Ted Darnall, currently President, North America, has been named President, Starwood Real Estate, and Geoff Ballotti, Senior Vice President of Southern Europe, has been appointed Executive Vice President, Hotel Operations for North America. Darnall will report to Barry S. Sternlicht, Starwood's Chairman and CEO and Ballotti will report to Chief Operating Office, Robert Cotter. 

In his new role, Darnall, a 24-year hotel industry veteran, will oversee asset management, design, architecture and construction and hotel and franchise development for the company. 

Darnall joined Starwood in 1996 as Chief Operating Officer and assumed his current position as President, North America in 1999. Prior to Starwood, he spent 15 years at Interstate Hotels Corporation in a series of positions of increasing responsibility including Senior Vice President, Operations. 

"Ted and I have worked together since Starwood was a relatively small hotel owner with a few dozen employees and he has been a vital asset as we've grown into one of the world's largest hotel companies," said Sternlict. "He was instrumental during the integration of the company following the acquisitions of Westin and ITT Sheraton and was a driving force behind the successful development of the W brand and the many enhancements we've made to Sheraton and Westin. Now, Ted will be directly responsible for ensuring that we optimize our vast real estate holdings and properly allocate our capital expenditures around the world to increase our return on invested capital and increase asset turnover. " 

With Darnall's new assignment, Ballotti will now be responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day operations of Starwood's hotels in North America. Ballotti began his Starwood career with Sheraton as Director of Marketing for North America in 1989. He subsequently held a series of operations assignments of increasing responsibility including his current role in Europe. He earned an Undergraduate Degree from Colby College and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. 

"I have had the pleasure of working with Geoff since he joined Sheraton 13 years ago," said Cotter. "He is an outstanding hotel operator and marketer as well as an accomplished leader. His expertise makes him uniquely qualified to now lead our North America hotels. 

In addition to Darnall and Ballotti, two other Starwood veterans have been assigned new roles. Norman Macleod, currently in North American hotel operations, has been named to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Sheraton while Sue Brush, currently Vice President, Brand Operations for North America has been promoted to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Westin. Both Macleod and Brush will report to Cotter. 

A 30-year hotel industry veteran, Macleod will be responsible for brand leadership for Sheraton in North America from an operations standpoint, charged with developing programs, services and marketing initiatives that best represent the Sheraton brand. Macleod began his Starwood career with Westin in 1997. 
Brush's responsibilities on behalf of the Westin brand will mirror Macleod's. Well known in the industry, Brush began her hospitality industry career when she joined Westin 27 years ago. 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 740 properties in more than 80 countries and 110,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts.