Principals

Ron Franklin, President / Principal

Ron Franklin is the founder, owner and President of Pinnacle Hotel Management. He joined Marriott International as a sales trainee in 1971. He worked 26 years with Marriott in sales, marketing and operations. He worked 12 years in sales and marketing and eventually held the position of Vice President of Marketing for the Western Hemisphere where he was responsible for all property sales, marketing programs and feasibility for new projects. He was instrumental in the development of the Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands and Marriott's acquisition of the Residence Inn company. He crossed over into operations and held General Manager positions at the Miami Biscayne Bay Marriott and the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in California. He was responsible for Marriott's entry into Latin America as Vice President of Operations for Mexico and Latin America.

In 1997 he joined forces with Dick Vilardo to form Pinnacle Hotel Management with the goal to develop Marriott franchised properties in Florida. With a strong commitment to quality, guests, associates and partners, Vilardo and Franklin have grown the company to 33 hotels geographically dispersed across the United States. They also have expanded their franchise relationships to include Hilton branded hotels. Ron is responsible for the strategic growth and all operations for the hotels in the company.

Ron has a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Georgia.

Dick Vilardo, Chief Financial Officer / Principal

Dick Vilardo is President of RDA Investments and a founding owner of Pinnacle. Dick has spent more than 35 years in the hospitality industry, specializing in project analysis, finance and development. His broad range of experience includes hotel and tourism development for an international accounting and consulting firm, private real estate development and investment banking and a long association with Marriott. He has been an owner/franchisee of Marriott limited service hotels since 1990.

During his tenure with Marriott he held positions in corporate planning, project finance and real estate development. He held the role of Vice Preseident of Development for the northeast region prior to his departure. Working with the Marriott hotel marketing organization he developed a business relationship with Ron Franklin and together they were instrumental in Marriott's rapid growth during the late 1970's and early 1980's.

Prior to forming RDA and Pinnacle in 1996 and 1997, Dick was a principal in a Chevy Chase, MD based investment banking firm. Projects developed by the firm included a 600 room full-service Marriott and 2 limited service properties in suburban New York and the Bethesda Residence Inn (Vilardo and Franklin still retain an ownership interest in this property). In addition, he acted as an advisor and asset manager for both public and privately held companies as well as a number of individual owners.

Dick holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and an MBA in Finance.

Steven Fairbanks, Chief Investment Officer

Steven Fairbanks joined Pinnacle Hotel Management in 2002 and has completed over $500 million of hotel acquisitions, developments and financings for Pinnacle.

Prior to joining Pinnacle, Steven was the Executive Vice President, Lodging and Senior Living Investments, of Crestline Capital, Inc, a position he held since 1998. In this role, Steven acquired and merged several hotel management companies, creating one of the leading franchisees for Marriott International.

Before joining Crestline, Steven was a Senior Vice President, Acquisitions, of Host Marriott, Inc. During his tenure at Host Marriott, Steven completed over $750 million of acquisitions and developments.

Steven graduated with honors from the Wharton Business School.