Richard Dunkelberger is the proprietor of Prima Hospitality. He started the company in 2011 after a decades long career in hospitality. Previously, as Principal and Chief Executive Officer of ISIS Hospitality, Rich grew this company into the largest and most respected hospitality management company in South Dakota. Comprised of six unique hotel properties, the largest indoor water park in the Dakotas, a full service casino resort in Deadwood, multiple original concept restaurants and bars and South Dakota's landmark historic hotel, The Alex Johnson, Rich more than doubled the net operating income of these properties during the peak of the severe national recession, adding tens of millions of dollars in shareholder value. He oversaw the acquisition and renovation of the historic Hotel Alex Johnson, affiliated it with Historic Hotels of America and created the exceptional art deco rooftop bar named Vertex. Additionally, Rich created two top notch unique restaurant venues, namely Brown Rock Sports Cafe at Cadillac Jack's Gaming Resort and Sliders Bar & Grill at WaTiki Indoor Water Park Resort, featuring a horseshoe shaped bar with a clear glass water slide passing directly above it. In addition, Rich built the largest Seattle's Best Cafe franchise in the United States.
Prior to his ownership and development of ISIS, Rich was a Senior Vice President of Operations with Charlestowne Hotels in Charleston, South Carolina, overseeing franchised and boutique properties in the greater Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas. In his last year in this position, Rich grew the net operating income of this venture by 72% in one year, not through acquisitions, but driving revenues and curtailing expenses alone.
Prior to Charleston, Rich spent most of his career in California, as Managing Director of The Sherman House, San Francisco's top rated luxury hotel and third highest rated hotel in the country by the Zagat Survey and Managing Director of The Majestic, one of San Francisco's premier, historic boutique properties. Rich's restaurant at The Sherman House was featured in both Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazines and The Majestic Cafe was featured in Gourmet as well.
Rich has been a lifelong hotelier, beginning his career managing a country inn in Rochester, Vermont. He has worked in New England, the Rockies, the West Coast and Midwest. He has managed hotel properties and dealt extensively with the following hotel franchise and affiliate companies:
Relais & Chateaux
Small Luxury Hotels of the World
Historic Hotels of America
Marriott Hotels and Resorts
Intercontinental Hotel Group - Holiday Inn full service and Holiday Inn Express
Choice Hotels - The Ascend Collection, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn
Best Western International
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts
LaQuinta Inns and Suites
Carlson Worldwide - Country Inn and Suites
AmericInn
Rich has a specialty degree in Resort Management from Colorado Mountain College. He holds a postsecondary teaching credential in the State of California in Hotel Management and previously taught numerous courses at the Hospitality Management Training Institute in San Francisco. Rich is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Rich's philosophy has always been that hospitality management involves three distinct components, namely science, craft and art and relegating the business to any one realm delivers less than ideal results.
Prima Hospitality is comprised of a team of veteran, expert hoteliers, food and beverage and casino experts and a host of partners with exceptional expertise in their respective fields, whether it is design, security, sales training, construction management, Internet marketing or revenue management. Prima brings to the table turnkey solutions for the hospitality industry. We deliver consistently exceptional results for our clients and only accept specific assignments and engagements where the fit is correct. Our objective is outstanding quality, not size and we only engage in a certain number of projects annually.
