Now those people who are traveling on a temporary assignment, training for a new position, or are relocating, can find a comfortable new place to live in the Doral area.

It is the Miami Airport/ West TownePlace Suites by Marriott, which was recently opened at 10505 NW 36th Street by Landcom Hospitality Management, Inc. This delightful 95-suite facility is a cross between an apartment complex and a hotel.

Landcom Hospitality Vice President of Operations and Regional Manager for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties Max A. Kiker thinks he know why they’ve been so successful.

“TownePlace Suites are designed for people who need to be away from home for more than just a few nights and prefer residential-style living, rather than staying in a conventional hotel or motel. They offer the comfort and convenience of a suite at the cost of a moderately priced hotel room,” he said.

TownePlace Suites resembles a townhouse community and contains all the facilities and space necessary for an

individual or a family to relax, spread out, and enjoy the comforts of home.

Their locations are convenient to restaurants, banks, grocery and retail stores. There are over 50 of these extended stay hotels throughout the nation, with more being opened daily.

The new Miami Airport/West TownePlace Suites offer both one and two bedroom suits. Each suite has separate living and sleeping areas plus a fully-equipped kitchen with everything from a microwave oven to an automatic coffee maker, flatware etc. It also has a spacious work area with a desk plus voice and data lines, personalized voice mail and ample space for entertaining or meeting with colleagues.

Guests enjoy an outdoor swimming pool, cable television with premium channels and movies, a 24 hour guest laundry, a 24 hour exercise room, free local telephone calls, and on-site businesses services. They also receive Marriott Reward points.

The Miami Airport/West TownePlace Suites is one of three extended stay hotels to be opened in Miami-Dade during 1999 by Landcom Hospitality. The company opened the 95-suite Miami Lakes TownePlace Suites in June and plans to open a 140-unit Residence Inn in Coconut Grove by year’s end.

These hotels, in addition to the 112-suite Miami Airport Residence Inn, which the company built in 1989 and has managed since then, will provide it with 442 suites to serve extended stay visitors to Miami-Dade.

“We are extremely enthusiastic about the need for extended stay hotels in South Florida,” says Kiker. “The emergence of Greater Miami as an international business center, the number of businesses that have been established in this area plus the addition of South Com and the Dolphin Mall have all given impetus to the growth of the Airport West area and have made it one of the fastest growing in the nation.”

He continued, “The Miami Airport Residence Inn was the first of its kind in this area. It enjoys an unusually high occupancy rate year ’round and has provided us with the experience necessary to thoroughly understand and fulfill the needs of extended stay  guests.”

Residence Inns are also a part of the Marriott family, the leader in extended stay hotels. They too have the look and feel of townhouse communities. However, the suites are larger and more luxurious than those at TownePlace Suites and there is a fireplace in the living room area.

In addition to swimming pools, Residence Inns have Sports Courts with tennis and basketball facilities plus heated spas.

Guests may enjoy a complimentary cooked breakfast each morning plus refreshments in the evening in the “Gatehouse,” a  informal gathering place adjacent to the hotel’s reception area and front desk.

They are also treated to a free daily newspaper, a weekly barbecue and free grocery-shopping services.

There are over 300 Residence Inns now serving extended stay guests with additional hotels being opened in many cities.

Landcom Hospitality is a Jacksonville-based hotel management company with over 1,000 employees and eleven hotels in Miami-Dade, Ocala, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Louisiana and Colorado. It is planning to build additional hotels in South Florida in the future.

Kiker has been with Landcom since 1992. He started his career in the hospitality industry at age 16 as a line employee and has worked up his way up the management ladder with Holiday Inns and Marriott.

For more information about the Miami Airport/West TownePlace Suites call General Manager Julie

Avino at 305 718 4144 or 800 257 3000 for reservations.

For more information about Landcom Hospitality, the Miami Airport Residence Inn and the other Landcom hotels, call Max Kiker at  305 591 2211 or fax him at 305 59l 0902. Residence Inn reservations may be obtained by calling 800 331 3131.