THE ROVING EYE.

JET-SETTING corporate executives may soon be able to do away with luggage all together.

A new hotel under construction at Arizona Avenue and 20th Street in Santa Monica is installing lockers so that businesspeople who regularly frequent the 77-room inn can leave behind a change of clothing, a toiletries bag and gym clothing for the next visit.

Deirdre Wallace and her father, Paul Wallace, chairman of MOA Hospitality Inc. of Chicago, came up with the idea when brainstorming one day about ways to draw repeat customers. Because the hotel is being geared toward corporate executives who come to Santa Monica frequently, lockers seemed a natural.

"I will go to L.A. for three days and be breaking my shoulder carrying a bag that has my sneakers, gym clothes and work clothes," Deirdre said. "I asked myself, 'Why do I need to bring all this when I go to the same place every month?

Lockers are a common amenity at athletic clubs and gyms. But few hotels offer them. "I've never heard of it before," said Bruce Baltin, senior vice president at PKF Consulting Inc., a hotel management consulting firm in L.A. "That sounds kind of neat."

MOA Hospitality expects to finish its small hotel, which is still unnamed, sometime this summer. Initially, lockers will be free to guests who like the idea of dashing to the airport carrying only a computer bag and attache case. And while you're gone, the hotel staff can launder those gym clothes for you.