Read about the four nominees for HOTELS 2018 Corporate Hotelier of the World below and cast your vote here:
Walter Isenberg, president and CEO, Sage Hospitality, Denver
Walter Isenberg co-founded Sage Hospitality in 1984 and serves as the company’s president and CEO. Sage owns and operates hotels and restaurants in 26 states.
Isenberg directs all company operations, including property management, real estate transactions and brand development.
Sage Hospitality has been consistently recognized for its significant commitment to corporate citizenship and was the first recipient of Marriott International’s “Spirit to Serve Award,” which is given annually to a franchise partner that lives the vision to be an outstanding corporate citizen.
Sage Hospitality also has been an industry leader in implementing green operating practices, committed to developing Gold and Silver LEED-certified hotels as well as making it a company mission to make each of its hotels as environmentally friendly as possible.
A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Isenberg is a member of the American Hotel Lodging Association Board of Directors as well as Marriott International and Starwood Owner Advisory Boards. He was recently inducted into Denver & Colorado’s Tourism Hall of Fame and is active in the community, serving on the boards of Visit Denver, The Downtown Denver Partnership, The Children’s Hospital Foundation, Colorado Concern and the Metropolitan State University of Denver Board of Trustees.
Jay Shah, CEO, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Philadelphia
Jay Shah is involved in all areas of the business with a particular emphasis on strategic relationships, capital transactions, asset management and acquisitions.
Publicly listed Hersha Hospitality Trust is a self-advised real estate investment trust, which owns and operates approximately 49 hotels in urban gateway markets across the United States.
Shah is on the Board of Directors of HHM, an independent hotel operating and private equity investment company, which operates 120 hotels across the U.S. for institutional owners. It is a preferred operator for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Intercontinental brands.
Prior to joining Hersha, Shah formed Shah & Byler, a Philadelphia-based law firm specializing in real estate and construction. Earlier, Shah was a consultant at Coopers & Lybrand. He served as a legislative assistant to Senator John Heinz on Capitol Hill and also worked with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
Shah most recently served on the Board of Trustees of The Episcopal Academy and currently serves on Cornell University Dean’s Advisory Board for the School of Hotel Administration, where he earned a bachelor of science degree. He has an MBA from the Temple University’s Fox School of Business and a law degree from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
Barry Sternlicht, chairman, CEO, Starwood Capital Group, New York City
Now running a private alternative investment firm focused on global real estate, hotel management, oil and gas, and energy infrastructure since 1991, Barry Sternlicht long has been known for his hotel investments and brand development, ranging from W hotels in 1998 to his recently launched eco-brand,1 Hotels.
For the past 26 years, Sternlicht has structured investments with an asset value of approximately US$92 billion, which has included approximately 2,900 hotels. In 2008, Sternlicht founded SH Group, a hotel management company, which owns and manages Baccarat Hotels & Resorts and 1 Hotels.
From 1995 through early 2005, Sternlicht was chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, a company he founded in 1995. During his tenure, he built Starwood Hotels into one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, employing more than 120,000 people with 895 properties in 100 countries. Sternlicht brought the boutique concept into a branded business by creating W Hotels, and he built the St. Regis Hotels brand from a single hotel to a global brand.
Sternlicht serves as chairman of Starwood Property Trust, the largest commercial mortgage REIT in the U.S. and French crystal maker Baccarat. The firm manages approximately US$56 billion of assets on behalf of its high net worth and institutional partners. Starwood Capital, its affiliates and externally managed public companies employ more than 3,800 professionals, while approximately 9,000 additional employees are involved with a dozen portfolio operating companies. The firm maintains offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Greenwich, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., and affiliated offices in London, Luxembourg, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
Sternlicht’s humanitarian efforts have garnered prestigious national honors such as JDRF’s Man of the Year, JDRF’s Living and Giving Award and JDRF’s Chairman’s Award. He received his bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, with honors from Brown University. He later earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Ted Teng, president and CEO, The Leading Hotels of the World, New York City
Since joining Leading in 2008, Ted Teng has been dedicated to reigniting the 90-year-old brand. Holding firm to his motto, “preserve, enhance and invent,” he has honored Leading Hotels’ commitment to the art of independent hotelkeeping and core values of excellence, while creating an innovative and modern Leading Hotels.
Teng has focused on reimagining and redefining a differentiated business model to successfully lead the company into the future. Through a collaborative approach with the collection’s more than 400 hotel members, the model fosters co-creation and innovation opportunities with passionate and like-minded hoteliers. In recent years, Teng created and implemented a new membership model, guided the business from a product-centric to customer-centric model and is leading the transformation of the brand’s loyalty program.
Teng’s nearly 40-year career is rooted in the global hospitality industry. Prior to joining Leading Hotels, he led the growth of hotel brands, serving as president and chief operating officer of Wyndham International, and president, Asia Pacific, at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
A graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, Teng has an MBA from the University of Hawaii. A global citizen, he was born in Shanghai, China, grew up in Hong Kong and emigrated to the U.S. at age 13.