The hotel brings 199 rooms to the Austin hotel market. More than 1,370 rooms are to be delivered this year to bring the capital city's total to 18,732--still the lowest among the Texas metro areas. Austin hotel occupancy had dropped to 71% in the first quarter, down from 74% in first quarter 2000.

The Austin Airport Marriott South is situated just south of the intersection of Interstate 35 and Ben White Boulevard, about six miles from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and downtown Austin. The area has several other Marriott properties, a Hampton Inn and an Omni hotel. That group is the closest lodging to the airport except for the on-site Hilton Hotel plus a La Quinta and Hampton Inn, both located a couple miles east of the airport.

Whiteco Industries is building the Austin Airport Marriott South and Whiteco Lodging, an affiliated company, will manage the holding as it does the company's others in the portfolio. The new hotel has business and pleasure travel amenities. For business people there is 8,876 sf of meeting space, two-line phones, dataport, workout facility and free transportation to the airport.