Hoisted by a 125-foot crane, a tower cupola crowned with an American flag was today placed on top of the new Residence Inn by Marriott at Country Club Plaza here, marking the official topping-off of the 106-suite hotel, due to open in mid-November.
The honorable Kay Barnes, mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, keynoted the event. She was joined by Joe Andrick, the new hotel’s general manager, along with event hosts Henry Hotels, Inc., which developed and will manage the hotel; and MW Builders, general contractor. Henry Hotels and MW Builders are both headquartered in Overland Park.
The new Residence Inn at Country Club Plaza is part of the redevelopment of historical Country Club Plaza, and was designed to preserve and complement the area’s architectural landscape. Lew Wiens, president and chief operating officer of Henry Hotels, noted the uniqueness of the project, saying, “This urban redevelopment project has been my best challenge to date. Working closely with both the Kansas City Planning Department and Everett Hedeen, the project architect, we created a uniquely beautiful Residence Inn that is probably one of the best projects in our portfolio.”

Residence Inn by Marriott, recently rated the No. 1 hotel brand in the extended-stay category according to the J.D. Powers and Associates 2002 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey, is the nation’s largest extended stay brand with more than 400 locations worldwide. Each Residence Inn suite has a fully equipped kitchen with coffee maker, microwave oven and full-sized appliances. A complimentary hot breakfast buffet is served daily, in addition to a weekday evening social hour and a weekly barbecue. Other hotel amenities include daily housekeeping, complimentary grocery shopping services, same-day dry cleaning and many locations offer in-room high-speed Internet access.
Henry Hotels, Inc., a hotel development and management company, was established in 1975 by Lew Wiens. In addition to the Residence Inn by Marriott at Country Club Plaza, other hotels in the seven-property Henry Hotels portfolio include Residence Inn by Marriott - Overland Park; SpringHill Suites by Marriott at Overland Park; Fairfield Inn by Marriott at Union Hill (Kansas City); Fairfield Inn by Marriott in hays, Kansas; Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Manhattan, Kansas; and Super 8 in Overland Park. Henry Hotels is part of parent company True North Hotel Group, LLC, which has hotel properties in 11 states.

MW Builders, a general contractor with projects located nationally, has completed many local projects including Costco Wholesale Warehouse and Sam’s Club, both in Independence, Mo.; Courtyard by Marriott at Overland Park-Convention Center; Wal*Mart in South Kansas City, Mo.; and Building M - Summit Woods Crossing, in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
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