Checking In

By Coco Masters

Hoteliers in Asia and the Middle East are cashing in on North America's great room rates and feasting on that luxury-lodgings market. Dubai-based Jumeirah has assumed management of New York City's Essex House, and Bombay-based Tata Group scooped up the Pierre. And now Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud, below, is spearheading the most recent five-star bid: a $3.9 billion offer by his Kingdom Hotel International and Colony Capital to buy Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. The two companies want to create a $5.5 billion high-end leader, with 120 hotels in 24 countries. Why the interest in prestige North American properties? In part, foreign hoteliers hope to lure nouveau-riche travelers from their own countries. A weak dollar and a low-supply lodgings cycle that analysts expect to last until 2008 help. "The broader trend is private-equity interests in hotel assets," says Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Falcone. So far, shareholders are the biggest winners. Fairmont's stock has jumped 57% over last quarter. Next for the prince: an IPO for another of his hotel companies and the opening of his Four Seasons flagship hotel in Toronto.