"We're seeing a rise in airport hotel developments, with almost20 airport properties in the current Crowne Plaza Americasportfolio, and another three are in the pipeline," says GinaLaBarre, vice president of brand management for Crowne Plaza Hotels& Resorts, the Americas. "This hotel's location at the entranceto one of the most visited areas in the world provides us with theopportunity to grow our brand recognition among travelers cominghere from all over the world."

Newark Liberty International, which straddles the border betweenthis city and neighboring Newark, is the country's 10th busiestairport with an annual passenger count of more than 36 million in2007, and the country's fifth busiest international gateway.Located at 901 Spring St. in Elizabeth, the hotel property also has6,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, indoor and outdoorswimming pools, a business center and an airport shuttleservice.

"We invested $10 million in order to bring this property up toCrowne Plaza brand standards," says David Dobrowski of Newark FourPort LLC. "We're very pleased with the result. The brand's focusallows us to offer these accommodations and meetings facilitiesjust a short distance from New York City. The hotel is 15 milesfrom Manhattan."