Initially, Marriott was going to operate it, but backed off the project following Sept. 11, Sesko says, ''although we continue to have a good rapport with Marriott.''

Although the hotel market is soft today, he expects it to be in much better shape in 2004, when the hotel is scheduled to open.

Not only does he expect the economy to be better, but also by that time E-470, a toll road, will be completed to the north, providing better access to DIA from the northwest suburbs, he says.

There's also not another hotel in the area that fills the resort niche, he tells GlobeSt.com.

''The hotels near DIA do a good job, but most of the are limited service hotels,'' he tells GlobeSt.com. ''Our hotel will have an 18-hole golf course, a spa and a conference center. No one else offers that.''

His hotel will open before the city completes its 500-room Westin Hotel at the terminal at DIA, he says.

''We will compete, but we also will offer a different product,'' Sesko explains to GlobeSt.com. ''An airport hotel has its plusses and has its minuses. What it won't have is an 18-hole golf course and a spa. If Kodak is bringing a group of people in for three or four days for a conference, this would be a great place to hold the meeting.''

While the hotel will primarily serve business groups, it also will be appealing to tourists who arrive at DIA and want to relax before heading to the mountains, he tells GlobeSt.com.

''It would be a great way to kick off your vacation,'' Sesko says.