Management Team
Management Team
Capstar’s management includes a group of hotel real estate professionals who have acquired, developed, financed and renovated more than $5 billion in hotel assets. The management team is lead by Paul Whetsell.
Paul W. Whetsell, President and CEO
Over the past two decades, Paul Whetsell has built some of the nation’s largest hotel ownership and third-party management companies, overseeing the acquisition, development, financing, operations and disposition of more than 300 hotels valued at more than $5 billion. He founded and led the original CapStar Hotel Company in 1987 until its August 1998 merger with American General Hospitality Corporation, which resulted in the creation of MeriStar Hospitality, the nation’s third largest real estate investment trust, and MeriStar Hotels & Resorts, the nation’s largest independent management company. He oversaw the sale of MeriStar Hospitality (NYSE: MHX) to an affiliate of the Blackstone Group for $2.6 billion in 2006. Previously, he served in development and operating capacities for Lincoln Hotels in Dallas, Texas, and held various positions with Quality Inns (now Choice Hotels International), rising to vice president of franchise.
He served as the chairman of the board of Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: IHR) until March 2009, is a member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Industry Real Estate and Financing Advisory Council, and is a past member of NAREIT’s board of governors. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the Travel Business Roundtable, and is on the governing council of the Washington, D.C. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Whetsell holds a BA degree in history from Davidson College.