one eye on the calendar as May draws near.