Marriott International (NYSE/MAR) has been named to manage a new 450-room hotel in Cancun that is scheduled to open in 2000 as a JW Marriott Hotel, the highest category of hotels carrying the Marriott brand.

Owned by Inversions Turisticas Cancun, the JW Marriott Hotel Cancun will be situated on an eight-acre, beachfront site on Kukolkan Boulevard, immediately adjacent to the Marriott CasaMagna Resort Cancun. When the hotel opens, Marriott International will have 1,265 rooms, or 25 percent, of the upper-category accommodations supply in Cancun. The Marriott portfolio in Cancun also includes the 369-room The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Cancun and the 450-room Marriott CasaMagna Resort Cancun.

We are really excited to see our portfolio of hotels in Mexico include a second property in the JW` category and to have our representation in Cancun grow so dramatically, said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of Marriott`s International Lodging Operations.

Cancun is one of North America`s most important vacation destinations and is highly regarded for its strong sustainable tourism infrastructure, world-class beaches and proximity to the entertainment and culture that is unique to the destination.

With its proposed spa and meeting and convention space, we are confident that the JW Marriott Hotel Cancun will be the perfect complement to our other hotels in Cancun, he added.

For dining and entertainment, the JW Marriott Hotel Cancun will have two restaurants and two lounges, a water sports center, outdoor fantasy swimming pool, kids` club and game room as well as 20,000 square-foot spa with indoor lap pool.

Other amenities will include a retail arcade, a business center, room service and parking for 200 automobiles.

The JW Marriott Hotel Cancun will be the 11th property to be designated a JW` category hotel in Marriott`s lodging portfolio. Other JW` hotels are currently located in Mexico city; Hong Kong; Kuala Lumpur; Bangkok; Dubai; Atlanta; Houston; and Washington, D.C. Tow other JW` hotels are scheduled to open later this year in Seoul, Korea; and Quito, Ecuador, and three are under construction in Jakarta and Manila.

Architect for the JW Marriott Hotel Cancun is Gomez-Vasquez.

Also under construction in Mexico is a 350-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Los Cabos and a 129-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Monterrey.

——-