WAIKIKI BEACH, Hawaii – Aqua Hotels & Resorts (www.aquaresorts.com) announced that Brian “Kovy” Kovaloff and Karen Yonemoto have joined the Pagoda Hotel management team.

Brian “Kovy” Kovaloff, Hotel Manager
Kovaloff was named Hotel Manager of the 359-room Pagoda Hotel, located at 1525 Rycroft Street in central Honolulu.
 
“We are pleased to have Kovy join the Pagoda ohana,” said Albert Roque, General Manager.  “His enthusiasm for the job is excellent and his experience and understanding of hotel maintenance issues is a bonus.”
 
Kovaloff has been with Aqua since 2008 and was most recently Area Director of Facilities at the Aqua Palms & Spa and Pagoda Hotel.  Prior to joining Aqua, Kovaloff worked in engineering at Hyatt Regency Waikiki and Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel as Engineering Supervisor and Safety Manager.
 
Kovaloff graduated from Kamehameha Schools and completed the Building Maintenance Program at Honolulu Community College. 
 
Karen Yonemoto, Sales Manager
Yonemoto is Sales Manager for the Pagoda and White Sands Hotels.

Prior to joining Aqua, Yonemoto was Sales Manager at Aloha Holidays and for twenty years with HTH Corporation. During her tenure with HTH, she held various sales positions for the Pacific Beach Hotel, King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel and the Pagoda Hotel. She was instrumental in creating and facilitating the Pagoda corporate program “Premier Club”. She was also responsible for bringing the Center for Asia Pacific Exchange (CAPE) and the Marianas program which the Pagoda still welcomes today.
 
Robin Harlow, Aqua’s Senior Director of Sales said, “I had the pleasure to be on site with Karen on her first day and it was rewarding to hear ‘Welcome Home Karen’, from the Pagoda Hotel staff.”

Yonemoto graduated with a B.Ed. and received a post degree in education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Yonemoto can be reached at [email protected].

About Pagoda Hotel
A home away from home and a family favorite for generations, Pagoda Hotel is a hidden oasis in the heart of Honolulu located at 1525 Rycroft Street.

Pagoda Hotel features a selection of spacious hotel rooms, studios and one- and two-bedroom kitchenette units.  Pagoda Floating Restaurant offers family dining and private ‘tea houses’ for small gatherings. For larger parties and receptions, Pagoda Hotel has two function spaces that can be divided comfortably into smaller rooms. The hotel offers two swimming pools, ample guest parking, Japanese-inspired water garden with cascading waterfalls and colorful koi including daily koi feedings.

Pagoda Hotel is managed by Aqua Hotels & Resorts; a Hawai‘i-owned and operated lodging hospitality company founded by Mike Paulin.  Aqua is represented in Australia and New Zealand by Travel Reflections, South Korea by Pacific Air Agency Group, China by Aloha Consultant Company, Japan by ARM International and United Kingdom by First Public Relations.  For more information about Aqua Hotels & Resorts visit www.aquaresorts.com

For more information about Pagoda Hotel, call 808-941-6611 or visit www.pagodahotel.com.