'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em,' may be the best maxim to explain why travel companies are getting into the virtual meeting business, actually helping clients avoid flying halfway around the globe. Two of the world's biggest hotel companies, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International, are outfitting some meeting rooms with telepresence suites, a high-end system that leapfrogs typical videoconferencing technology. 'Major multinational companies have this technology in their corporate headquarters,' said David Townshend, Marriott's senior vice president for sales. 'But it's expensive, so they've looked to Marriott and some other providers to extend their footprint.' The technology has been around for several years, but analysts say the business model for public rooms, which rent for about $500 an hour, is converging with tight travel budgets to create a more compelling reason for companies to give it a try. The technology has also improved, eliminating the delays that can make videoconferencing awkward. The suites are intended to make participants feel as if they are meeting face-to-face: Each is furnished with half a conference table facing high-definition screens that project life-size images of people sitting in similar suites elsewhere in the world. 'With telepresence, you really feel like you can look people in the eye and get a real sense of what they're about,' said Richard Redelfs, a general partner with Foundation Capital, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, Calif., that has rented suites at a nearby Cisco Systems office to meet virtually with entrepreneurs in India. That is precisely the type of business Starwood and Marriott are hoping to capture, along with customers who use the suites for recruiting interviews, legal depositions and other small meetings. Starwood locations in development include hotels in New York, Sydney, Toronto, Los Angeles and Chicago. Marriott plans to open its first telepresence suite at the New York Marriott East Side in December, followed by hotels in San Francisco and Bethesda, Md. Both companies are working with Cisco, a leader in the technology. Although Foundation does not use telepresence often enough to buy a suite, which can cost $200,000 plus network services and support charges, renting one has turned out to be efficient and economical. 'I'm a people person and that's the nature of the venture business, so I was a little skeptical about the experience,' Redelfs said. 'But it's amazing. Psychologically, you really start behaving like you're face to face.' 