About the Hotel Investment Conference

Gonzalo Aguilar

Gonzalo joined Minor Hotels in October 2024 and assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of
Minor Hotels, Europe and Americas, in January 2025. In this role, he oversees the company’s
operations and growth strategy across Europe and the Americas, leveraging his extensive industry
expertise to drive performance and innovation.
Gonzalo began his career with Marriott in 1994, advancing through Food and Beverage roles and
leadership positions in the Americas, including General Manager roles in Miami, Costa Rica, the US
Virgin Islands, and Brazil, where he also served as Country General Manager.

In 2010, he transitioned to Europe as Vice President of Operations for AC Hotels by Marriott,
successfully leading the integration of AC Hotels into Marriott’s global systems, including sales
and marketing platforms, eCommerce, and loyalty programs. He later held prominent leadership roles
as Area Vice President for Southern Europe and Eastern Europe, overseeing operations in diverse markets and driving significant growth in both regions.
Before joining Minor Hotels, Gonzalo served as Chief Operations Officer for Europe at Marriott
International from 2020, where he was responsible for overseeing a diverse portfolio of hotels and
ensuring operational excellence across the region. Under his
leadership, the European portfolio achieved significant growth and profitability, even during
challenging times for the industry.
Gonzalo’s career reflects a consistent track record of delivering operational excellence, achieving
strong financial results, and inspiring teams in complex, multicultural environments. His broad
expertise across regions, brands, and strategic initiatives positions him as a visionary leader in
the global hospitality industry.

Cody Bradshaw

Cody Bradshaw currently serves as Group CEO L+R Hotels, a preeminent global investment firm headquartered in London which own, develop and operate a portfolio of 114 hotels (23,014 rooms), operating in eight countries, spanning across the UK, Continental Europe, the US, and the Caribbean. The portfolio is exceptionally diverse – from select-service hotels to award-winning five-star assets and high-end leisure resorts in the world’s most exclusive locations.

Most recently, Cody played an integral role at Starwood Capital Group over 13 years, where he served on the firm’s Investment Committee and was instrumental in leading the global hotel team and business as the firm grew from $20b AUM to $120b AUM and was awarded Global Hotels & Leisure Investor of the Year and Global PE Firm of the Year on numerous occasions by Private Equity Real Estate (PERE) Magazine.

A graduate of Cornell University, Cody co-created the Certified Hotel Asset Manager (CHAM) professional designation program, which launched in 2012, is the Co-Founder and past-President of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) of Europe, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).

Marine Duchesne

Marine Duchesne is the Vice President of Development for Europe at Ennismore, where she oversees the strategy and expansion of all Ennismore brands across the Nordics, Spain, Portugal and the UK. With over seven years at Ennismore and extensive experience in the hotel real estate industry, Marine has been instrumental in driving the growth of the Hoxton brand across Europe, including key projects such as The Hoxton Oslo, the first Ennismore hotel in Norway. Ennismore’s strategy in Europe combines a strong focus on key gate-away cities where we still identify a gap for lifestyle brands, as well as resort destinations and branded residences.

Thomas Laakso

Thomas Laakso joined CapMan in 2021 and is responsible for CapMan´s hotel investments.

Before CapMan, he worked at Marriott International since 2010, most recently as Vice President, International Hotel Development where he was responsible for hotel development efforts for all 30 brands in Central and Northern Europe. Before his time in hotel development, he was a senior associate at the hotel consulting and valuation practice of HVS in London where he provided financial advice, conducting feasibility studies, valuations, and return on investment analyses for hotels and mixed-use developments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in addition to providing strategic and hands-on asset management support to hotels and restaurants.

Prior to HVS, Thomas worked in hotel operations, lastly as Director of Operations and Hotel Manager of the award winning Nine Zero Hotel in Boston. His 10-year hotel operations career include city and resort hotel experience across various disciplines with Seiler Hotels, Destination Hotels & Resorts and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in Europe, the Middle East and the USA.

Thomas divides his time between CapMan’s Helsinki office and Zurich.

Torgeir Silseth

Silseth’s first hotel related work experience was as a chef at Union Hotel in Geiranger, an effort that led to a prestigious trainee position at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg. Torgeir started his career in Strawberry as Managing Director at Quality Hotel Hafjell in 1991. In 1996, he was employed as Operations Director for Scandinavia until he took up the position of Deputy CEO of Strawberry in 1999. 

In 2006 he was named CEO.

 Torgeir is chairman of the Nordic Leisure Travel Group, which includes the tour operators Ving, Globetrotter, Spies, Tjäreborg and the airline Sunclass Airlines. 

Torgeir Silseth has his education from the Norwegian Hotel Univerity College in Stavanger.

Anders Buchardt

Anders Buchardt is a graduate - Siviløkonom - from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen, Norway. Buchardt started his career in  PwC Consulting and Storebrand Bank, before establishing his own property development business. In addition to several residential projects, Anders has over the past 15 years developed a number of new, large hotel facilities in Norway and Sweden with operators like Strawberry, Scandic and ESS Group. Together with his father Arthur, Anders owns and manages the family business AB Invest AS. The company manages a larger portfolio of own-developed hotel properties, as well as the skiing destinations Hafjell and Kvitfjell. In addition to being Head of the Development, Anders is also the Chairman of the Board of AB Invest’s own companies.

Niko Karstikko

Niko Karstikko is a Finnish tech entrepreneur reinventing the hospitality industry as Co-founder and CEO of Bob W. Bob W is a tech company operating in hospitality and the first international climate-neutral hospitality provider. Under Karstikko’s leadership, Bob W has raised over €70M in funding, and outperformed hotels and competition, whilst expanding to 11 countries and 19+ cities across Europe operating over 46 tech-powered aparthotels to-date. Bob W is Europe’s fastest growing hospitality operator today.
In addition to previously being the founder and CEO of VC-backed multinational consumer tech startup SportSetter (exit in 2016), Karstikko is also an experienced hospitality entrepreneur and occasional angel investor with a Bachelor degree in International Business and Finance from the University of South Carolina.

Eduard Elias

Afroditi Krassa

Afroditi was founded in 2002 in a garage in South London. Founder and product designer Afroditi Krassa brought a radically new approach to hospitality design that led to the creation of some of London’s most iconic projects. From itsu to Dishoom, the holistic and conceptually driven approach has defined categories for clients spanning ultra-luxury hotels such as Mandarin Oriental, Rosewood and One&Only, cinemas and clubs, celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal, iconic bars and leading restaurant groups. Two decades, 200 projects and 40 design awards later, the studio operates across three continents, working with governments, developers and hospitality leaders to reimagine the way we consume hospitality experiences.

Jerome Briet

In his capacity of Chief Development Officer, Jerome oversees the expansion of Marriott International across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Based in Dubai, Jerome leads a team of development experts committed to growing Marriott International’s footprint and further strengthening the company’s position as the world’s largest travel company.

Previously, Jerome was leading the Middle East & Africa development team and was in charge of the expansion of the branded residences business line of Marriott International across all brands in the Middle East and Africa. His extensive network and solid market reputation built over nearly two decades spent in the region have enabled Jerome to bring some of the company’s most iconic brands to the continent, including Edition and Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, as well as expand the midscale and full-service brands in underprovided submarkets.
Prior to joining Marriott International, Jerome has advised international clients in successfully conducting hotel transactions both in Europe and the Middle East, having been a senior member of the Capital Markets team of Jones Lang Lasalle in Dubai and previously in Paris.

Jerome holds a BSc in Finance from INSEEC Paris and an MBA from ESSEC Paris in Hospitality Management.

Ben Russell

Ben is a hospitality specialist with over two decades in the sector, credited with driving more than €4B in growth in scaling leading lifestyle platforms including The Hoxton and The July. At Ennismore, he led global expansion, handpicking assets across Europe and the US. More recently, he is driving the European expansion of The July, a Dutch based lifestyle aparthotel group backed by Aware Super, and just opened their first international aparthotel in London.

Louise Aggerstrøm Hansen

Louise Aggerstrøm Hansen, economist and chief analyst at Danske Bank Research since 2016. She specialises in macroeconomic analyses and closely monitors developments in the Danish economy particularly how macro issues affect Danish households and consumer behaviour. Louise is often quoted in the media and is known for her ability to communicate complex economic concepts in an understandable way. 

Asli Kutlucan

Asli Kutlucan is CEO of TFE Hotels in Europe, overseeing a portfolio of 22 hotels across Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, and the UK. She is leading the group through an exciting growth phase with the launch of the innovative MM:NT brand and the expansion of the luxury A by Adina across key European cities. With more than 25 years of international experience, she previously helped scale Cycas Hospitality from a single property to 55+ hotels across 13 countries.

Her career is marked not only by brand and portfolio growth, but also by global impact. In Rwanda, Asli lectured in hospitality and entrepreneurship and served on the Rwanda Development Board, contributing to strategies that strengthened tourism as a driver of economic development. She has also held senior roles in the US and UK, bringing a unique global perspective on leadership, innovation, and the future of hospitality.

Miguel Martins

Miguel Martins is the Head of Development for Northern Europe at IHG^®, one of the world’s leading hotel companies. He is responsible for leading and developing IHG’s brand portfolio across Northern Europe, covering 23 countries, and identifying new business opportunities.  

Miguel and his team work collaboratively with development partners to deliver value for both franchised and managed hotels across luxury, upscale and mainstream brands. In his tenure with IHG, he has since signed over 45 new deals across the Northern Europe region. 

With extensive international experience in hotel development and hotel operations, he has been involved in over 20 projects in Europe, including Portugal, Spain and Poland. Prior to joining IHG in 2015, Miguel co-founded Polish Hotel Company, a strategic growth Partner, responsible for the roll out of some of IHG’s most well-known brands in Poland, such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and Crowne Plaza.  

Miguel also worked as a Senior Consultant at an international hotel & asset management company based in Portugal where he was involved on various projects under local and international brands and experienced several functions in hotel operations. 

Anna Rieger

Anna Rieger is an Investment Manager at Union Investment, overseeing hotel transactions across Europe. She manages both acquisitions and disposals of hotel assets in key European markets, including France, Spain, the Nordics, and the Benelux countries.

With over €7 billion in assets under management invested in hotel properties, hotels are a central pillar of Union Investment’s strategy and, alongside office and retail, represent one of the strongest asset classes in the portfolio. Union Investment’s hotel strategy focuses on identifying attractive locations in dynamic gateway cities with strong underlying fundamentals, offering a balanced mix of leisure and business demand.

Stephanie Segaux

Stephanie began her career with Starwood Hotels & Resorts in the EAME office before spending nearly a decade with Rosewood Hotel Group, first in Feasibility and most recently serving as Director of Development, EAME, where she sourced new opportunities, led project negotiations, and collaborated with internal teams to bring hotel and residential projects to life. 

With a proven track record and deep relationships with owners, investors, and stakeholders, Stephanie joined Starwood Hotels in September to help drive the company’s growth and expansion across Europe and the Middle East.

Heleri Rande

Originally from Estonia, Heleri has lived in seven countries and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from New York University in Economics and Business, as well as an executive MBA in Hospitality Administration from École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland.

After leading Puccini Group’s growth in EMEA for two years after graduation, she has partnered with Think Hospitality to deliver on F&B strategy projects helping brands and owners assess the market, find the right concept positioning for the properties through strategic advice and review. Her focus is mostly on hotel and mall development projects with a portfolio that includes the likes of Accor, Hilton, Kempinski, Puro Hotels and Peel Holdings.

She is the Consulting Editor of Supper Magazine and programme director at various major hospitality events around the world. She co-founded Ideas-Flavours-Experiences, the leading gastronomy event in the Baltics and the New Baltic Hospitality Forum, the first hotel focused event in the region. Heleri also sits on the board of the Global Restaurant Investment Forum and is the Stammvater of the UK Chapter of EHL Alumni Network.

Edvard Øverlier

Edvard Øverlier is an Associate Partner in Nordic Hotel Consulting, focusing on advising real-estate investors and developers. Edvard joined NHC in August 2021 and has since worked on numerous assignments across the Nordics, e.g. hotel transactions, operators searches, property valuations, and development projects.

Edvard holds an BBA with Distinction Honours from the leading hotel management school, Glion Insititute of Higher Education in Switzerland. Edvard specialised in International Hotel Development & Finance, and during his studies he actively participated in the student life, e.g., as President of the Networking Committee.

Philip Ward

A career investment banker, Philip Ward has been involved with the hotel sector for 35 years. After heading JLL’s EMEA hospitality group (2016-2020), Philip has taken up various advisory roles with investors and companies active in operational real estate. Philip sits on the board of directors of BobW.