Private equity giant Starwood Capital Group has appointed veteran hotelier Raul Leal as chief executive officer of SH Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary that oversees brands such as 1 Hotels, Treehouse Hotels and Baccarat. Leal, most recently president and CEO of Virgin Hotels, will begin his new role on August 19, succeeding Arash Azarbarzin, who will be leaving SH Hotels & Resorts “to pursue a new opportunity.”
SH Brands expects to establish its headquarters office in Miami, while maintaining New York and Los Angeles satellite venues.
Leal told HOTELS on Monday, “I am honored to be working with Barry Sternlicht (chairman of SH Hotels & Resorts), one of the great visionaries in our industry and someone I have been a fan of for a long time. Barry again has seen the future and created a product and brand with a real focus on people and the planet.”
Leal said his focus has always been on culture. “I look forward to working with the teams and shareholders at SH to continue to enhance the culture of the brand and bring it to life around the world,” he added.
“Raul will continue to lead the company’s rapid expansion and help polish and continue to redefine the very definition of excellence in guest service as SH moves into the ranks of a major independent management hotel company,” Sternlicht stated. “Raul has a track record of innovation and understands branding, sophisticated and compelling design and new technologies that can power and enhance the guest experience. I’m thrilled he will lead the next chapter of the company’s growth.”
Raul Leal
Today, sustainably-driven 1 Hotels has hotels operating in Miami Beach, New York City, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Haitang Bay, China, and is just opening in Toronto. 1 Hotels also has projects under development in London, Paris, San Francisco, Nashville, Kauai, Cabo San Lucas, Melbourne and another 15 in its active pipeline. The group’s playfully bohemian Treehouse brand debuted in London and is under development in Sunnyvale, Copenhagen, Manchester, UK and Miami. The group’s ultra-luxury Baccarat Hotels and Residences are open in New York City with projects under development in Bordeaux, Miami, Florence and Macau.
Leal was president and partner at Tecton Hospitality, an independent management company, which owned and operated a diverse portfolio of 35 branded hotels and boutique hotels. In 2002, anticipating the growth of boutique hotels, he launched Desires Hotels, a division of Tecton Hospitality and one of the first management companies focused on the growing lifestyle hotel segment and one of the first to use CRM technology to understand consumer preferences. Under his leadership, Desires Hotels had 20 boutique hotels located in U.S. and global urban and resort locations. Prior to those positions, he held general management positions for Interstate Hotels, Lane Hotels and The Continental Companies.