Baron E. Bernard Sr., Co-Chairman and President

Mr. Bernard, formerly General Manager of the 1500 room Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel, is the founding principal of Colony Hotels, B & J Hotels, Inc., Bernard Hotels and the Space Resort Theme Park, Inc.

Mr. Bernard is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and a third generation hotelier. He traveled extensively in Europe and the Orient, studying quality hotel management after serving in the Korean Theater of Operations. He then joined the Biltmore staff where he became the youngest General Manager of a major convention hotel in the country.

During Mr. Bernard's tenure at the Biltmore the hotel achieved world recognition for quality, and reached its highest levels of profitability in over two decades. Under his supervision the property was totally redecorated, complete with highly profitable new Food and Beverage concepts. It was here that he developed his unique management style which embodies a system of team building within his staff that creates a total staff commitment to guest satisfaction. This results in the highest levels of staff performance, thereby greatly enhancing the guests experience and substantially increasing repeat clientele. This tradition has been carried forward to the present day and is embodied in each hotel management assignment that Bernard undertakes.

After serving twelve years at the Biltmore, Baron Bernard was founding President of Colony Hotels, now a division of Interstate Hotels, one of the nation's most successful firms. Here he developed and implemented a program for First Travel Corp., Colony's parent, that led the company into the management of resort hotels in California, Hawaii, the Bahamas and Mexico. Colony was profitable in its first year of operation, which prompted the sale of First Travel together with Colony Hotels to The Carlson Companies, the parent company of Radisson Hotels.

Bernard subsequently founded Bernard Associates and B & J Hotels, Inc., firms specializing in the turnaround of distressed properties, market analysis and valuation, new hotel development and hotel brokerage. Clients have included major hotel developers, financial institutions, Real Estate Investment Trusts and individuals wishing to develop or improve performance of existing hotels. Activities have been nation-wide.

Concurrently, Bernard served as opening hotel consultant for Ceasars Boardwalk Regency Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he oversaw the successful opening and ongoing operation of Ceasars first casino resort outside Las Vegas.

Today, Bernard leads a cadre of seasoned professionals in the development, redevelopment and management hotel properties throughout the nation. Bernard Properties is engaged in the development and acquisition of profitable properties throughout the nation. The team embodies all the talents necessary for the evaluation, acquisition and redevelopment of existing and turnaround properties with substantial upside potential as well as complete development of new properties from the ground up.