Four Seasons Hotels Inc

At the tranquil Four Seasons Resort Aviara north of San Diego, a heated struggle for control of the deluxe hotel's future is playing out in a rare public spat. The increasingly nasty tussle at the Carlsbad resort is indicative of tensions throughout the higher end of the hotel industry, as travelers cut way back on spending. At issue is the very definition of luxury.

A $3.37-billion deal announced Monday by billionaires Bill Gates and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to buy the luxury Four Seasons Hotels Inc. underscores a frenzy by well-heeled investors to acquire hotels and lodging companies worldwide. The investment trend is the result of a worldwide economic boom that has sparked a surge in global demand for business and leisure travel, a sharp turnaround from the slump after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

I'VE discovered rehab lite. And like the motley crew of fallen politicians, overdosing rock stars and careening actors, I'm a better person for having checked in -- to a hotel. With the promise of helping its guests conquer bad habits and illness in sumptuous luxury, the new Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village offers a kind of halfway house for those of us who don't need (or want) full-time therapy, inpatient rehabilitation or personal trainers.

At first glance, East Palo Alto seems an odd choice for a new Four Seasons luxury hotel, especially when it's right on top of a freeway. Come to think of it, it seems pretty odd at second glance, too. After all, East Palo Alto is a world away--even though it's just a block away--from Palo Alto, home of Stanford University and the birthplace of countless start-ups and venture capital firms that fueled the dot-com engine.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and an investment firm owned by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates launched an offer for Four Seasons Hotels Inc. on Monday that proposed to take the Canadian luxury hotelier private. News of the bid from two of the world's richest men sent the company's stock up more than 29%, slightly topping the bid price of $82 a share in cash.

On the day before the Oscars, the most important person in Los Angeles is not the president of the academy or Harry Winston or even the guys from PricewaterhouseCoopers with their safe full of tantalizing envelopes. On the day before the Oscars, the most important person in Los Angeles is Grant Ponder, the director of pool services at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to develop a 400-room luxury hotel with Four Seasons Hotels Inc. as part of a $700-million-plus resort complex it is planning for the Las Vegas Strip. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The proposed hotel, which Circus Circus will own and Four Seasons will manage, will be connected to a 4,000-room hotel-casino the Las Vegas-based company is planning to build on the site of the Hacienda Hotel & Casino.

The white gloves are off. For months, the five-star Four Seasons Hotel (guests have included former President George Bush and Barbra Streisand) quietly sparred with its hip neighbor, the open-air Twin Palms restaurant (partners include Cindy Costner, Kevin Costner's ex-wife.) The hotel's complaint: Twin Palms' late-night rock bands are too loud.