Oahu, Kauai, Romer House Waikiki

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Rising star Sydney Agudong, who plays Nani Pelekai in Disney’s live-action version of Lilo & Stitch and hails from Kaua’i, showed up with friends and family for a late September backyard party at Romer House Waikīkī. Wearing a mini dress by O’ahu-based fashion label Strait (sold at Free People), Agudong performed her 2022 debut single, “Welcome to Hollywood,” followed by her duet cover of John Legend’s “All Of Me” with Hualālai Chung, who voiced Moni in Moana 2 and grew up in O’ahu. Agudong’s artist name is Jayne Doe and the duet, recorded at Island Sound Studios in Honolulu, was released in May. 

Agudong spent several nights at Romer Hotel Waikīkī, which opened its doors in June 2024 with the tagline “love your neighborhood” and serves up hyper-local vibes. A buzzy Honolulu go-to for the likes of Justin and Hailey Bieber at its original Chinatown location, The Lei Stand Waikīkī cocktail lounge relocated in May to a corner of the hotel; Its fresh custom-made couture-level leis are sold in a cooler in the hotel lobby, starting at $35.

“I think the way Romer House has stylized this place makes it feel like it’s already been here for a very long time,” Agudong told The Hollywood Reporter. “And the Lei Stand is historical. It housed so many iconic musicians, so it’s cool that Romer House was able to bring it back. The layout of the tables at the party was like Auntie’s backyard, with pu pu platters and fresh catch. There were a lot of family and friends. ‘Love thy neighborhood’ is what Hawaii is about. Gathering people together and taking care of each other is what we do.”

The 24-year-old sat down with THR to share some top places in O’ahu (where Lilo & Stitch was filmed) and her home base of Kaua’i to eat, hike, surf and caffeinate.

What a beautiful place to grow up. Tell us where to go and what to do.

Kaua’i is like my bread and butter. O’ahu, I’m still getting to know. I love that Romer is near Royal Hawaiian Center and there’s a great coffee shop, Island Vintage Coffee Waikīkī, that also has a nice acai bowl, which is one of my favorite things. Or I go to Honolulu Coffee because I’m obsessed with their coffee. Then I might pop out on the beach and go surfing. It can be crowded, but it’s a classic surf spot and has got a great wave on the right day. The Duke Kahanamoku statue is there; he was an iconic big-wave surfer and rode the longest wave from Diamond Head into Waikiki.

Have you always surfed?

I’ve messed around with surfing my whole life. I was able to stand up and ride a wave. But I was beautifully trained for Lilo by the Kaywana family, big-wave surfers on the west side. They are expert watermen who handle a lot of the productions that come by. I asked them to teach me back to the basics and it felt like we were going surfing with family. Maia [Kealoha, who plays Lilo] couldn’t swim at first!

So exciting that the Lilo & Stitch sequel is green-lit.

I think we’re doing it at the top of the year. Chris Sanders is writing it right now. Our timeline is Maia’s height and maturity [laughs] .

Any other O’ahu hot spots where you like to hang out?

I really love the farmer’s markets; the Kaka’ako Farmers Market is on Saturdays. The Mai Tai Bar at Royal Hawaiian has some great truffle fries and it is right by the water. My boyfriend and I love jazz music. Lewers Lounge is a gem; it’s a beautiful, semi-intimate jazz lounge with live music where different artists play each night in a cool, cultivated environment that’s very classy. We went there on our first date. Roy’s Waikiki is right around that corner and it’s a yummy restaurant. There’s always a line. I tried escargot there for the first time. That was so scary for me, but it was fantastic!

There must be a lot of great hiking here.

Another thing we’d always do growing up in Kaua’i is the Hanakapi’ai Falls hike, which is four miles each way, and there’s a cold plunge pool at the end where you can wash off the mud and cool off if you’re sunburnt. My mom and I would pack PB&Js and then hit Wishing Well Coffee in Hanalei after. The Dolphin restaurant in Hanalei has a fantastic fish market in back. Their poke is amazing!

You mentioned you recently started weight training; is that for an upcoming role?

I got started on this whole weight training regimen for health and fitness, because I want to see where my limits lie, and I really want to get into more combative roles. Lilo & Stitch gave me some opportunity with stunts. They allowed me to rock run and surf. I think it’s important as a person and an actor that you’re really truly living the role in that way. At the same time, it’s empowering to show girls that we can be strong and do these things.

How did you and Hualālai meet and end up doing the “All of Me” cover.

We connected because of Kyle Spicer, co-owner of Island Sound Studios. He hosted Lilo & Stitch, Moana, then Moana 2 for ADR post-production, so he had us both in studio at some point in time. He knew that we were both singer-songwriters and so he was like, you guys both want to make music and both have Disney movies coming out. This could be a cool thing, if you are down. Sure enough, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re really cool. This is amazing! Let’s build something.’ Then ‘All of Me’ happened. John Legend recorded the original at Island Sound Studios. We thought it would be a cool ‘coming home’ love song about giving our all back to Hawaii as a gratitude.

Jayne Doe is a pretty great pseudonym.

It represents my start of trying to figure out who I am as a person. She became this sort of Hannah Montana situation, where I wanted to channel all my unknowns about life and career and relationships and hopefully discover my own identity. The big representation of Jayne Doe is trying to be comfortable in this identity crisis. My sister Siena and I both pursued acting when we were little and did the back and forth to L.A. Then I moved over to L.A. in 2018 when I was 17, right out of high school. I was supposed to go to college and ended up taking a gap year and trying out both the acting and singing this time around. It’s been an interesting go.

Are you releasing more music any time soon?

I’ve created probably 20 or 30 songs, but they’re all unreleased. The two other songs I have out I co-wrote with singer-songwriter friends I met in L.A. “Oblivious” with Maumaumau and “Youth” with TRVR? The struggle of artistry is being able to get out there and motivate yourself, whether or not you have encouragement from everybody else. I felt burnt out with music specifically and lost my ability to express it for a second, but now I’m coming back on the other side of Lilo & Stitch and it doesn’t feel like an open would any more, if that makes sense, but something I can slowly start to achieve again. Dust the songs off the bookshelves! I want to get my music more in the limelight.

Any other projects you want to mention?

Last year, I filmed the [Hallmark+] series “Ripple” and we’re waiting for that to hopefully be green-lit for a second season and find a new home. And I was able to be a producer for the first time on the psychological thriller Ether that is in post right now and test what it felt like to be on that side of things.

Did you work with a stylist for your Lilo & Stitch tour and wear any Hawaiian labels?

I am very lucky to be able to work with Wayman and Micah. They took me on earlier this year. On the tour, I was able to wear some pieces by Rocket Ahuna, who actually was a childhood friend of mine, because we went to high school together in Kaua’i! (Agudong also mentioned she’s a fan of local brand Avanti.)

Travelers can book their stay to Romer House Waikīkī now through Tripadvisor.