Longtime Marriott executive Sheila Farahpour has joined Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts as SVP of development, Americas. She will report to Four Seasons Group Head of Development Ricardo Suarez and be based in the company’s Miami office.
As part of her role, Farahpour will be responsible for identifying, evaluating, structuring and delivering new market opportunities for the luxury hotel company.
Farahpour was with Marriott International for 16 years working mainly with the company’s luxury brands. She most recently was VP of luxury and mixed-use development, with the charge of expanding Marriott’s luxury hotel and residential components in the U.S. Prior to that position, she worked for more than five years helping to develop and grow Marriott’s EDITION and W brand footprints.
A Maryland native, Farahpour received a degree from the University of Maryland and thereafter began work as an analyst with nearby RLJ, real estate investment trust headquartered in Bethesda, Md. She also held a role early in her career with the brokerage firm Hodges Ward Elliott, where she was involved with individual and portfolio transactions.
In 2021, Farahpour was recognized in HOTELS Magazine’s inaugural class of rising starts in the hotel industry. In 2018, she was featured in this HOTELS Q&A, where she discussed many things related to hotel real estate. The excitement of the real estate industry appealed to her from an early age. “I always loved to play Monopoly. I still do,” she said at the time.
Hotel development has historically been a male-dominated profession; that is changing and Farahpour’s appointment supports the evolution. Back in 2018, HOTELS asked her about the development glass ceiling being broken in the hotel industry. “Being a female in a generally male-dominated development role, I see it changing,” she said. “When I first started there were maybe two or three females in this discipline and now there’s more than a dozen. Companies are giving you the resources that you need to make it all happen.”
Four Seasons opened its first hotel in 1961 under the longtime leadership of hotel industry luminary Isadore Sharp. Four Seasons currently operates more than 120 hotels and resorts worldwide and more than 50 residential properties in major city centers and resort destinations in 47 countries. It says it has more than 50 projects under planning or development.
The luxury hotel company has gone through some recent leadership, beginning with the appointment of Alejandro Reynal as president and CEO in 2022. Reynal came to Four Seasons from Apple Leisure Group, which was acquired by Hyatt Hotels Corp. in 2021.
In March, Four Seasons announced the appointment of Sudhakar Veluru as the company’s new EVP and and chief information technology officer (CITO).