Airport Hotels Taking Off
<B> Airport Hotels Taking Off</B>
With rates and occupancies proving the growing popularity of airport hotels, it's no surprise a number of new ones are under construction.
Continuing to build its presence at the nation's largest airports, Hilton Hotels Corp. in 1997 broke ground on a $100 million hotel project--the 600-room Logan Airport Hilton and Towers in Boston--that is slated for completion in the fall of 1999. Hilton marketing communications coordinator Thomas Wingham said the new hotel will stand "as the centerpiece of one of the largest gateway airport modernization projects in the United States."The hotel is being built in conjunction with a $1 billion airport modernization program now underway by the Massachusetts Port Authority. The 10-story property will be linked to a business center and more than 30,000 square feet of banquet and convention space.
Hilton has nearly 40 airport hotels, including major properties at three of the nation's busiest airports: Chicago O'Hare, Miami and Los Angeles. They boast recreational activities, from virtual reality golf at O'Hare to a 100-acre freshwater lake at Miam, as well as full-service business and meeting facilities, plus state-of-the-art technology.
Marriott International, meanwhile, this month will open the Vancouver Airport Marriott. The 237-room hotel, managed as a franchise by Delta Hotels and Resorts, features 4,600 square feet of space, accommodating up to 600 people, plus a business center. Hotel suites will offer Marriott's popular "Room That Works," a guest room workstation for business travelers featuring a large console table and mobile writing desk, two power outlets and a PC modem jack, moveable task light and fully adjustable ergonomic chair. Marriott has 22 airport hotels in all.
Slated to open in July is the Westin Atlanta Airport hotel, with an 81-seat state-of-the-art meeting auditorium, dubbed the HiTechAtorium, that offers audio, video, data and teleconferencing capabilities. Each seat has telephone and computer hookups and power outlets for laptops. The hotel has designed all-inclusive packages for meetings, with package prices ranging from $55 to $95 per participant, including use of the auditorium, meals and breaks.