Today‘s business travelers expect more from an airport hotel than just a place to get some sleep and take a shower. That‘s why at the Miami Airport Marriott, business travelers and customers can take advantage of three hotels and a number of restaurants and services in a campus setting.

Last year, the hotel completed a $74-million renovation project on the campus that included the construction of a 163-room Residence Inn, major additions to a Courtyard by Marriott, and improvements to the existing full-service hotel. “We now have 828 rooms and a Marriott product for every customer,” said Kimberly Wilson, General Manager of the campus.

At the Courtyard, the company increased the number of rooms from 125 to 300, added a new fitness center, and opened a Champions restaurant. The restaurant has a sports theme and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Champions concept is growing more popular in the Marriott hotels, Wilson said.

The company also added a major shine to its full-service hotel, opening up the lobby space and adding a Starbucks and the more upscale Cane Fire Grille, offering Latin cuisine and regional specialties.

“We really are a campus environment,” said Wilson. “No matter what hotel customers stay in, they can get a coffee at the Starbucks or eat at the Champions or the Cane Fire Grille.”

The Residence Inn replaced a Fairfield Inn on the campus and offers breakfast and hospitality hours for its customers. Over the past year, business at all the campus hotels has seen an uptick.

“As the economy continues to get stronger, we‘re hoping that the number of business travelers continues to increase,” said Wilson. “We‘re also starting to see our small group business starting to come back at a good pace, so we are heading in the right direction.”

Repeat customers and business travelers are the key to success for the Miami Airport Marriott. With that business model, the company focuses on offering services to its Marriott Elite members. “Because we are an airport hotel and get a lot of international business, catering to the elite members is a big part of what we do,” said Wilson. Recently, the hotel began offering free internet service to its platinum and gold elite members.

The company has also put a lot of effort into its online marketing campaign and promoting the recent renovations to its campus. With all the new services on the campus, Wilson said its customers can come into and out of Miami without having to leave the Marriott campus.

More business and more rooms on the campus means the hotel has been able to hire additional employees. About 25 employees have been hired at the Residence Inn, and the size of the staff at the Courtyard has nearly doubled thanks to the additional rooms and new restaurant.

There has been great support from the community for the hotel, and Wilson has done her part to make sure the word gets out about all it has to offer. She serves on a number of convention and hospitality boards in Miami-Dade County, and says that support from these groups mean more business. “They‘re excited to see the new campus,” Wilson said. “I‘m the vice chair for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and that group is focusing on bringing in city-wide groups that use multiple hotels across Miami.”

Another group Wilson is involved with helps recruit high school students to local culinary and hospitality schools. Many of those students go on to work at the Marriott or other local hotels and restaurants after they graduate.

“We have a lot of career opportunities open for these graduates, and we have internship programs for local high school students,” Wilson said. “It gives students a chance to experience the workplace first-hand.”

Wilson said she expects business to pick up even more as the economy improves. The hotel will continue to focus on providing high quality service and spreading the word about the major upgrades to its campus.

As part of the renovation efforts, the hotel incorporated a number of green initiatives. In addition to leading to energy savings and efficiencies, the environmental efforts appeal to individual customers and larger companies looking for hotels with meeting space.

The renovations included an additional 2,000 square feet of meeting space in the Courtyard. The typical size of a meeting on the property is between 50 and 100 people, and Marriott attracts a lot of interest from the consulting and financial industries.

Part of the thinking behind the renovations to the lobby at the full-service hotel was to enhance the experience of meeting attendees on the property and provide more of an oasis feel, Wilson said she wants visitors to get a sense of the city when they enter the lobby and not feel like they are in an airport hotel. ■