Business

The 41-story glass tower rises out of Warsaw's downtown like an intruder from another world. But it is a welcome one. The $65 million Warsaw Marriott, which is scheduled to open this week with a bash for 1,000 guests, will be the first major Western-operated hotel in Poland. Built in a joint venture with the Polish airline LOT and an Austrian construction company, the structure has 520 hotel rooms and office space for businesses. Amenities include a shopping mall, a swimming pool and satellite TV in every room.

Lodging rates range from $135 for a single room to $1,500 for the presidential suite. Foreigners must pay for their rooms in dollars, which will provide some much needed hard currency for Poland's government. The hotel hopes to attract swarms of Western business travelers, many of them from the U.S. Says William Tiefel, president of Marriott Hotels and Resorts: "A great many Polish Americans gave us a nudge in the right direction."