Karan-Ishwar Lalwani Lalwani

• Grant Thornton, Spain (2026-Present); Director - Hotel Asset Management
• Pearl Overseas Investments, Republic of Guinea & UAE (2018-Present); Owner Representative
• Horwath HTL, Spain (2023-2024); Director - Hotel Asset Management

• Managing Finance, IT, and Purchasing

• Worked with Operations to improve productivity and profitability in the leased portfolio, providing recurring reports & analyses for key stakeholders, & evaluating the effectiveness of initiatives / business transformation projects laid out in the 5-Year Plan

• Supported Asset Management to 1) review projections and ROCE calculations for repositioning projects presented to the Project Approval Committee (Executive Leadership Team); 2) summarise & evaluate compliance to contractual terms for the leased portfolio; 3) prepare other ad hoc reports / analyses (e.g. F&B profitability analysis including rent, summarizing clauses impacting F&B for the leased hotels)

• Other ad hoc projects: 1) prepared customised analyses and reports for the COO; 2) drafted the slides on economics for 5-Year Plan reviews (for Asset Management, Operations, & F&B); 3) assisted in improving data quality; 4) trained & supported the Controllers in hotels and admin units in their adoption of SAP P2P module

• Conducted end-to-end hotel & legal entity audits, including reviewing balance sheet reconciliations & P&L statements (planning, fieldwork/testing, documenting results, preparing audit reports, and following up)

• Supported the Director of Internal Controls in identifying weaknesses, developing audit tools, as well as rolling-out & managing self-audits, quarterly balance sheet & annual management agreement compliance certifications

• Built and maintained strong partnerships with circa 90 hotels in Eastern and Southern Europe, ensuring that company policies are adhered to and post-acquisition finance changes are flawlessly implemented in Starwood legacy hotels

• Assisted hotel process owners to strengthen & enhance processes & tools; provided training & shared best practices on the adequacy & effectiveness of accounting procedures, internal controls, & operating systems

• Performed hotel and legal entity reviews as per the Regional Director of Finance (RDOF) annual review Plan (audited balance sheet reconciliations, adherence to policies & procedures, and system access), conducted exit meetings, drafted reports & followed up with action plans up until resolution of findings

• Supported the RDOF and hotel DOFs (60 hotels in 11 countries) for all control self-assessments, quarterly control certifications & management agreement compliance certifications. Provided relevant training & guidance to hotel teams

• Rolled out Global, Divisional, and Regional compliance projects as required

• Participated in quarterly closing compliance activities (representation letter) & other tasks for the RDOF, as required: developed a User Access Review guide for hotels that became a best practice in EAME

• Covered for the Assistant Director of Finance's maternity leave, managing a team of 6 accountants and 3 interns

• Supervised the accounting and finance team, oversaw daily accounting activities, as well as the month-end closing

• Supported in the preparation of the annual budget and monthly forecasts

• Led the corporate internal controls audit with a green score (above 90% compliance)

• Starwood Hotels' 18-month EMEA graduate management program in financial controlling

• Performed rotations in all financial controlling positions (including that of the Assistant Director of Finance), covering all accounting roles, month-end closing, balance sheet reconciliations, SOP compliance, Owner reporting, & other tasks, as required

• Provided support to the management company in accounting and finance tasks, including billing hotels for centralized services, balance sheet reconciliations, as well as other month-end activities