The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based hotel consulting and brokerage firm says the number of sales in the county grew to 16, compared with eight in the first six months of 2001, while the dollar volume grew from $16.8 million to nearly $79.5 million.

"Orange County was the one area of the state that completely bucked the trend," with the state's biggest increase in sales, President Alan X. Reay of Atlas tells GlobeSt.com. He says the total for Orange County actually could have been higher, but Atlas did not count the sale of a part interest in the new Laguna Beach resort being developed by Marriott because it was not a 100% sale of the property.

"The investor interest in Orange County is still very strong," Reay tells GlobeSt.com. "The new developments by Disney, the refurbished convention center, and the fact that there is very little new supply of hotel rooms have all worked in favor" of Orange County."