Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and OTO Development have announced the opening of Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Airport-South, phase one of the country's first joint Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites development.

Hyatt Summerfield Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport-South is scheduled to open in early March.

"Annually, more than 20 million passengers are already flying through Hollywood International Airport and nearly four million cruise passengers are utilizing Port Everglades," said Corry Oakes, CEO and president, OTO Development, LLC. "When you factor the airport's $1.2 billion expansion and that two of the world's biggest cruise ships will dock in Port Everglades in 2010, Hyatt Place, and soon Hyatt Summerfield Suites, can offer the kind of amenities that today's business and leisure travelers want."

"People no longer separate their lives into personal time and professional time. Instead, we have seen a new kind of lifestyle emerge where people are juggling multiple tasks, both personal and professional, at once," said Gary Dollens, senior vice president, Hyatt Hotels Management Corp. "Hyatt Place was specifically designed to make living this kind of multitasking lifestyle away from home possible in a way that wasn't before. Because Fort Lauderdale attracts such a mix of travelers, we are confident that Hyatt Place will offer these guests the right environment to meet all of their needs."

According to company officials, Hyatt Place hotels are specially designed to accommodate today's lifestyle, offering amenities such as complimentary Wi-Fi access, a StayFit@Hyatt fitness center, a coffee and wine bar serving Starbucks specialty coffees and premium wine and beer, and the Grab 'n Go case stocked with freshly made sandwiches and salads.

Hotels Corp., headquartered in Chicago, is a global hospitality.

OTO Development, headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is a hotel management company.