Business, leisure visitors shore up hotel vacancies: Marriott on construction spree as other properties expand.

Local hotels are gearing up for an increased demand from business travelers and an uptick in tourism expected this year.

At least three hotels are under construction in the greater Valley area and others have plans to expand in order to capture the increased activity.

Tourism, which had been weak for several years since the events of Sept. 11, appears back on track, both in the Valley and county-wide, and local hotels may also benefit from a tightening of room availability throughout the larger L.A. area.

"L.A. County is the strongest it's ever been," said Bruce Baltin, senior vice president at PKF Consulting, specialists in tourism.

Baltin said that occupancy rates have stabilized to about 76 percent at Valley-area hotels, after hovering in the mid 60 percent range for several years following Sept. 11.

And with similar improvements across the county, Baltin believes Valley-area facilities are also likely to get overflow business from leisure travelers this summer.

Among the hotels slated to come on line are two Marriott properties in Thousand Oaks. Marriott expects to open Courtyard by Marriott and TownPlace Suites in June and July respectively.

Both properties are geared to the business traveler, but TownPlace focuses on those who plan especially long stays.

According to Mike Webster, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott, both projects have been under construction for the past year and a half, but weather has delayed completion and pushed back opening dates.

Courtyard will not be accepting reservations until August.

"You never know with construction," said Webster.

The three-floor, 116-room Courtyard and three-floor, 93-room TownPlace will cater to the business travel market which has grown in the Conejo Valley thanks to companies including Amgen, Countrywide, Farmers Insurance, and WellPoint, among others.

On the other side of the Valley, R.D. Olson Development and Construction Co. is breaking ground next month on a Marriott Residence Inn in downtown Burbank.

The $36 million, five-story, 166-room extended-stay Residence Inn, owned by First Street Hotels, LLC, is set to be completed by May 2007.

The Residence Inn has faced challenges from Burbank city officials since planning began for the property, but approvals were finally received in February.

"This has been a project that has been in planning since 2000 (and) this is the third development plan that has been presented to the city," said Robert Olson, owner of R.D. Olson Development and First Street,

The Residence Inn will feature 450-square-foot studios and two-bedroom apartment style rooms totaling 750 square feet. Standard hotel rooms average 320 square feet.

The Inn will be themed to the entertainment industry with framed photos of television shows of the '60s, '70s and '80s. It will also provide 1,200 square feet of meeting space for its business clientele.

Close to major studios like Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros., the Inn is intended to provide lodging for entertainment-industry business travelers.

But it will also compete with Burbank's Graciela Hotel, which is expanding.

"Our bread and butter is fight next door," said Shawn L. Gracey, general manager of the Graciela. With 99 rooms, the Graciela at times books 25 rooms with the major studios for executives who can stay as long as 45 nights at a time while they are in production.

Graciela has plans of its own to expand into the 7,000-square-foot lot next to the hotel, adding amenities such as a health spa, a restaurant, and a swimming pool.

The "urban resort" has experienced success during the week, but has had difficulty competing for weekend and leisure business.

"We really think its going to round out the hotel as a full service operation," said Dan Parks, CFO of Graciela parent Probity International Corp. "We wish we had another 50-70 rooms; there's no space to do that."

The hotel's expansion is set to begin in the next month and should be completed by the end of 2006.

Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City is staying competitive to attract business and leisure crowds during the summer with a recently completed $2-million renovation of its 191 rooms. A complete renovation has not been undertaken since the early 1990s.

Meanwhile, attraction-based hotels near Universal Studios like Sheraton Universal in Universal City are expecting to reap the benefits of what is shaping up to be a high volume tourist season.

Richard Reeves, director of transient sales for the Sheraton Universal, said bookings are up at that property.

Bert J. Seneca, general manager of Beverly Garland Holiday Inn at Universal Studios said the hotel's occupancy rate, at about 90 percent during the summer, is standard.

"I think what you're going to see (are) hotels that aren't as close to attractions as we are, are going to see more occupancy," said Seneca, "but because we're close to Universal Studios that's almost a norm for us."

Those hotels who are not likely to be directly affected by leisure tourism because of their distance from major attractions say it is too soon to tell how the summer season will shape up.

Yet hotels that rely on the business crowd and are further from major tourist attractions, like the Hilton in Woodland Hills, say it is too soon to tell.

"We're a last minute market," said Chandler Vadhera, general manager of the Hilton Woodland Hills.

While group sales have been doing well, Vadhera said single bookings in the last month have dropped.

"Obviously if (an overflow) comes into town it's going to be affecting everybody," said Reza Khan, general manager of the Airtel Plaza in Van Nuys. Khan said the Airtel frequently attracts travelers from Europe who are visiting attractions like Universal Studios.

Despite the generally sanguine expectations for the near term, PKF's Baltin said he is uncertain about whether occupancy rates will rise further in the next couple of years.