“It really is a help to have been born with hospitality in the blood. My father owned and managed a small bed-and-breakfast back in The Bahamas. I must admit that from the start I always vowed I would never, ever follow him,” laughs Kristen Whyly, resort manager of Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Olina, Hawaii.
Famous last words. “After I graduated from Tennessee State, with majors in International Business and Economics and a subsidiary in Engineering, Peter de Savary, the entrepreneur who owned The Abaco Club in The Bahamas, asked me to help out on the operations side. A short-term favor to a friend turned into a career,” Whyly admitted.
A typically Bahamian culture of cheery disposition, jovial thoughtfulness and flexibility were significant advantages for Whyly. From The Abaco Club it was only a short time before Four Seasons picked him up, first for Four Seasons on Exuma (now Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exhuma); then he was sent to Thailand – both Bangkok and Koh Samui.
After that came Four Seasons Maui, which he left June 2016 to move to another Hawaiian Island, Oahu, Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Oli. He arrived one month following the re-opening, after a two-year conversion, of what had formerly been J.W. Marriott Ihilani at Ko Olina.
“I came here to Ko Olina as director of rooms and was promoted in January 2017,” Whyly said. “My engineering background came in more useful then, admittedly, but now I find my business and economics training is invaluable in talking to the type of guests we have here.” Now, it is essential that he keeps up to date with what is going on in the world.
Whyly added that it is also extremely important for him to keep abreast of technology as The Four Seasons app’s chat facility means guests can contact the hotel, for whatever, with average two minutes’ response time. Technology also means that the bedroom door system monitors who is going out of a room, after which motion-senser power control kicks in.
Whyly is directly responsible for all hotel operations apart from finance, HR and sales and marketing. The hotel has a 17-room spa with five rooftop tennis courts. There are three outdoor pools, one family-friendly and one adult-only that is, at 110 feet, the longest infinity pool in Hawaii.
Whyly is constantly adding things – in the run-up to the holiday season the hotel had daily-changing boutique pop-ups, a sunny version of Europe’s famous Christmas markets, he explained. “Today’s guests want the best, as well as constant surprises – restaurants are a particular passion and after chef-restaurateur Michael Mina came to visit a month ago, we switched our popular seafood restaurant to a licensed Mina’s Fish House, and we are already seeing an increase in covers,” Whyly added.
Kristen Whyly knows he may, depending on the location, have to do at least one more runner-up role before becoming a general manager. “At some point I should like to be hotel manager of a city hotel and, when the time is ripe, I would not mind returning home to The Bahamas,” he said. “I was on the task force converting The Ocean Club to Four Seasons, overnight.”