Yet another hotel for Near North

A extended-stay hotel called Residence Inn will add 221 suitesnext year to what could be the most crowded luxury hotel scene in thecountry: the Streeterville/Gold Coast area of the Near North Side.

Marriott Corp., which bought the Residence Inn chain in 1987, isrehabbing an apartment building at 201 E. Walton, right across thestreet from the Guest Quarters hotel, which also caters to guests whostay five nights or longer.

Within a block are four other hotels: the Drake, Mayfair Regent,Knickerbocker and Westin. Only Nob Hill in San Francisco can competewith such a wealth of luxury accommodations and it has fewer unitsthan the hotels bounded by Lake Shore Drive, Delaware, Oak andMichigan.

Guest Quarters is to open in July, with the Residence Inn aimingfor the first quarter of next year. And owners of the Mayfair Regentare considering the corporate apartment route, which would competehead on with the Residence Inn concept of guest stays of a month ormore.

The residential character of Streeterville convinced Marriott toveer off its beaten track on two counts: attempting a rehab andcreating an extended-stay hotel downtown.

Usually, it chooses the look of two-story townhouses built fromscratch, such as the Residence Inn in north suburban Deerfield.

"We didn't think we could do those types of buildings downtownbecause of the land costs," said Paula Butler, spokeswoman forResidence Inn.

The Residence Inn chain now has 151 hotels.

"They're very residential in character but have full hotelservices," Butler said. "We think they will work well in cities, andare going to do two more high-rise developments, in downtown Seattleand Rochester, N.Y."

Power Contracting and Engineering Corp. is general contractorand engineer on the Walton Street job. The units, targetingmonthlong guests, will have full kitchens.

Guest Quarters wants guests who might stay a week for a trainingsession or corporate meeting.

Developers had attempted - unsuccessfully - to convert theWalton Street building into condominiums in the early 1980s.