Management Team


Each member of the Management Team of Driftwood Hospitality Management averages 20 years of hotel experience and has a focus in the major aspects of hotel operations:


The Management Team of Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC


David Buddemeyer, Principal and President of Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC was Chairman and CEO of Servico Hotels and Resorts, a NYSE hotel company, until December 1998. Mr. Buddemeyer began his tenure at Servico as Executive Vice-President in 1990, responsible for all facets of the company’s operation. The company grew from 28 hotels in 1990 to 110 hotels by 1998. In December 1998 Servico merged with another hotel company, bringing the organization to 150 hotels with over 28,000 rooms. Upon the completion of this merger, Mr. Buddemeyer left the company to start Driftwood Hospitality Management LLC with several of his key executives from Servico. During his tenure at Servico he was responsible for the company’s growth in sales from $42mm to $450mm, with EBITDA growing at a compound annual rate of 41% from $16mm in 1990 to $180mm in 1999. Prior to his success at Servico, Mr. Buddemeyer was Vice-President of Operations for Prime Hospitality.


Carlos J. Rodriguez, Principal and Executive Vice President of Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC joined the company in June 2003 to oversee PR, Investor Relations, Real Estate Development and Acquisitions, Raising Capital and Arrange Financing. Mr. Rodriguez was formerly Chairman and CEO of Cardel Hotels, a group of affiliated hotel management, ownership and development companies based in Miami, Florida. Rodriguez founded Cardel with one hotel in 1997; by 2001 he had expanded his company to five award-winning full- and limited-service properties in Florida plus a full-service beach resort in Costa Rica, a condominium hotel operation in Miami Beach, a restaurant development, and an innovative Vacation Club ownership program. Rodriguez holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, a BS in Economics from Vanderbilt University, and a Certificate in Hotel Management from Cornell University. Rodriguez also has Wall Street investment banking experience.


Peter J. Walz, Principal and Executive Vice President of Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC is in charge of Marketing and Sales, and Internet Strategies. Prior to Driftwood, Mr. Walz was President of Lodgian Europe, SA and Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Servico, inc. from 1994 to 1999. While leading the development of Servico the company grew from 42 hotels to 110 hotels. Prior to Servico, Mr. Walz developed a hotel and several office and retail projects in California. In addition Mr. Walz was marketing manager for new products, The Pillsbury Company, and CEO and marketing architect for Rollerblades. He is also a recipient of an Emmy nomination for his work in Children and Family Television Programming.


Charles Michael Diaz, Principal and Executive Vice President of Operations & Administration of Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC, began his hotel career at Servico in 1993. After completing several projects and assignments in the renovation and development area of the company, he assumed duties in operations. Mr. Diaz was responsible for coordinating many of the analysis and decisions made as to potential acquisitions. Diaz continued to progress in his career serving as assistant to the chairman and CEO, culminating in his appointment by the Board to the position of Vice President and Secretary of the Corporation. Prior to his joining Servico, Diaz was pursuing his MBA at Florida State University, which he earned in 1992.


Steven M. Johnson, Vice President of Development/Real Estate for Driftwood Hospitality Management, LLC joined the firm in July 2002 and is responsible for acquisitions and management contracts. Prior to joining Driftwood, he worked at Interstate Hotels from 1999 to 2002 and before that was in charge of acquisitions for Highgate Holdings. He has also held development positions with Omni Hotels. Mr. Johnson began his career in 1984 as a consultant for Laventhol & Horwath, after graduating from Michigan State University, with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management. Mr. Johnson has been involved in the development and acquisition of hotel and resort assets throughout the United States and Canada.


Lawrence Carballo, Vice President/Treasurer. Recently named Vice President/Treasurer of Driftwood Hospitality Management, Carballo acts as the chief financial officer for the company. He joined Driftwood in 2000 as Vice President of Finance for the Royal Oasis Golf Resort & Casino in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, where he was the leading advisor for all aspects of this foreign operation. Previously, he spent over 20 years with Servico Hotels as its controller overseeing the finance of 110 hotels with annual revenue of $450mm.


Mohammad Siddiqui, Vice President Credit & Field Accounting has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He is responsible for Credit Management and Control, Internal Audit, Accounting Policies and Procedures and Acquisitions of Property coordinating with Hotel Operations and Accounting. Prior to joining Driftwood Hospitality, Mohammad worked with Servico/ Lodgian as Director of Credit and Collections. In April 2002, he assumed the responsibility of Vice President Credit and Internal Audit.

 

Michael Bulgarelli, Corporate Controller, joined Driftwood in September 2008 and is based in the Home Office in North Palm Beach, FL. He comes to Driftwood with close to twenty years experience in hospitality accounting, finance, senior management and property development, serving as CFO of PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach, VP-Finance of The Boca Raton Resort & Club, GM and CFO of The Otsego Club & Resort in Michigan, Hotel Controller for The Sands Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City and most recently as Corporate Controller for Becker Lodging Management, the parent company of The Paramount Hotel in NYC and The Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago. In his capacity as Corporate Controller, he oversees the accounting function at The Corporate Office in addition to assisting Senior Management in the financial operations of all owned and managed properties. He has earned a degree in Business Administration/Accounting from Villanova University.


Rob Auman, Regional Operations Manager, joined Driftwood as the General Manager of Hotel Thirty Thirty in New York City. With 34 years experience in the hotel industry, Rob became Regional Operations Manager in March of 2004. His primary duties are to assist the hotel in the operations and sales efforts.


Sean McMeel, Regional Operations Manager, joined Driftwood in 2005 as Regional Director of Operations with focus on existing and newly acquired hotels in the portfolio. Most recently he was with Servico/Lodgian Hotels for 11years and held various positions, including Vice President of Operations, Regional Operations Manager and Executive Operations Manager. Hospitality Experience started at a Sheraton in Savannah GA. In addition to 18 years of Hotel Operations experience McMeel spent 16 years in the Banking industry after attending Michigan State University and Rutgers University.


René McCann, National Revenue Manager, joined Driftwood in 2002 as Assistant General Manager at our Holiday Inn Select property in Memphis. She brought with her over 10 years of Rate Yielding experience, holding positions of General Manager and Area Revenue Manager. At Driftwood René works closely with the properties to ensure proper positioning of their properties in the market place.


Lex Hollender, Corporate Director of Food & Beverage, has twenty years of hotel experience. Mr. Hollender moved to this U.S.-based position after serving as Regional Director of Food & Beverage for Driftwood in the Bahamas. After beginning his career at The Waldorf=Astoria with Hilton Hotels in New York City, previous positions included Vice President of Operations for TRUST Hotels and Corporate Director of Food & Beverage for Island Outpost Hotels. His focus is optimization of purchasing systems for all food & beverage products, equipment and supplies, and maximization of food & beverage revenue and profit.


Deb Kintigh, Director of Human Resources, joined Driftwood Hospitality Management as Human Resources Administrator in July, 2004 after more than 20 years as a Generalist in the retail field, most recently as Regional Human Resources Manager for Frank's Nursery & Crafts with responsibility for 69 locations, 2 distribution centers and over 1000 employees. She is primarily responsible for supporting HR at the hotel level, transitioning new hotels, employee relations, and overseeing company-wide benefits.

 

Jackie Gerstenfeld, Director of Legal Administration, joined Driftwood Hospitality Management in June, 2007 after more than 25 years as a Paralegal, most recently as a Corporate and Securities Paralegal for a prestigious South Florida law firm.  Ms. Gerstenfeld also has expertise as a paralegal working on securities and corporate litigation and case management.  She oversees the contracts, compliance, loss prevention and litigation for the company.


Teresa M Kramer-Petrone, CMP National Marketing & Sales Director, Joined the company in September 2000. She has worked the last 15 years in hotel/resort marketing and sales developing and implementing strategic and successful marketing and sales strategies with measurable results. Her responsibilities include finding new revenue opportunities for the Driftwood portfolio of properties involving all market segments.

 

Dee Anne Osborne, Regional Director Sales and Marketing, joined the company in March 2006, with over 20 years of industry sales and marketing experience that includes independent, branded, select-service, full-service and extended stay properties. Her focus is on market analysis, revenue strategies, channel production and positioning. Believing that strategic planning and goal setting is critical to a property’s success, she works in tandem with each sales team to develop an annual marketing plan and oversees its execution.


Colin Pegler, Director of Sales and Marketing, Resort Marketing International, is responsible for marketing and reservations throughout Europe for Driftwood Hospitality Management. He formerly headed up marketing for Elegant Hotels Group, Hotels On line and MKI Ltd., which serviced hotels in Europe, UK and the Caribbean region.


Ali Etemadi, Director of Marketing  joined Driftwood in 2004 as the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Crowne Plaza Sawgrass Mills. Ali Etemadi received his Bachelors Degree in 2003 from the Florida Atlantic University in Business Administration with a major in Management and a minor in Marketing. As Director of Marketing, Ali oversees all hotels website marketing efforts by focusing on each hotels search engine optimization and marketing, paid per click advertising, and content development strategy..

 

Tom Sweeney, Purchasing Manager, joined Driftwood Hospitality in 2007 after ten years in production and purchasing in the golf industry. His responsibilities include overseeing all capital purchasing for the companies properties as well as the renovation projects that Driftwood is involved in. Tom received his bachelors degree in 1990 from Western State College of Colorado in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management.

 

Harold Cook, Corporate Trainer, joined the company in January 2007, with over 30 years of Hospitality experience including 9 years with the largest training company in the Hospitality Industry. His focus is on Service and Sales training at the property level ensuring that Brand Standards and Programs are in place as well as Driftwood standards. He also works very closely with the properties on our Service Committee initiative which focuses Managers and Front Line Associates on guest feedback for timely responses and quick actions to consistently improve our guest experience. His commitment to providing a comfortable learning environment, quality training, and actionable follow-up allows us to consistently improve our service delivery at each hotel.