Filed by American Skiing Company
                Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Deemed
         Filed Pursuant to Rule 14A-12 Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                              Subject Company: MeriStar Hotels and Resorts, Inc.
                                                    Commission File No.: 1-14331

THE FOLLOWING IS THE PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY AMERICAN  SKIING COMPANY ON JANUARY
3, 2001 THE FOLLOWING DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY SECURITIES FOR SALE.

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                             Box 450 Bethel ME 04217
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                      Phone: 207-824-8100 Fax: 207-824-5274
                          e-mail: skip@sundayriver.com
                              News and information
Contacts:
Skip King, Media Relations, 207-824-5020
Dan Kashman, Investor Relations, 207-824-5013


Date:  3 January 2001
Release:  Immediate
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                      Winter is back, and so are the skiers

      Newry, ME - With the return to normal winter weather patterns over most of
ski country,  skiers and snowboarders  flocked to American Skiing Company (NYSE:
SKI) resorts over the Christmas holiday period.
      For the  seven-day  period  ending  December 31, total  system-wide  skier
visits were up  approximately16  percent over the comparable period in the prior
year.  American  Skiing Company  officials also said total revenues for the week
were up approximately 24 percent,  giving the Company the single largest week of
revenue in its history.
      "We view that as a promising  recovery after two  disappointing  Christmas
holiday  seasons," said American Skiing Company  chairman  Leslie B. Otten.  "We
believe that it demonstrates the resilience of the market."
      Normal  snowmaking  temperatures  helped New  England  resorts to open all
mountain areas and provide quality  conditions.  Many resorts,  including Sunday
River and Mount Snow,  completed  trail  openings on snowmaking  trails ahead of
schedule.
      Killington,  VT, boosted its snowmaking  capacity by 30 percent this year,
allowing it to open  trails  faster.  It entered the holiday  period with nearly
twice the open terrain of any other resort in New England.
      As expected,  The Canyons in Utah also posted solid gains.  As a result of
last  March's  opening of the resort  village at the base of the  mountain,  the
addition of "Dreamscape," its eighth mountain peak and a new "Cabriolet" gondola
lift, which  transports day visitors to the village core, The Canyons  shattered
its previous Christmas attendance record.
      Heavenly saw solid gains  year-over-year.  The resort improved performance
due to the largest  snowmaking  system in the western  United States and its new
gondola, which transports guests in the downtown South Lake Tahoe, CA/Stateline,
NV community directly to the slopes.
      "Heavenly's gondola has already served approximately 21,000 visitors since
it opened two weeks ago," said Otten.  "More than 10,000  non-skiing  sightseers
bought tickets to ride the new lift during the holidays.  Access to the mountain
from  downtown  has had a  positive  impact on both  visits  and the pace at the
existing  base  lodges.  In the long term,  we believe the  gondola  will play a
significant role in the resort's growth."
      On the real  estate  front,  Steamboat,  Heavenly  and The Canyons all saw
strong interest from prospective vacation home purchasers over the holiday week.
      "It's  important to remember  that this  information  is a snapshot of the
Christmas  holiday period," said Otten. "We still have part of the second fiscal
quarter to go.  Still,  we believe  that the  Company's  performance  during the



Christmas  holiday  week  bodes  well.  We've  got  our  first  major  milestone
successfully behind us, and the rest of the season looks promising. Reservations
for the remainder of the season are up  significantly,  real estate projects are
showing solid interest and ski conditions at our resorts are outstanding."
      American Skiing  Company's second fiscal quarter of 2001 closes on January
28, 2001.

Headquartered in Newry,  Maine,  American Skiing Company is the largest operator
of alpine ski,  snowboard  and golf  resorts in the United  States.  Its resorts
include Steamboat in Colorado;  Killington, Mount Snow and Sugarbush in Vermont;
Sunday River and  Sugarloaf/USA  in Maine;  Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire;
The Canyons in Utah;  and Heavenly in  California/Nevada.  The Company  recently
announced plans to merge with Meristar Hotels and Resorts (NYSE: MMH) and form a
new 4-season  leisure and hospitality  company to be named Doral  International.
The merger is  expected to be  completed  during the first  calendar  quarter of
2001.

The  historical and  forward-looking  statements  about American  Skiing Company
contained in this press  release are not based on historical  facts,  but rather
reflect American Skiing Company's current expectations concerning future results
and events. Similarly,  statements that describe the company's objectives, plans
or  goals  are  or  may  be  forward-looking  statements.  Such  forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks and  uncertainties.  In addition to factors
discussed above, other factors that could cause actual results,  performances or
achievements  to differ  materially from those  projected  include,  but are not
limited  to, the  following:  changes in  regional  and  national  business  and
economic  conditions  affecting both American Skiing  Company's resort operating
and  real  estate  segments;  competition  and  pricing  pressures;  failure  to
effectively integrate or operate recently acquired companies and assets; failure
to renew or refinance existing  financial  liabilities and obligations or attain
new outside  financing;  failure of on-mountain  improvements  and other capital
expenditures  to  generate  incremental  revenue;   adverse  weather  conditions
regionally and nationally; seasonal business activity; changes to federal, state
and local land use regulations;  changes to federal, state and local regulations
affecting  both  American  Skiing  Company's  resort  operating  and real estate
segments; litigation involving anti-trust, consumer and other issues; failure to
renew land leases and forest service  permits;  disruptions in water supply that
would impact snowmaking operations and impact operations; the loss of any of our
executive  officers  or key  operating  personnel;  control of  American  Skiing
Company  by  principal  stockholders;  failure  to  hire  and  retain  qualified
employees  and  other  factors  listed  from  time-to-time  in  American  Skiing
Company's   documents  filed  by  the  Company  with  the  Securities   Exchange
Commission.  The  forward-looking  statements included in this document are made
only as of the date of this document and under section 27A of the Securities Act
and section 21E of the Exchange  Act, we do not have any  obligation to publicly
update  any   forward-looking   statements  to  reflect   subsequent  events  or
circumstances.

                                  www.peaks.com


                                     * * *


         American Skiing Company plans to file a Registration  Statement on Form
S-4 with the SEC in connection  with the merger  transaction.  The Form S-4 will
contain  a  prospectus,  a proxy  statement  for the  special  meetings  of both
American  Skiing  and  MeriStar  Hotels &  Resorts,  Inc.  and other  documents.
American  Skiing  and  MeriStar  plan to mail  the  joint  proxy  statement  and
prospectus  contained  in the Form S-4 to their  stockholders.  The Form S-4 and
joint proxy statement and prospectus will contain  important  information  about
American  Skiing,  Meristar,  the  merger and  related  matters.  Investors  and
stockholders  should read the joint proxy statement and prospectus and the other
documents filed with the SEC in connection with the merger carefully before they
make any  decision  with respect to the merger.  A copy of the merger  agreement
with respect to the merger will be filed by both American Skiing and Meristar as
an exhibit to each's  respective Form 8-K dated December 11, 2000. The Form S-4,
the joint proxy statement and prospectus,  the Form 8-Ks and all other documents
filed with the SEC in connection with the merger  transaction  will be available
when filed free of charge at the SEC's web site,  at  www.sec.gov.  In addition,
the proxy statement/prospectus,  the Form 8-K and all other documents filed with



the SEC in connection  with the merger will be made  available to investors free
of charge by  calling or writing to the  American  Skiing and  MeriStar  contact
addresses listed above.
         In addition to the Form S-4, the joint proxy  statement and  prospectus
and the other documents  filed with the SEC in connection with the merger,  both
American Skiing and MeriStar are obligated to file annual, quarterly and special
reports,  proxy statements and other  information with the SEC. You may read and
copy any reports,  statements  and other  information  filed with the SEC at the
SEC's public reference rooms at 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,  Washington,  D.C. 20549
or at the  other  public  reference  rooms in New  York,  New York and  Chicago,
Illinois.  Please  call the SEC at  1-800-SEC-0330  for further  information  on
public  reference  rooms.  Filings with the SEC also are available to the public
from  commercial  document-retrieval  services and at the web site maintained by
the SEC at www.sec.gov.
         The  identity of the people  who,  under SEC rules,  may be  considered
"participants in the solicitation" of MeriStar's stockholders in connection with
the proposed merger,  and a description of their  interests,  is available in an
SEC  filing  on  Schedule  14A,  which  will  be  made  by  MeriStar.  A list of
"participants  in  the  solicitation"  of  American  Skiing's   stockholders  in
connection with the proposed merger,  and a description of their  interests,  is
available  in an SEC filing on  Schedule  14A,  which  will be made by  American
Skiing.