New president of Starwood Capital's management arm a founding member of sbe

Starwood Capital Group's hotel brand management company SH Group has named Arash Azarbarzin as its new president. Effective immediately, Azarbarzin will oversee the operations and expansion of the management company. 

Azarbarzin has 30 years of hotel industry experience. He is a founder of sbe Hotel Group and was the company president for 12 years. Azarbarzin also worked in leadership roles in W Hotels & Resorts with Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group and creator of the W Hotels, St. Regis and Four Seasons brands.

"Arash and I worked together at Starwood Hotels," Sternlicht said in a statement. "His impressive results and successes with W Hotels & Resorts, St. Regis and others as well as his terrific track record operating and developing the sbe hotel brands make him an invaluable addition and welcome member to SH Group."

The company, Sternlicht added, was planning to "rapidly expand" its global footprint.

Arash Azarbarzin has 30 years of experience in the hotel industry.

Along with daily operations, Azarbarzin will lead the upcoming openings of 1 Hotel locations in Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas, Sunnyvale, Calif., Sanya, China and Paris. He will also spearhead the company's global initiatives and upcoming Baccarat Hotels & Resorts openings. "Both 1 Hotels and Baccarat Hotels & Resorts are experiencing startling market success and are positioned for incredible growth and my goal is to fuel each brand's expansion while continuing to cement each hotel as leaders in their market," Azarbarzin said.

SH Group's 1 Hotels operates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Miami South Beach. Meanwhile, the Baccarat Hotel brand has one property in New York. SH Group plans to debut the brand in Morocco, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha soon. The pipeline also has future openings across the Americas, Europe, MENA and Asia-Pacific.