Business: Director of Guest Relations
Business
Dave Kaneshiro: Director of Guest Relations
By Mike Yoshiura
Dave Kaneshiro doesn’t have the office you might expect for a manager at the prominent Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa. His humble headquarters are located at the parking garage entrance, and in an adjoining room there are surveillance monitors and walkietalkie radios sitting on desks. At first glance, you would think that hotel security occupied these rooms. But, Dave doesn’t mind. As director of guest relations, he’d rather spend his time outside with guests than inside his office.
“I spend 70 percent of my day roaming the property and talking to hotel guests,” Dave says. “I need to be easily accessible to everyone.”
With the Hilton’s more than 2,860 rooms, the largest room capacity in the state, Dave and his staff of 38 have their work cut out for them.
“I love dealing with people and striking up a conversation with them,” he says. “It’s good oldfashioned courtesy.”
Dave got into the hotel industry straight after graduating from Waipahu High School. He wanted to join the workforce and get some practical skills and on-thejob training.
training. “Work experience is something that no one can take away from you,” he says. “It’s easier for me to retain knowledge from hands-on experience, as opposed to book work. I have no regrets that I skipped college. College isn’t for everyone.”
Dave got his first taste of the hotel industry as a guest service agent at the Pacific Beach Hotel. A friend encouraged him to apply for the job because Dave was fluent in Japanese, which was an extremely valuable asset in the visitor industry during the Japanese boom of the ’80s and ’90s.
The job quickly turned into a career. “Keep an open mind,” he says. “With some hard work, there are a lot of opportunities to advance, particularly in the hotel industry. It shows that even though you lack a degree, you can still have a great career, as long as you make that commitment.”
As director of guest relations, Dave makes sure the hotel guests are enjoying their stay here in the Islands. “All you need is a genuine sense of sincerity and the desire to want to help people,” he says. “There are going to be times when guests will want to voice complaints, but you can’t take things personally.”
Back at his office, the air conditioner hums, struggling to cool the room on a sticky summer afternoon. A two-inch stack of job applications sits on Dave’s desk. Of the potential hires, he wonders who has what it takes to work with employees and visitors from around the world, with different cultures, values and expectations. To find out, at the end of every interview, Dave asks each candidate the same defining question: “If I were to tell you that the interview didn’t go so well, what would you say?”
So ... what would you say?