Notorious Times Square hotel will hit the market soon

The Hotel Carter in Times Square, named the dirtiest U.S. hotel by travel website TripAdvisor in 2006, is expected to hit the market this year.

Since April, John Cruz of GF Management has been running the 615-key hotel at 250 West 43rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues. The company is in the process of addressing 15 outstanding building code violations, some of which involve broken “Exit” signs, insects in the lobby and malfunctioning elevators. 

About 30 rooms on the fourth floor received new Ikea furniture, framed artwork and other upgrades. And the effort appears to be working — occupancy has grown to 74 percent, from 68 percent before GF Management stepped in.

Tran Dinh Truong owned the notorious lodge from 1997 until he died in 2012, according to the New York Times. Then legal struggles plagued the hotel while Truong’s heirs sorted things out (15 children claim to be descended from Truong, some living at the hotel).

Now, Lawrence Wolf of Eastdil Secured will market the property. No asking price was mentioned. Cruz said the revamped hotel will tout its affordability.

“We offer value and a clean room,” Cruz told the Times. “We don’t have expensive tiled floors, chandeliers and snooty bellmen.” Nightly room rates range from $120 to $150.

The hotel was one of five in Midtown sued in 2009 for allegedly making the hotel entrances, registration counters and public restrooms inaccessible to people with disabilities, as reported at the time. [NYT] — Mark Maurer