After moving up 10% since the end of January, this dividend stock sub-sector and the four stocks recommended today are perfect options to buy in this market. And, with possible double-digit dividend increases on the way in February, you can buy now before the stocks rise even higher.

The value of most shares in REITs have been beaten down by a series of investor fears including rising interest rates, a possible economic recession, and the general fear of holding stocks when the markets are volatile and declining. Now, while the rest of the REIT sector seems to still be looking for a bottom, the lodging/hotel subsector appears to have started to recover. With year-end earnings coming out soon, these stocks have the potential to produce both quick capital gains and long-term dividend income growth.

The hotel business is a very cyclical industry. Both room and occupancy rates drop significantly when the economy goes into recession. The hotel industry also has the habit of shooting itself in the foot by building out lots of inventory that typically comes online just before the economy starts into a downturn. The result is many empty rooms and hotels slashing room rates. Profits fall or go negative until the economy moves back into recovery mode, and then hotel profits can rise at a dramatic rate.

The current economic expansion has been somewhat different for the hotel industry. The slow-growth expansion coupled with the financial crisis hangover has dissuaded the industry from building new hotels. Instead, the trend has been to refurbish and rebrand existing hotels to generate higher room rates. With the economy continuing to grow at its moderate 2% per year pace, occupancy rates have also moved steadily higher.

Over the last couple of years, the better-managed hotel REITs have generated annual 30% to 50% funds from operations (FFO) growth and have announced similar increases in dividend rates. 2015 was the best year in recent history for dividend increases from the lodging/hotel REITs.