Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 21.3° N · 157.8° W
Commercial strategy & P&L leadership for hotels. Fifteen years turning independent properties into market leaders — without a flag, a brand standard, or a renovation budget.
“Raw RevPAR is a vanity metric. The only number that matters is your index against the comp set — and it can be moved without spending a dollar of capex.”
A working philosophy — fifteen years in practice
01The Record
Every claim below is measured against a competitive set, a prior year, or a market index — the only numbers that mean anything in this industry.
77 → 104RevPAR Index · 24 Months
Repositioned pricing architecture, channel mix, and market segmentation to move a struggling independent from a 77 RevPAR index to 104 in two years. Zero capital expenditure. No renovation, no rebrand, no flag.
+111%RevPAR Growth · Through COVID
While competitors shuttered through the pandemic, RSVP stayed open — and grew. Demand-led pricing and aggressive channel repositioning delivered 111% RevPAR growth through the most hostile operating environment in the industry’s history.
4× #1TripAdvisor · Four Markets
Market leadership isn’t an accident of location. Four separate properties under his direction reached #1 on TripAdvisor in their respective markets — a repeatable outcome of commercial discipline, not luck.
1 → 51Properties · Founded 2014 · Exited 2025
Grew a commercial strategy firm from one property to fifty-one hotel partnerships across Hawaiʻi and the mainland, with 180% revenue growth over the final three years, a place on the Inc. 5000, and a successful exit in January 2025.
0+
Hotel partnerships across Hawaiʻi, the mainland & international
0%
Average annual RevPAR growth sustained over ten years
0%
Direct booking mix increase, portfolio-wide
0:1
Return on ad spend across $1.5M annual marketing budgets
02About
Will Song applies University of Chicago economics to hotel commercial strategy. Where the industry prices on intuition, he prices on demand data. Where it reports raw RevPAR, he benchmarks against the comp set. The difference shows up in the P&L.
He cut his teeth in revenue management at Aqua Hotels & Resorts — fifteen hotels, 2,700 rooms — before founding Lights On Digital in 2014. Over the next decade he built it into one of Hawaiʻi’s leading hotel commercial strategy firms: fifty-one properties at its peak, Inc. 5000 recognition, and a successful exit in January 2025.
Today he is Vice President of Commercial Strategies at MacNaughton Hospitality, directing revenue, distribution, and marketing performance across the group’s Honolulu hotel portfolio. He is a recipient of the HLTA Leadership Award for contributions to Hawaiʻi’s hospitality industry.
VP, Commercial Strategies — MacNaughton Hospitality
Commercial leadership across the group’s Honolulu hotel portfolio
Founder & CEO — Lights On Digital
1 → 51 hotel partnerships · Inc. 5000 · exited January 2025
Revenue Management — Aqua Hotels & Resorts
15 hotels · 2,700+ rooms across Waikiki
University of Chicago
Bachelor of Arts, Economics
Inc. 5000 · HLTA Leadership Award
Hawaiʻi hospitality industry
03Expertise
Demand-based pricing architecture and forecasting frameworks that consistently outperform competitive sets — 5% forecast accuracy held across a 50+ hotel portfolio.
OTA strategy, channel management, GDS negotiation, and direct booking growth. Increased direct mix 20% portfolio-wide and opened distribution channels before competitors moved.
A proven conviction: independents outcompete flagged hotels when armed with the right commercial infrastructure. RevPAR index from 77 to 104 — no capex required.
Among the deepest Hawaiʻi hospitality expertise available — fluent in Oʻahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, and Big Island demand drivers, comp dynamics, and international feeder markets.
Owner-minded partnership with operations, finance, and sales to drive GOP and NOP — $1.5M marketing budgets managed at 10:1 ROAS across multi-property portfolios.
The full arc of a service business: one property to fifty-one, a high-retention team, strategic partnerships with leading management companies, and a clean exit.
04Portfolio
Drag to explore
Brands & Management Companies
Marriott◆Hilton◆Highgate Hotels◆Outrigger Resorts◆Springboard Hospitality◆JdV by Hyatt◆Best Western◆Choice Hotels◆Hogan Hospitality
Selected Properties
The Kahala Hotel & Resort◆Hotel Wailea◆Honua Kai Resort◆Royal Lahaina Resort◆Napili Kai Resort◆Twin Farms◆Kauai Shores◆Hotel Teatro◆Napa River Inn◆Hotel Winters◆Saba Rock◆RSVP Hotel
— and 35 additional properties across Hawaiʻi, the mainland U.S. & international markets.
05Connect
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi — working with owners, operators & investors across the Pacific and beyond.
Connect on LinkedIn →