Brian Windle has been named as Vice President, Sales and Marketing of W Hotels, a new brand of business hotels from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. The announcement was made by Ted Darnall, Executive Vice President of Hotel Operations of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Worldwide, Inc. Ten W Hotels will open in major U.S. cities nationwide, beginning in the Fall of 1998 with the opening of W New York.

Windle brings over 18 years of hotel business experience to his new position, most recently as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Westin Resorts, where he had been since 1995. While with Westin, he was responsible for overseeing global resort sales and marketing strategies, coordinating and executing marketing plan development and centralizing Westin Resorts’ multi-million dollar global corporate advertising budget.

Prior to that, Windle spent several years working with popular resort destinations in Hawaii, Caribbean, Colorado, Arizona and California. He was the Director of Marketing for The Westin St. Francis and the Vice President of Sales for the Aspen Skiing Company. In 1992, Windle founded his own marketing communications firm, Intertrend. A graduate of San Diego State University, he majored in Business Administration.

Ted Darnall commented, “Brian Windle is a great addition to the launch of W Hotels. His experience will provide the strong foundation we need to successfully market the W brand.”

“Being involved with the launch of W Hotels is an incredible opportunity,” said Windle. “I’m looking forward to playing an integral part in the development of this unique hotel brand for Starwood.” Windle will be based in Starwood’s new global headquarters in White Plains, New York.

Offering the highest level of service and accommodations, W will provide business travelers with the personality of a boutique property yet assure the reliability of a full-service business hotel. The first W New York will open in what was formally the Doral Inn at Lexington Avenue and 49th Street. Other W Hotels are scheduled to open in 1999 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle and Chicago.

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