Henry Kallan, President & Owner of Library Hotel Collection
Published: May 4th, 2020Henry Kallan, President & Owner of Library Hotel Collection
Henry Kallan, president and owner of the Library Hotel Collection, is regarded as one of the most innovative and successful independent hoteliers in New York. His story is a prime example of the American Dream. When he arrived in New York City his first hotel job was a busboy at The Gotham Hotel. With hard work and dedication, Kallan quickly rose through the ranks into management roles at various hotels. At the astonishing young age of 28 he became the general manager of the Gotham Hotel, known today as the Peninsula Hotel.
At Warwick International Hotels, Kallan worked closely with the owners to develop hotels and resorts around the world. In doing so, he recognized his talent in developing successful hotels which led him to create Hotel Wales in 1988, one of New York City’s first boutique hotels which paved the way for guest value and experience. As the originator of the clubroom and rooftop garden concept, this fueled his passion to develop a hotel brand that focused on this ideology. The Library Hotel Collection, which Kallan later developed after selling his interests in Hotel Wales, brought this concept to life.
Throughout the 1990s, Kallan grew The Library Hotel Collection with the opening of Hotel Elysee in 1992, Casablanca Hotel in 1996, Hotel Giraffe in 1999, and the Library Hotel (the namesake of the collection) in 2000. With the success of his U.S. hotels, Kallan returned to his European roots and opened the doors to Aria Hotel Prague in 2003 followed by Aria Hotel Budapest in 2015. Kallan’s latest venture expands into Canada with Hotel X Toronto, which opened in March 2018. His biggest development yet, Hotel X Toronto is North America’s first urban lakefront resort in downtown Toronto.
Today, the Library Hotel Collection is highly regarded both in the United States and abroad, and regularly receives recognition and accolades from many sources. This year, Library Hotel Collection had three properties make TripAdvisor’s Top 25 Hotels in the US rankings in the 2019 Travelers’ Choice Awards, while the Aria Hotel Budapest was the recipient of five awards including #3 Best Hotel in Hungary and #24 in Top Luxury Hotels in Europe. In 2017, Aria Hotel Budapest was named the #1 hotel in the world in 2017. In 2016, the Luxury Hotel Brand Report by ReviewPro recognized the Library Hotel Collection as the highest-rated luxury brand worldwide based on a global guest satisfaction index of 96.1% and named it #1 Small Luxury Brand in 2016 and 2015. The Aria Hotel Budapest was included in the Top 10 Best European City Hotels in Travel + Leisure’s Readers’ Choice Awards in 2016 and 2017 and was named the #1 Luxury Hotel in Central Europe in Conde Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards in 2018. The collection has also received a Gold Adrian Award from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International for its stunning achievements in staff training, leading the group to consistently place in the top 10 on TripAdvisor for guest satisfaction. In fact, Kallan’s commitment to guest satisfaction, honed through years on the front lines of the hotel world, is so embedded in Library Hotel Collection DNA that one year his four NYC hotels placed as the #1, #2,#3, and #4 positions out of 463 hotels in New York City. Today, Library Hotel Collection still reigns top Travelers Ranked Hotels on Tripadvisor, with the top 3 spots among 509 hotels in New York City. It’s not surprising to anyone who knows him that Kallan was named Hotelier of the Year in 2016 by the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association.
Kallan has built the Library Hotel Collection brand based on his core principals of value, guest experience and the ideology of being genuinely kind. The veteran hotelier, who has a keen eye for architecture and design, brings his impeccable flair for quality as well as his gracious charm and a unique sense of hospitality to his properties.
When Kallan is not building and running the hotel collection, he enjoys time with his family. He enjoys winter vacations on the beaches of the Caribbean and during the summer he escapes to the serenity of his Southampton home, his retreat in New York.
To learn more about the critically acclaimed owner and expert hotelier, be sure to read this Forbes article, and watch this Insider Travel Report video on him.
Last updated May 2019