Apr. 2, 2003 - DALLAS/FORT WORTH AIRPORT--The future Grand Hyatt hotel at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport's Terminal D will be equipped with luxury rooms, stone floors and fancy bathrooms. 

The airport staff recommended $5.1 million in upgrades Tuesday -- 10 percent more than originally budgeted -- to make the hotel luxurious enough to compete with other area hotels, including the planned Gaylord Opryland Texas Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine. The cost of the hotel, which is incorporated into the design of the international terminal, will now be $56 million. 

The upgrades include larger guest rooms, bathrooms with separated tubs and showers, and thermostats that will allow hotel management to control air conditioning and lights in empty rooms. Still to be decided are whether flat-screen monitors will replace the usual television sets and whether to try to compete with the Westin hotel chain's expensive feather beds. 

"I think it's a good enhancement to the hotel," said Pedro Aguirre, chairman of the D/FW operations committee. But he said the board should be wary of future escalating costs, particularly attempts to change the design. 

Other board members also said they should watch costs because of the economic woes facing the airport and the aviation industry. 

"At some point, every owner says no more checks. I'm getting close," airport board Chairman Max Wells said. 

Airport staff said an analysis about whether future revenue would cover the additional costs of the upgrades is not ready. Grapevine Councilwoman Darlene Freed, who is on the board, said overflow business from the nearby Opryland resort would help fill rooms. 

Scheduled to open in April 2004, the Opryland resort has bookings through 2012, she said. 

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(c) 2003, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. GET,