DATE: Saturday, September 27, 1997          TAG: 9709270380

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   61 lines

MARRIOTT GOES FOR LONGER STAYS HOTEL CHAIN BREAKS GROUND, HOPES TO FINISH TOWNEPLACE IN ABOUT ONE YEAR

Marriott International Inc. plans to break ground this winter on its first TownePlace Suites extended-stay hotel in South Hampton Roads.

The global hospitality company opened its prototype TownePlace earlier this year in Newport News. The goal is to build 130 by the year 2000.

The Beach hotel - on Cleveland Street near the Koger Executive Center - could open by fall 1998. It will be north of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway, away from the clustering of established hotels just to the south.

``We have seen a tremendous response to the product,'' said Jeri Flood, sales and marketing director for TownePlace Suites. ``We are striving for a residential look and feel.''

The 95-unit hotel will feature two facing three-story buildings on either side of a landscaped ``main street.'' The studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites will carry nightly rates between $55 and $65.

The 2.14-acre property will include a pool, exercise facility, decorative lighting, interior corridors and 24-hour staffing. The buildings are designed to look like townhouses.

Families that are relocating, business travelers on special projects and participants at seminars or training programs are usual guests for extended-stay hotels. Marriott hopes the strong military presence fills the local hotels.

The TownePlace brand targets people seeking affordable lodging for five or more nights. Marriott expects to spend $45,000 per unit in construction costs, excluding the price of land.

Recently, the hotel's planned siding-and-brick exterior became the subject of bureaucratic delay and controversy at the Beach.

The city's Design Advisory Group, an arm of the Planning Commission, held up the works because group members thought a slate-gray ``post-modern'' look would blend better with the nearby Bell Atlantic building.

Frustrated by a series of similar delays and problems, the City Council has sought to disband the design group and has permitted Marriott to return to the original design.

Extended-stay hotels, such as Marriott's upscale Residence Inn chain, have been sprouting up nationwide in recent years as lodging companies attempt to tap into a growing market.

TownePlace will be less expensive than Residence Inns, which offer daily cleaning service and continental breakfasts. TownePlace cleaners will make two weekly trips through the rooms, one partial and one full service.

Marriott recently opened a 90-room Courtyard hotel in Chesapeake's Greenbrier business corridor. The parent company operates about 4,700 sites around the world, including the Ritz-Carlton, Fairfield Inn and Marriott Executive Residences brands.

Two competing chains - Extended Stay America and Suburban Lodge - have opened longer-stay hotels in Virginia Beach in the past year. The chains also opened hotels in Chesapeake and Newport News.

Donald L. Maxwell, the Beach's economic development director, described Marriott's newest extended-stay facility as an important addition to the business community. He said city developers continue to seek an upscale hotel and conference center, as well as other hotels for business travelers. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

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