Following the departure of Frits van Paasschen, former CEO of Starwood, the new top man at the company – Adam Aron – is aggressively pursuing unit growth for 2015.

While Aron has been appointed CEO on an interim basis, no deadline has been put in place to find a permanent replacement.

One example of Starwood's growth ambitions include its recent announcement that it is marketing three assets in Fiji, including the 300-key Sheraton Fiji Resort, the 276-bedroom Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa and the Denarau Golf & Racquet Club. Proceeds from these asset sales will fund general corporate purposes – which could include growth – according to Simon Turner, president of global development at Starwood.

Turner commented on the invigorated strategy to develop the company’s portfolio: “It’s a healthy mix between management contracts and franchised, [referring to the Starwood portfolio of more than 1,200 properties worldwide]. We don’t want to have all of our eggs in one basket. It’s also a healthy mix between conversions and new builds with more new builds than conversions at this point.”