Longtime hotel industry veteran Kelly Hoen is leaving Starwood Hotels & Resorts to take over as general manager of the Modern Honolulu, an independent luxury property that owners have been reinventing since firing former hotel manager Marriott amid a hostile takeover and subsequent bankruptcy filing.
Hoen is the latest well-known hotelier to join the Modern in its quest to claim its place among Oahu’s top luxury properties, such as the Halekulani Hotel, the Trump International Hotel & Tower Waikiki Beachwalk, the Kahala Hotel & Resort, the Royal Hawaiian and the Westin Moana Surfrider. She joins Gerald Glennon, former general manager of the Halekulani, who joined the Modern’s executive team as managing director in 2012.
Glennon will switch to the newly created position of director emeritus and senior adviser. Under his leadership, the property moved away from its rocky start. It’s been reinventing itself since it debuted in October 2010 as the Waikiki Edition, a new brand developed by Marriott and New York hotel designer Ian Schrager of Studio 54 fame.
Under new ownership and leadership, the property has become the second-highest-ranked Honolulu hotel on TripAdvisor and Conde Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice. It also made the list of Honolulu’s AAA Four-Diamond Honolulu hotels and Forbes Four-Star hotels.
"We have accomplished so much in such a short time thanks to the hard work of an exceptional team," Glennon said in a prepared statement. "The timing is appropriate to transition to Kelly in order to continue our growth trajectory. The team here comes to work every day to create an experience for our guests and Kelly’s vision and values mesh perfectly with that direction. She’s a perfect fit."
Hoen, who was the first female general manager of the Royal Hawaiian, will join The Modern on Monday.
"I have worked at some great properties on Oahu, Kauai and Maui," said Hoen, whose last day at the Royal Hawaiian was Monday. "The Modern Honolulu is so unique — uncommon — there is nothing else like it in the state. It’s exciting to be a part of a chic, sophisticated brand."
During her 35 years of Hawaii hospitality experience, Hoen also served as general manager of the Princeville Resort on Kauai and the Kapalua Bay Hotel on Maui. Active in the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, she also serves on the Aloha United Way board.
"Kelly has been the integral part of the repositioning and success of the ‘Pink Palace of the Pacific’ and she will be missed greatly by all who had the pleasure to work with, and for her," said Kelly Sanders, area managing director, Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Waikiki. "We will be working through a plan for leadership of this iconic resort and will be providing support to the operations teams to continue the great work that Kelly has done over the past six plus years. We wish her success in her new role."
