They say that blood is thicker than water. That rings true for Marc Yoshida who is managing the Royal Hotel in Levuka on behalf of his family, the Ashleys.
Marc is a direct descendant of the late Eddie Ashley, who was the original Ashley to own the hotel from his maternal side.
Even though he has the potential to excel in the information technology field after gaining a degree in IT from Queensland University, Marc settled with managing a family heirloom, the Royal Hotel.
"I have been given the responsibility of running the hotel on behalf of the family. In fact I still report to mum about everything," Marc says.
Marc started out in the world with the aim of attaining higher education and carving a living on his own.
After high schooling at Levuka Public and Saint John's Cawaci, Marc attained his IT degree and in 2002 worked at the University of the South Pacific.
But in 2005 his mum asked him to return to Levuka and he obliged to help in the running of the family's hotel business, which has been in operation since the 1860s.
Even though running a 20-room hotel facility is nothing new to Marc, he has the dilemma of choosing between his individual life and that of his family's.
"This is something we're still discussing as a family and we still have to sort out this issue as it has been in the family for so long too and its value as an historical site," Marc says.
Apart from that, Levuka had not lost its appeal on him even though it has always been home to him, he has never gotten over the pace of life there.
"Levuka is different. It has its own lifestyle. I have worked in Suva which is fast and I have worked in Brisbane which is faster but here in Levuka the pace is just easygoing.
"And I can still do what I used to do," Marc says.
He also has extended family members still living in Levuka and he wants to ensure that the hotel remains within the family. The history of the Royal is one aspect that Marc wants to take advantage of in order to keep it as one of Levuka's best kept living treasures.
One of the options that his family is considering is to have the hotel turned into a museum.
To Marc this is a piece of his own family legacy that he thinks is worth keeping and he is working very hard to ensure a win-win situation.
"We can always build hotels like the big ones on Viti Levu but to think of turning the Royal in a hotel as such will make it lose its charm, its authenticity. Where else in Fiji can you have a hotel that has antique chairs and high ceilings like this building," Marc says.
Apart from this, Marc has added his own personal touch to the Royal Hotel experience by turning it into an eco friendly hotel by installing a solar power system which powers up much of the hotel's electricity needs at night.
His own IT expertise has been put to good use by adding internet services which also includes a wireless network that can allow guests to access the world from their own rooms or anywhere within the hotel premises.
He has successfully blended the modern with the traditional but not losing the character of the place something that can only be achieved by someone who was brought up in Levuka.
After all, as Marc puts it, Levuka is a place where visitors come to trace their lineage or to view the classical and unique colonial style that the town has.
Marc's reflections is focused on how the Royal Hotel has been with his family for four generations already and he says he has just to take things on a day to day basis.