Starwood Hotels & Resorts has appointed Even Frydenberg to the role of Senior Vice President, Western Europe and Global Initiatives. Mr. Frydenberg has 20 years of experience with Starwood and most recently served as Senior Vice President of Operations and Global Initiatives for the Europe, Africa & the Middle East (EAME) division.

A Norwegian national, Mr. Frydenberg graduated with an MBA from Stanford University in California before starting his career with Starwood in 1993 as Executive Assistant Manager responsible for the Rooms Division and Food & Beverage at the Sheraton Copenhagen in Denmark. He then held a number of Area and General Manager positions throughout Europe, the last being Area Manager Nordic, Russia and Georgia, before being appointed as Vice President Six Sigma for EAME, a position that he held for four years.

In his most recent role, Mr. Frydenberg oversaw operational support functions for the 250 owned, leased, managed and franchised hotels in the EAME division. Among his responsibilities were design, construction and engineering; residential development; new builds and transitions; owner relations; health, safety and security; operational innovation; food and beverage and rooms operations.  He also co-led the successful integration of 130 Le Méridien hotels worldwide into Starwood’s portfolio when the brand was acquired in 2005.

Michael Wale, President, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Africa and Middle East, stated, “During his 20 years with Starwood, Even has been instrumental in driving innovation in our hotel operations and delivering results for our owners and shareholders. His sense of teamwork and cross functional collaboration, combined with his background as General Manager and Area Manager in several European hotels makes him perfectly positioned to take the reins of the Western Europe region.”

In addition, to overseeing operations in the Western Europe region, Mr. Frydenberg will retain his responsibilities for implementing Starwood’s Global Initiatives in the EAME division. This involves driving forward key strategic priorities in the fields of supply chain, revenue management, food and beverage and Global Citizenship as well as managing and implementing change across the Starwood system.

In his new role, Mr. Frydenberg will be based in Brussels and will report to Michael Wale.