DVI Cardel Funds and the RodBlu Investment Fund evolved out of a shared history of highly successful real estate ventures.  The funds provide a vehicle for individual investors to partner with well-known private and public financial institutions through participation in opportunistic real estate acquisitions and developments that provide high return on investment.  The funds are managed by a select group of officers and board members who bring a depth of experience, contacts and relationships that deliver access to off-market deals for institutional investors and uncommon strength, stability and success for private investors.

Cardel Hotels was founded in 1996 by Carlos J. Rodriguez and his wife, Pamela, in Miami, Florida. Backed by a small group of savvy international investors, Cardel developed and managed the award-winning Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites in Miami’s Doral/Airport West area and an adjacent restaurant site leased to the Doral Ale House. Cardel also purchased the Flamingo Beach Resort on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and launched an innovative vacation ownership program there. The success of these projects attracted new U.S.-based investors and led to the development of  the Hampton Inn & Suites at Doral Boulevard  (2000), the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa North (2000) and the Crowne Plaza- Sunrise/Ft. Lauderdale (2001) in collaboration with the Pan American Group and Opus South Corporation.  One of the Pan Am Group principals, Stephen Blumenthal, a highly successful Miami real estate developer and broker, became a key Board Member of Cardel Hotels during these ventures.  The Pan Am/Cardel/Opus partnership also teamed up in the successful development of raw land in Miami for offices and retail sites.

In 2003, Cardel Hotels merged with Driftwood Hospitality Management (DHM), a full-service hotel ownership/management company founded by David Buddemeyer in 1998. Buddemeyer assembled a highly experienced hospitality management team at DHM, many of whom had been with him during his successful tenure at the helm of Servico during the 1990s.  Operating award-winning franchises of nationally recognized hospitality brands including Hilton, Sheraton, Doubletree, Crowne Plaza, Courtyard by Marriott, Hotel Indigo, Radisson, Wyndham, Holiday Inn Select, Hampton Inns and Holiday Inn Express, DHM’s expertise runs across all segments of the lodging industry. Upon their merger, DHM took over management of Cardel-owned hotels, integrated the pioneering off-shore accounting operations that Rodriguez had founded in San Jose, Costa Rica, and expanded the vacation ownership program Rodriguez initiated at the Flamingo Beach Resort. Rodriguez joined the Driftwood team to head up Acquisitions, Development and Financing and Public Relations.

In 2005, Rodriguez and Buddemeyer founded DVI Cardel Funds to focus on targeted hospitality investments in strategic markets, with the value-added potential brought in by DHM’s proficiency in the takeover, re-positioning, and optimization of hotel operations.  Early in 2007, Rodriguez and Blumenthal began the RodBlu Investment Fund to unite private and institutional investors interested in acquiring and developing other types of commercial real estate, which may include hotels.