Hawaii

Shiels: How a Hawaii native found a home, and career, at Loews Miami Beach Hotel

Published

12 months ago

January 15, 2025

Shiels: How a Hawaii native found a home, and career, at Loews Miami Beach Hotel

Michael Patrick Shiels
| For the Lansing State Journal

Students in the Michigan State University School of Hospitality and Business may want to meet Mutlu Kucuk, who studied in Hawaii and works in Miami.

Standing behind a hotel front desk recently, Kucuk watched a family push a stroller toward the pool; a stylish young couple in cleavage and linen gliding out into the South Beach scene; and a mustachioed South American businessman, who just enjoyed VIP check-in, heading toward the elevator with his room key in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.

Such is life at Loews Miami Beach Hotel, an oceanfront property that is a buzzing hub of haute couture, cuisine, music, and art in the heart of Florida’s famous neon, art deco playground.

Grateful, Kucuk takes it all in as his mind takes him back in time to the day when he took a job working behind the desk. But now, 23 years into his career, he is managing director of Loews Miami Beach Hotel and the Loews Coral Gables Hotel across town.

He stops by the desk to remind himself of his fortune.

“So many opportunities Loews, as a brand, has given me and allowed me to provide for my family and loved ones.”

As a young man, he studied business in Hawaii and never expected to be in Miami…or even the hotel business.

“I wanted to be a business consultant for Meryll Lynch, so I applied there. I figured a hotel front desk job could hold me over until they called,” recalled Kucuk, who didn’t want a career as a hotel industry. “I left Hawaii and moved to the mainland because if I stayed in Hawaii all the opportunities there were tourism-related.”

In retrospect, Kucuk said was lucky Loews hired him with no experience…and then trained him.

“I have come so far, and if had to go back, I would not change a thing. Starting at the front desk and the doing every position including housekeeping, VIP, and food and beverage, made me a much-better and well-rounded general manager.”

Kucuk is, therefore, a leader and mentor.

“In truth, some young people with a degree think they should start their career as a general manager. But if you want to learn the business, you need to start from the bottom, so you can learn each step of the way,” he maintained, as we talked in the hotel’s chic Bar Collins off Loews’ lobby. “If you have the right attitude, and the right business mind, and you are hospitable – as in ‘hospitality’ – and friendly, this industry can provide a lot of opportunities. The key is continuing to work hard. There are going to be some failures. You fall and you stand back up and remember what you are trying to accomplish and go for it.”

I tested Kucuk’s theory when I descended the palm tree-shaded walkway heading to the beach through the Loews Hotel’s pleasing swimming and sunning area just after sunrise.

In the glamorous setting amidst the luxury cabanas and chase lounges, I found young, uniformed attendants already preparing the zero-entry pool and waterfall.

“You’re all here so early! What’s the matter, none of you could sleep?” I joked. The attendants folding towels and straightening chairs laughed.

“I have been looking at that jacuzzi wishing I could jump in there,” one of the staffers admitted. “But the crowds are coming.”

“Don’t take any guff from the guests,” I implored.

“Sometimes we have to, sir. It’s our job,” one fellow said with a smile and a shrug.

Soon after, diners on the veranda overlooking the pool began enjoying elaborate breakfasts in Preston’s Market – including Florida fresh fruits; guava and cheese French toast; and arepa benedict. By noon a steel drum Caribbean musician would serenade the swimmers and those enjoying mini cones from the colorful dolce vita gelato Fiat Italian car. (Save some appetite for dinner at Rao’s – the resort’s rare rendition of New York’s exclusive enclave eatery.)

Loews oceanfront location in the heart of South Beach means it is a party for everyone, and Kucuk, a father himself, exhibits a heartwarming affection for families.

“You can come and party, and when it comes to family programming, we lead the market. We have activities parents can do with their children, or they can have them participate in our SoBe Kids Club while they’re sharing a drink the bar.”

Sushi or pizza making classes; cupcake and cookie decorating; and a Smile and Snap photography class, are some choices.

I like the Loews “footprint” because while it is a bigtime resort hotel with event and convention space, it has a cozy, stylish boutique feel.

“You can enjoy the cultural experiences of Miami Beach because Loews is partnered with museums that bring the art component here to the hotel in activations,” said Kucuk.

That makes him part curator and docent, too!

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at MShiels@aol.com His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Amazon.com Hear his radio talk show on WJIM AM 1240 in Lansing weekdays from 9 am – noon.

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Hawaii

Community memorial service for Kazuo Todd today in Hilo – West Hawaii Today

Published

10 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Community memorial service for Kazuo Todd today in Hilo – West Hawaii Today

The funeral procession for deceased Fire Chief Kazuo Todd with pass-in-review for Hawaii Fire Department firefighters took place Saturday morning at HFD Administration in the County Building on Aupuni Street in Hilo.

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Hawaii

What’s Cooking: Celebrating Lunar New Year with Hawaii Dim Sum & Seafood

Published

22 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

What’s Cooking: Celebrating Lunar New Year with Hawaii Dim Sum & Seafood

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A family-run Chinese restaurant in Honolulu’s Chinatown is gearing up for Lunar New Year festivities.

Hawaii Dim Sum & Seafood Restaurant owner Karen Tam and her son Kirave Liang joined HNN’s Sunrise to showcase their dim sum and Chinese specialties.

Lunar New Year specials include a special jai with 18 vegetarian ingredients and the sweet, sticky, steamed rice cake gau in brown sugar and coconut flavors, which symbolize good fortune and prosperity.

”We eat food with a lucky meaning to start the great year,” Tam said. “We have jin dui (sesame balls) every day.“

Feb. 17 marks the start of the year of the Fire Horse, when families gather to celebrate with big meals and auspicious dishes. Hawaii Dim Sum & Seafood will offer set party menus and special orders for foods not commonly found in Honolulu, such as whole stuffed duck, braised abalone in oyster sauce, and basin meal.

“It’s the biggest fest of the year. We celebrate Chinese New Year by eating with family in a round table,“ Tam said.

Hawaii Dim Sum & Seafood also has private rooms with karaoke systems and a banquet hall to accommodate small family gatherings to large parties.

Hawaii Dim Sum & Seafood is located on 111 N. King St. and is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, There is street parking and paid parking behind the restaurant on Nimitz and Maunakea.

For more information, visit hawaiidimsumseafood.com or follow on Instagram @hawaiidimsumseafood.

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Hawaii

Hawaii suffers first defeat of the season against Loyola Chicago | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Hawaii suffers first defeat of the season against Loyola Chicago | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

The second-ranked Hawaii men’s volleyball team expected a different Loyola Chicago team to show up Friday night in the rematch of Thursday’s 94-minute sweep by UH.

They were certainly correct in that assessment.

Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said flatly the Ramblers were better after No. 7 Loyola Chicago handed Hawaii its first home loss in January in two years in a 25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 29-27 win before a season-high crowd of 5,811 at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Aleksandar Sosa put down a match-high 19 kills and setter Ryan McElligott set the tone with four of his five aces in the first set for Loyola Chicago (1-1), which out-served and out-blocked the Rainbow Warriors.

“I thought they touched a lot of balls on the block and those first two sets, the first set, we had three or four balls back on our side to score some points and we didn’t,” Wade said. “We kind of screwed it up. We weren’t quite as crisp and efficient and against a good team, we let them hang around and they come back and make some plays late.”

Hawaii looked done for the night trailing 20-13 when it mounted a furious comeback in the third set to avoid a sweep.

Loyola Chicago had five match points in the fourth set and finally put the contest away with a double block of Ofeck Hazan to complete the upset.

“I think they served way better and we really struggled passing their serve,” said Hazan, who started in place of Trevell Jordan in the middle. “They were more creative out of system. (Thursday) they just hit into our block and today they just found the touches or just played better.”

Louis Sakanoko led Hawaii with 18 kills and set a career high with 12 digs, and Kristian Titriyski added 16 kills before sitting out the fourth set. UH hit .254 for the match and had six aces to the Ramblers’ eight. Loyola Chicago hd 15.5 blocks to Hawaii’s 10.5.

“We weren’t clicking on all cylinders and I’m not trying to use this as an excuse, but (setter) Tread (Rosenthal) didn’t practice all week. He had a back that tightened up,” Wade said. “Trevell’s back tightened up and I thought Ofeck played pretty well and he gave us a nice spark, but you’re just a little off rhythm there. Kristian was kind of grabbing his back late and obviously we made the decision to go with Kainoa (Wade) to give us a spark and he gave us that.”

Kainoa Wade and Sakanoko each served three straight points for UH in the third set after it fell behind 20-13 and Finn Kearney came off the bench to serve the final two points that ended in blocks to get UH back in the game.

Hawaii hit just .171 in the fourth and made eight service errors. It had 20 serving errors for the match and served in at less than 80%.

“Obviously it’s a work in progress. We’re in game four of the year,” Kainoa Wade said. “We got a lot of work to do, but we’ve got to trust what we know. We’ve served a lot of balls in our lives, all of us, so we know we can go on runs and make plays.”

The Ramblers gave Hawaii a taste of its own medicine in the opening set with McElligott building a strong poker hand of aces during an 8-0 run during which Charlie Wade used both timeouts.

McElligott had three aces after Jake Read’s kill put him behind the service line, and despite two Hawaii timeouts and the media timeout, he poured it on until UH caught a break with a Loyola Chicago net violation on an overpass that almost certainly would have been a Ramblers point.

Sakanoko followed with back-to-back kills, including a deep tip into the far corner over a triple block that prompted Loyola Chicago to call timeout leading 17-14.

Hawaii extended the run to 5-0 after Titriyski put down a kill following a long rally to pull UH within a point.

The Rainbow Warriors got back to even at 22-all on Kainoa Wade’s ace as a serving sub. The set was tied once more until a Rosenthal service error and a McElligott ace for his fourth of the set handed UH its first set loss of the season.

Rosenthal wasn’t able to spin serve all night due to the back injury.

Neither team separated by more than a point in the second set until Justin Todd had two aces during a 4-0 UH run to put the ‘Bows ahead 13-10.

Hawaii led 21-19 when the Ramblers scored six of the next seven points to go up two sets to none.

UH’s only point during the final 6-1 run came on a Loyola Chicago service error. The Ramblers scored three of their points on errors by UH and another on their sixth ace of the match.

The Rainbow Warriors will have four days off before playing four matches in three days next week.

Hawaii has doubleheaders against Roberts Wesleyan and Rockhurst in reverse order on Wednesday and Friday.

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