1,000-room Fort Lee hotel takes in 1st guests

PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) -- The first guests have arrived at Fort Lee's new 1,000-room hotel.

The hotel's official grand opening is Feb. 19. But guests began checking in Jan. 5 and occupied more than 800 rooms.

Fort Lee says the hotel is the largest Army lodging facility in the continental U.S.

The first wave of guests is mostly students at the Army Logistics University.

Fort Lee Lodging general manager Marc Jannsen says in a news release that the biggest challenge was preparing the rooms. It took nearly three days to place pots and pans in each room.

A restaurant in the hotel is scheduled to open this summer.