Nov. 6, 2007 --Great Wolf Lodge announced Monday that it will add 203 suites to its family-oriented hotel under construction in Grapevine.

The 402-suite hotel, which features a giant indoor water park, will also greatly expand its meeting space to 27,000 square feet.

The hotel is planning to open Dec. 13, and the expansion will be complete in December 2008.

It will be the largest in the Madison, Wis.-based Great Wolf Resorts chain.

Great Wolf hinted at a expansion this summer when the Grapevine City Council approved the larger facility, said Barry Lewis, director of marketing for the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau. But the company wanted to wait until it neared the end of its initial construction before officially announcing the expansion, he said.

The extra space will help attract larger citywide conventions to Grapevine, Lewis said. The hotel is across the street from the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, which is also planning a large expansion for the next couple years.

"What we're really seeing is a lot of crossover between Gaylord and Great Wolf," Lewis said. "As somebody might come to the Gaylord and they're using the Great Wolf as a secondary hotel for their group, some of those [people] may see the facility, may see the meeting space, see the amenities that they have there, and look to bring in some of their other groups in the future to Great Wolf because of that."

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DAVID WETHE, 817-685-3803 [email protected]

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