Think You've Got What It Takes To Work At the Sanctuary Hotel?
It's been a while since we've heard from our friends at the soon-to-be Sanctuary Hotel in Times Square. However much we wanted to believe owner Hank Freid's promise of a solid June opening, it doesn't seem like the 115-room "budget chic" hotel will be officially dropping the Portland Square moniker until at least September. Which is funny, because last time we were there, the lobby was up and running, and many of the converted rooms were already being booked.
So are they making any progress over there? "Slowly but surely," says Freid, "we're easing into this thing, we're making sure everything is perfect, perfect, perfect."
But rather than a multitude of construction projects left hanging in the air, it is the staff training that is causing the biggest delays. Committed to providing what Freid quixotically refers to as European-style concierge services ("we want the place to be known for its service, above what anyone else is doing"), he is personally overseeing the hiring of every single Sanctuary staff member. And he is still in the thick of the hiring process. Think you've got what it takes?
"I am always recruiting individuals on my own. I need people who are genuinely friendly, and love doing things for other people. If I find someone who is genuinely nice—no fake smiles—I can always teach them about working in a hotel. But you can't do the reverse. Just because someone's been in the hotel business for years doesn't mean they're genuinely friendly."
Freid hopes to have all staff members in place by August, which should give you plenty of time to polish up the old resume. If you're interested, shoot them an email here.
The good news is that until the official Sanctuary Hotel crest goes up, room rates at the hotel—which remains almost fully open—are hovering pretty low. After briefly searching through different summer dates, we came up with a $195/night Superior Queen room at the end of August under the Sanctuary 3 Night Escape package. So whether the staff by that point are actually European-style, or just plain old American, budget chic is still budget chic!
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