Tharaldson Hospitaltiy Development, Inc.

As Chief Operating Officer, Aimee Fyke oversees all operations of the 81 hotels managed by Tharaldson Hospitality Management since 2011. Aimee has over 25 years of experience in the lodging industry, beginning her hospitality career with Marriott International in the Chicago area in 1989. Fyke served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Tharaldson Lodging, overseeing 200 hotels and various brands such as Residence Inns, TownePlace Suites, Springhill Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Homewood Suites, and Hampton Inns. Prior to being named COO, Aimee previously worked at Archon Hospitality as a Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations from 2008-2011.  

Tharaldson Hospitality Management has 50 additional hotels in the pipeline across 16 states.  

Fyke currently serves on the Residence Inn Association TRIA Board. She is also active on other committees within the lodging industry.  

Gary Tharaldson, the founder of Tharaldson Hospitality Management, began his hospitality career by purchasing his first hotel in Valley City, N.D., in 1982. After the purchase, Gary began building hotels in regional markets. In 1987, he sold nine Super 8 motels for a net profit of over $5 million. 

After the sale, he continued to acquire and build hotels, eventually exceeding 350 total properties and earning himself a spot on the Forbes 400 list of richest people in America in 1997. In 2006, Tharaldson sold 140 hotels to Whitehall Global Real Estate (Goldman Sachs) for approximately $1.25 billion. Prior to the sale, Tharaldson’s company was the largest privately held hotel company in the United States. 

Tharaldson has appeared in a number of national publications. In 2010, he was given the first Hunter Conference Award for Excellence and Inspiration, an award created to celebrate an owner “who has exemplified high standards in leadership, citizenship and innovation and who has been an inspiration to the industry,” according to Hotel Business magazine. 

Gary and his companies currently own 80 operating hotels, and he continues to develop new properties nationwide.

Curtis Bunce has over 25 years of diversified commercial real estate experience in a combination of entrepreneurial ventures and large-scale real estate enterprises including acquisition, leasing, tenant representation, and development.
Curtis joined Tharaldson in May of 2006. He has been responsible for managing consultants and documentation during acquisition, entitlements, development, and disposition on multiple projects. He also oversees leasing and property management for over 600,000 square feet of industrial warehouse and office space.

Curtis brings with him the unique business acumen and leadership experience provided by a rich and diverse career, which has included owning and operating several of his own companies. He is a licensed real estate broker in Arizona and Nevada.
Curtis grew up and began his professional career in Denver, Colorado, and currently resides in Las Vegas with his wife and two children.

Don Cape serves as Director of Development for Tharaldson Commercial with direct responsibility for all facets of development. Cape has over 25 years of experience in the development industry since graduating from the University of Northern Colorado in 1988 with a degree in Geology with post-graduate coursework in Engineering from UNLV.
He provided project management on several billion dollars in residential/commercial projects in Las Vegas, Nevada, including the Bellagio, Rio, Luxor, and Harrah’s hotel-casinos and the McCarran International Airport expansion. Additionally, he has managed the turn-key acquisition, design, and construction on over 2500 wireless telecommunications facilities in the Southwestern United States.

After 15 years in the development industry Cape joined Tharaldson in 2005. He served as Director of Real Estate and purchased and developed over $1B in privately-held real estate holdings including residential, commercial, renewable energy, special finance districts, and transit-oriented development.

Joe Blagg has over sixteen years of experience in real estate development, finance and asset management. He has successfully managed all aspects of a wide variety of commercial and residential developments. His responsibilities with Tharaldson Commercial since 2007 have included finance, market analysis, entitlements, acquisition/disposition, asset management and legal oversight.

Joe began his professional career in Malibu, California, after graduating with honors and a degree in Economics from Pepperdine University, and now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and two children.