Jun. 4, 2005 - Snoop Dogg was in the hizzle. Tommy Lee, too, and Motley Crue.

The stars were in Oklahoma City on business -- the music business, for concerts downtown -- and staying at the Waterford Marriott Hotel, 15 minutes north.

Less flamboyant business types also have been crashing there -- and eating at Murphy's Chophouse, relaxing at Murphy's Bar & Lounge and enjoying the fitness center, squash court and pool.

About $5 million in renovations have honed the shine of the hotel, considered a grand addition to the posh Waterford commercial residential-office development at NW 63 and Pennsylvania in 1984.

Renovations only enhanced the Waterford Marriott's reputation among judges of hospitality properties. In April, AAA Oklahoma bestowed its prestigious Four-Diamond Award on the hotel for the ninth year in a row.

"It reflects the hotel's dedication to service and facility, as well as to the little things, those details and amenities other hotels overlook, that make this property a cut above the rest," said Chuck Mai, AAA spokesman.

The hotel was renovated from the below-ground health spa and fitness center, to the lobby, ballroom and meeting areas, to the ninth-floor presidential suite and concierge lounge, general manager Brad Boland said.

The owner, Rhode Island-based Procaccianti Group, also owns three other Marriotts and 20 other hotels. The company has been buying "up market" recently, he said.

The 197-room Waterford Marriott, acquired in July 2003, and the 370 room Doubletree at Warren Place in south Tulsa, bought in March 2004, were great fits for the hotel construction-development firm, he said.

Procaccianti's in-house design and construction arms returned the Waterford Marriott to its "original elegance and grandeur," Boland said.

"The hotel looks magnificent, and it is easy to see why this place is one of the finest hotel destinations in the Southwest," he said.

Guest rooms were remodeled with new carpet, wallpaper, plush beds, linens and furniture, said Kim Morgan, director of sales. Rooms are equipped with high-speed Internet, multiple phones, voice mail and a data port. Marble baths have whirlpool tubs.

Boland said the Waterford Marriott is loaded with executive suites for a hotel its size; 31 are single king suites, 129 are king rooms and the remainder are double rooms.

Football fans fill the place when the Sooners play at home, he said. Weddings and social events provide guests on weekends. Tourists find the hotel, even though it's away from downtown and not on an interstate highway.

But Boland said the Waterford Marriott's mainstay is the weekday traveler who might do business downtown but wants to get away from it at the end of the workday.

Which is why rapper Snoop Dogg was in the hizzle.

WATERFORD MARRIOTT:

--Owner: Procaccianti Group, Cranston, R.I.

--Rooms: 197.

--Stories: Nine.

--Size: 145, 693 square feet.

--Year built: 1984

--Procaccianti Group's other Oklahoma property: Doubletree at Warren Place, Tulsa.

--Procaccianti Group's other Marriott hotels: Norfolk, Va.; Richmond, Va.; Palm Beach, Fla.

--Company's Web site: www.procgroup.com

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