New Marriott To Open In Woodlands, TX

THE WOODLANDS, TX— HOTEL BUSINESS® has learned that Marriott International is opening a new 345-room property here in December 2002 owned by the Woodlands Operating Company, which also owns the nearby Woodlands Resort & Conference Center. The new full-service Marriott hotel will be located in the downtown Woodlands community, about 20 miles north of Houston, along the area’s soon-to-be-completed Water Way. Slated to open at the end of 2002, the Water Way and Riverwalk will provide transportation between shopping, dining, and entertainment venues. The new Marriott hotel sits five-minutes from Woodlands Operating Company’s existing 490-room rural resort; however, VP/Hospitality Robert Nelson does not anticipate any negative competition. “[The resort] is for corporate and leisure business,” said Nelson. The new Marriott is geared more towards “convention and transient business,” he said. “My asset managers have been instructed to work for both hotels, so we don’t cannibalize each other,” added Nelson. —Diana M. Rodriguez