Secrets of success: What sets high achievers apart?
The November issue of HOTELS Magazine is what we fondly call our “Hoteliers of the World” edition, wherein we honor two individuals—one executive and one general manager—whom we deem illustrate what it means to be a trailblazer, leader and steward of the hospitality industry.
Our honorees this year personify all three. Barry Sternlicht is co-founder, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, but, for me and many others, he’s the genius who created the seminal W Hotels brand, literally started a war—the bed wars, that is, with his comfy-as-can-be Heavenly Bed—and set the loyalty program bar with SPG. He did all this when, in 1995, he created Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which would later be sold to Marriott International. He’s now back with Starwood Hotels 2.0. We chronicle his journey from real estate tyro to titan.
Luca Virgilio is the GM of London’s The Dorchester, which is known the world over for its luxury trappings and high-profile clientele. It just got better due to a fulsome renovation led by the Italy-born Virgilio, who says that hospitality courses through Italian blood. He’s got plenty of it.
Both Sternlicht and Virgilio are high achievers; that’s obvious. It got me thinking: What are the characteristics of successful people? Grit, self-awareness, decisiveness are three of several such traits that define success. Another is adaptability, something Virgilio carried in spades as he directed The Dorchester’s renovation, which, for instance, necessitated moving the entrance to the hotel to a side emergency entrance. It meant running a hotel as entire floors were taken out, all the while continuing to operate its standout restaurants amid the racket.
You get the sense that comfort with failure is not in Sternlicht’s DNA, even though it’s often cited as characteristic of people who are successful. Despite a winning attitude, Sternlicht is still a humble guy—his background (which you’ll read about) is evidence of that—and the ability to learn from mistakes is something he doesn’t shy away from. Like he told me, “You learn more from your mistakes than from your successes and anyone who is on the playing field makes mistakes.” On the gridiron of real estate and hospitality, Sternlicht is a championship quarterback (though tennis, admittedly, is more his game).
Success is a continuous journey, not a destination, and both of HOTELS Magazine’s 2025 Hoteliers of the World recipients are testament to this. The roads to success may be paved differently, offer different exits, serve up different roadblocks, but both have navigated them with aplomb. It’s a ride that everyone can learn from.
Further cuts in 2025, 2026 US forecasts
https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Forecasts/Further-cuts-in-2025-2026-US-forecasts?
By Jeffrey Weinstein
NATIONAL REPORT – CoStar and Tourism Economics have further downgraded performance projections in the final U.S. hotel forecast revision of 2025, as well as for 2026.
For 2025, occupancy was lowered 0.2 percentage points to 62.3%, while average daily rate (ADR) was maintained at +0.8% for the year. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was downgraded 0.3 ppts to -0.4%. The last total-year RevPAR declines in the U.S. occurred in 2020 and 2009.
Similar adjustments were made for 2026: occupancy (-0.3 ppts), ADR (-0.1 ppts) and RevPAR (-0.3 ppts).
“We expect little change in the macroeconomic environment as unemployment and prices continue to rise,” said STR President Amanda Hite. “As a result, our hotel performance outlook for the remainder of this year and next were lowered once again. ADR is growing well below the rate of inflation, which in turn will put more pressure on margins.”
“Job market softening, policy uncertainty, and tariff costs remain near-term drags for consumers. However, heading into 2026, we expect the U.S. travel economy to firm up moderately,” said Aran Ryan, director of industry studies with Tourism Economics. “Household income growth will continue, accompanied by tax cut benefits, resumed hiring, and less policy instability. Expanding global long-haul travel and World Cup interest will bring improved international visitation.”
Breaking: CEO change at Virgin Hotels
https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Development/Brands/Breaking-CEO-change-at-Virgin-Hotels?
By Jeffrey Weinstein
LONDON – Virgin Hotels Collection has confirmed that James Bermingham has left his role as CEO and named board member Joe Margison as interim CEO at the beginning of November for the next 12 months.
“We thank James Bermingham for his vision and the impact he has made across our business over the past five years,” a spokesperson said. “He has played a pivotal role in developing Virgin Hotels Collection and we wish him every success for the future.”
In naming Margison to his new role, Virgin said, “Joe brings a wealth of experience from across the Virgin family. He has served on the Virgin Hotels Collection board for more than six years and has led Virgin Group’s real estate investment for 10 years working closely with Virgin Hotels Collection owners, co-owners and the property teams. Joe will provide strong leadership and continuity as the business enters its next phase of growth. It’s an exciting chapter ahead.”
Bermingham stepped down as CEO after nearly five years with the brand and with Margison’s extensive experience across the Virgin brand he is expected provide strong leadership and ensure continuity as Virgin Hotels Collection moves into its next phase of growth.
WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao — After heating up over recent years, the Caribbean hospitality market has stabilized this year while supply continues to grow.
At the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit, presented by HVS, experts discussed trends in the region, such as softening occupancy and competition with cruise lines.
"The Caribbean historically, for the last three to four years, has always been at the top. It's been a high-growth market," Hannah Smith, senior analyst at STR, said in a presentation at the conference. "Really coming out of the pandemic, [it's been] one of the strongest markets in the world. And we've seen it reach kind of a stabilization point this year."
Hospitality trends in the Caribbean
While the data from CoStar, which excluded Cuba, still indicates the Caribbean is a strong region, some areas have lagged slightly. Occupancy and pricing power have slowed for some Caribbean markets and segments over the past 18 months.
"We're no longer in that really high-growth environment where, no matter what hotels did, people were going to come and they were going to pay a couple of years ago," Smith said. "Now we're in kind of that mature phase of we need to think a little bit more about who are these guests we're bringing in. Do we need to change our strategies to bring them in?"
She added that the leveling off that the region has experienced in no way compares to what the United States has seen this year.
Group demand in the Caribbean has been a reliable growth generator for hotels in the region, but this year it's also plateaued, Smith said. The market as a whole sees 15% group business, and while August was a strong month for group bookings, they came in at a lower rate, so average daily rate was down for the month.
"We are seeing that group has taken a step back," Smith said. "That's really no surprise, considering that's what we're seeing globally as well."
Only three markets have seen a decline in ADR overall year to date — Jamaica, Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago — while the rest of the region has pushed ADR growth even if occupancy dipped.
Upper-upscale and upscale are growing occupancy, according to the CoStar data, with 3.1% and 1.3% year-to-date growth, respectively.
Luxury occupancy year to date has dipped slightly by 2.4%, but the segment is still pushing ADR, growing 3.9% to $547 a night. There's a "much more modest pricing growth across the board in the lower classes," Smith said, pointing to more price sensitivity from leisure travelers.
When looking at the year so far, Kristina D’Amico, vice president of hotels asset management at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, pointed to a strong first-quarter occupancy for the region — even higher than previous years — but a more significant drop off in the second and third quarters.
"And what we're [asking] in the properties that I'm asset managing right now is, how do we fix [the second quarter] and [third quarter]?" she said. "We always know [the first quarter] is going to be stronger, and you'll see the bar get better every single year. But, what is happening in [the second quarter] and [third quarter] and why can't we get people to the Caribbean during those periods to maintain the occupancy?"
The air arrival data, which shows the Caribbean was up 6% last year, shows which markets are growing travel fastest. Overall, the Caribbean's air visitation year to date September 2025 compared to the same period last year is up 9%. Puerto Rico is up 14.4% and Curaçao is up 13.2%.
D’Amico pointed to growth in cruise arrivals in the region as something to watch. Year to date for September 2025, cruise-passenger visitation for total arrivals is up 17% over the same period last year. The Bahamas grew cruise passenger arrivals 34.6% and the Dominican Republic saw a 11.8% increase, per JLL and CTO data.
For revenue-per-available-room change in the Caribbean, D’Amico identified four leading markets — Barbados, U.S. Virgin Islands, Curaçao and Saint Lucia — with Aruba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as stable.
Meanwhile, hoteliers in the Cayman Islands, Trinidad, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and Jamaica are under repressure. D’Amico pointed to competition with the cruise industry, softening in occupancy and weakness in the middle quarters of the year as concerns.
"My perspective — the seas are a little choppy right now. Last year, we rode the wave," she said. "This year, picture is a little different."
Incoming supply
What hasn't leveled off for the Caribbean, however, is incoming hotel supply — especially on the high end and especially in the Dominican Republic.
"In terms of the rooms under construction right now, if all of them were to open tomorrow, it'd be about 10% growth in upper-upscale scale and 12% growth in luxury," Smith said.
Realistically, that 10% and 12% will deliver spread across three to four years considering the construction timelines.
The Dominican Republic has about 6,000 rooms in construction, representing 7% of its existing inventory, according to CoStar data. Some of the region's smaller islands, such as Saint Lucia, Turks and Caicos, and Cayman Islands, are seeing significant percentage rooms growth but not as many rooms comparatively, Smith said.
In her presentation, D’Amico said the Caribbean is set to increase room supply by 6% with a total of 16,000 rooms in the pipeline through 2029.
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