As Hotel Bethlehem expanded and won several accolades, including annually being chosen as the best historic hotel in the country, Kelly Ronalds has played a major part behind the scenes.
After serving in management roles since 2010, Ronalds will take over as general manager of the iconic hotel on Main Street in downtown Bethlehem, effective Sunday. Managing Partner Bruce Haines said Ronalds deserved the step up in leadership.
“Kelly has earned this promotion through years of hard work and creative vision,” Haines said. “I’m confident she will lead our hotel reputation to even greater success than she already has.”
Ronalds has most recently been the hotel’s director of room sales and guest experience. Her promotion will be formally announced Friday.
“I’m over the moon excited. It’s a big responsibility — it’s about shepherding a legacy,” Ronalds said in an interview Wednesday. “Those of us who have been at the hotel for a long time certainly understand the importance of that.”
That’s especially true around the holiday season as Hotel Bethlehem serves as anchor of Christmas City USA’s shopping district. During the year, the hotel hosts numerous banquets, corporate meetings, locals looking for a night out and travelers visiting the Lehigh Valley.
Ronalds said the hotel just came off its best Christmas season ever with “record-high” occupancy and strong performance across its restaurants, ice cream shop and banquet facilities. It was like watching a well-oiled machine and she credited the 200 employees.
“It was the best Christmas in history,” she said. “It was great to watch it fire on all pistons… we’re very fortunate because you don’t get to be the No. 1 best historic hotel in the country because you don’t have the best team. It’s really about them.”
Haines said he expects Ronalds to keep Hotel Bethlehem as the Best Historic Hotel/Resort in America by USA Today, a distinction it has won five years in a row. As new general manager, Ronalds plans to focus on promoting the hotel as a national and international destination. It’s a role Haines says she’s ready to handle.
“Her destination marketing savvy is unmatched,” Haines said. “Kelly’s leadership has been instrumental in the hotel’s five consecutive USA Today No. 1 Best Hotel/Resort wins and in Bethlehem’s No. 1 Best Main Street victory.”
Kelly Ronalds stands in Hotel Bethlehem on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Bethlehem. Ronalds is being promoted to general manager of the hotel. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Kelly Ronalds stands in Hotel Bethlehem on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Bethlehem. Ronalds is being promoted to general manager of the hotel. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Kelly Ronalds stands in Hotel Bethlehem on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Bethlehem. Ronalds is being promoted to general manager of the hotel. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Kelly Ronalds stands in Hotel Bethlehem on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Bethlehem. Ronalds is being promoted to general manager of the hotel. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Kelly Ronalds stands in Hotel Bethlehem on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Bethlehem. Ronalds is being promoted to general manager of the hotel. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
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Kelly Ronalds stands in Hotel Bethlehem on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Bethlehem. Ronalds is being promoted to general manager of the hotel. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Ronalds said one thing she loves about her job is that she never gets bored.
“There’s always new initiatives to keep you engaged and interested,” she said.
The general manager position had been vacant since Dennis Costello retired in 2021 after holding it for 15 years. Haines led day-to-day operations for the past five years to rebuild the business and management team after the COVID pandemic, which devastated the hospitality industry.
Under Haines, Hotel Bethlehem introduced the Extended Stay Suites & Spa across Main Street and rebranded the property as a nationally recognized luxury historic destination hotel. Haines will remain general partner.
“I never really thought of [becoming general manager],” Ronalds said, “especially after Dennis retired and Bruce decided to not replace that position. I was fine. I was happy. I loved coming to work every day. It’s not ever been a place where you get up in the morning and go, ‘oh, geez. I have to go there today.’ ”
Decades in the Valley
Ronalds will be the first woman to take the helm as general manager in 40 years. The only other female GM was Elizabeth Emslander, who was appointed in 1981 by Bethlehem Steel, which owned the hotel at the time.
However, running a hotel wasn’t Ronalds’ first career choice. She graduated from college with an education degree. She moved to Bethlehem when she got married in 1992 and, with the exception of a short stay in Connecticut, has been living in the Lehigh Valley for 30 years.
“My children have grown up in the Lehigh Valley, and now my grandchildren are growing up in Lehigh Valley, which is, I think, a great place to have your family,” Ronalds said.
She worked as director of sales and marketing at the former Allentown Hilton on Hamilton Street and later as director of sales for Discover Lehigh Valley.
During her time at the visitors bureau, Ronalds got her first in-depth look at Hotel Bethlehem, shortly after it was bought and reopened in late 1998 by a business group led by Haines. The hotel was closed and boarded up and was supposed to become senior citizens apartments or college dorms.
The director of sales at the time, Susan Drexinger, gave Ronalds a history lesson about the property.
“I thought, gosh, how cool is it to have a job where there’s stories to tell?” Ronalds said. “It’s not just ‘here’s the room, here’s the restaurant.’ There’s history and stories to it. I thought, ‘Hotel Bethlehem would be a place I would love to work someday.’ “
In 2010, Ronalds joined Hotel Bethlehem team as director of sales. She was promoted to director of room sales and guest experience in 2021. That role included overseeing the front desk, bell staff and housekeeping. In 2022, marketing and public relations came under her purview.
She said the general manager position wasn’t on her radar until Haines approached her about it, though it was a competitive process.
“One day, he took me aside and said, you know, I think it’s time that we replaced the GM position, and I would like you to consider doing it,” Ronalds said. “It didn’t take much consideration. [Haines] has faith in you. And the ownership group has faith in you. You have all the tools you need to get your job done.”
Hotel’s long history
The hotel, a member of the prestigious Historic Hotels of America, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, opened in May 1922 as a 200-room community hotel.
It was built on roughly the same spot as the First House, which the Moravians built when they settled the land in 1741. The site also was the location of the Golden Eagle hotel for about 100 years.
Over the past century, presidents Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower, along with other prominent figures such as Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali and Ray Charles, have visited.
Today, the 125-room hotel is a lodging and entertainment facility, with nine extended-stay suites, two ballrooms, two restaurants, seven meeting rooms, a spa and a gift shop showcasing women’s clothing and accessories.
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.