HOTELS

Derek Gale

Starwood CEO On The Run
February 5, 2008

While Editor in Chief Jeff Weinstein had the plum assignment of attending the lavish launch party for Marriott’s new boutique brand, Edition, during the 2008 Americas Lodging Industry Summit (ALIS), I was doing the work of the truly dedicated hotel industry magazine editor, getting up before 6 a.m. January 29th for an early morning run with Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen.

Sponsored by Starwood’s ELEMENT hotels brand, I anticipated nothing more than a PR opportunity for the company—getting the relatively new CEO out there in a fun way. Boy was I wrong! Mr. van Paasschen is quite the serious runner, which I found out rather quickly, as he led the group of eight of us right from the start, setting a fast pace.

The 3.5 miles really flew by—this was no leisurely jog in the park around the University of California, Los Angeles’ campus. We were back to our starting point at the W Westwood in not much more than 30 minutes, if even that long.

Being young and in decent physical shape, I was able to keep up, but I was thoroughly impressed by not only Mr. van Paasschen, but also by others in the group such as Champ Hospitality President Joe Champ, who’s quite the runner himself, setting a personal best in a recent marathon and finishing at the top of his age group.

At the finish line, the kind folks from ELEMENT hotels had water, towels, bananas and apples waiting for us, all of which were welcome after the early morning “Rise and Run.”

At one point during the run, I thought about asking Mr. van Paasschen a few questions about element and Starwood’s other brands, as well as his priorities moving forward, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the words out without gasping for air. Needless to say, I’ll be following up with him in the future, hopefully with both of us at stationary locations!

    

Posted by Derek Gale on February 5, 2008 | Comments (0)