Bring the dog, wash the car at cutting-edge hotel

The aloft, scheduled to open in July at 1500 Crossways Blvd., will have five floors and 136 rooms. City officials this week officially welcomed the newest hotel planned for the Greenbrier area, where visitors already have 2,400 rooms to choose from. Officials with "aloft" hotels, however, believe their lodging experience will be cutting edge, from its tech-loaded rooms to its super-sized showers. Visitors who are do-it-your selfers can make their own cappuccinos and wash their cars.

Bring your dog. Behind the door marked "arf," pets can find treats and toys.

During a ground-breaking ceremony Monday, Mayor Dalton Edge praised locally based LTD Management Co. for bringing the new hotel here.

"LTD was responsible for Chesapeake's first hotel," he said. "This will be the eighth. Restaurants and hotels bring in $50 million annually to our economy."

The new aloft, scheduled to open next July at 1500 Crossways Blvd., will have five floors and 136 rooms. The chain is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts World wide Inc., which also has the Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis hotel brands. According to company brochures and press releases, the rooms will have 9-foot ceilings, large bathrooms, walk-in showers and ultra-comfortable beds. The whole building will include wireless connections for cell phones, laptops and mp3 players. Even the swimming pool area, labeled "splash," is wired.

Catch names abound in these hotels: The restaurant is dubbed "re:fuel"; the lounge, "w xyz," the modern gym, "re: charge." The brand name, "aloft," is spelled all lower case.

The Chesapeake aloft will be among the first to open. Starwood is aiming to build 500 hotels around the world, said Kimberly Schlick, a public relations representative for the hotel chain. Three more are scheduled to open in Virginia next year: two in Northern Virginia and another near Richmond. The aloft is just north of the new Hyatt hotel, which is being constructed in the Towne Place at Greenbrier. That hotel is expected to open in late spring, said Tom Elder, the city's acting director of economic development.