WITH HONORS
HOTELS MAGAZINE’ S 2025 AWARDEES
In hotel circles, Barry Sternlicht, who founded Starwood Hotels and Resorts, is mythical. A trailblazer in the lifestyle and luxury space, he is the creator of W Hotels and the Heavenly Bed, to name just two hospitality inventions. He’ s also a real estate titan and, as co-founder, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, leads an investment firm with more than $ 120 billion of assets under management. It’ s easy to see why HOTELS Magazine is recognizing Sternlicht as its 2025 Corporate Hotelier of the World. In the following pages, you’ ll hear the story of where he came from, where he went and why he is showing no signs of letting up any time soon.
Sternlicht is an innovator in hotel branding and real estate. Luca Virgilio is a pioneer in operational leadership, which is to say he is one of the greatest general managers of our time. It’ s not hyperbole: Virgilio is the GM of The Dorchester, in London, one of the preeminent luxury hotels in the world. Hospitality runs in Italian blood, but for the Italy-born Virgilio, his rise in the GM ranks came only after tapping into it. We chronicle his ascent and his deft leadership of The Dorchester as it undergoes a sweeping full-scale renovation, which only reinforces why he is HOTELS Magazine’ s 2025 GM Hotelier of the World.
14 hotelsmag. com November 2025