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The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Hyatt today celebrated the "topping out" of the new on-airport Grand Hyatt at SFO. The 351-room, 12-story hotel on airport grounds (next to the international terminal) should open in July 2019.

The $237 million project, which broke ground in 2016 and is now clearly visible from Highway 101, appears to be moving remarkably fast.

The "topping out" ceremony celebrates the final placement of the structure's steel frame. While there's still exposed steel at the top, lower floors now have exterior siding and windows. When entering the airport roadways, it's easy to see where the hotel's fourth floor rail station will connect it to the rest of the airport.

The hotel will offer more than 14,000 square feet of meeting space, a 70-seat three-meal restaurant, two bars, 24-hour in-room dining, a grab-and-go market, Hyatt StayFit Gym, yoga room and massage treatment room. Alas, it will not have a rooftop deck for planespotting on adjacent runways.

It will face the large apron area behind the International Terminal A, offering fantastic views of Boeing 747s from British Airways, KLM and Qantas (among others).

The hotel's roadway entrance will face the airport, with the noses of big jets peering over blast fencing from the apron. Guests arriving by road will take elevators up to the fourth floor lobby.

The new hotel is located on the same site as the old Hilton Inn at SFO, which was built in 1959. For a reminiscent look at the old low-slung Hilton, and to see the dramatic expansion of the airport since then, check out this image from the SFO Museum. Anyone remember the hotel's famous Tiger-A-Go-Go nightclub?

Regrettably, there will be no viewing deck on the roof as previously hoped. But views from rooms, conference facilities and dining venue will be outstanding. Not sure I could pay much attention in a meeting when there's an A380 or 747 lumbering along just beyond the glass windows!

Fly through the new hotel in this animation

Grand Hyatt at SFO is being designed by Hornberger + Worstell with ED2 International and constructed by Webcor Builders. The facility will be designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) "Gold" certification for environmentally-sustainable design and operation.

For more information and construction/opening updates, see: http://www.flysfo.com/hotel

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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.



