I have been an owner, operator, designer and consultant of bars
for over 30 years. Starting as a young man with Holiday Inns
of America, I was at one time the youngest general manager in the
international system. As a musician and an emcee I always favored
the lounge or disco inside my hotels and always produced an excellent
bottom line. I was so successful with one of them the franchise
holder renamed it for me. "Mr. R's place" at the
Holiday Inn Airport in Tampa Florida opened in
1973 and launched my career in bars and night clubs.
In July
1976 I built my first free standing disco named "The Great
Doctor Robiconti's Miracle Elixir and Music Emporium".
It was 10,000 square feet, decor was reminiscent of an old time
travelling medicine show, and at the height of the disco craze it
was a huge success. Over the next 15 years I built three more "Robicontis"
along with consulting and designing clubs for other individual clients.
In 1992 I began consulting full time and did work for Hilton,
Hyatt, Fun Cruise, Tex-Mex and many private investors.
Over the years I have designed, built,
and managed everything from a 100 seat executive hotel lounge, to
a rock and roll beach bar, to a jazz club featuring a 17 piece orchestra
all the way to high volume discos with capacity in excess of
1500 people. I am proud
to say that I am familiar with every position in a club from bartender
to public relations director. In 1995 I was contracted to build
a large disco in Lima, Peru and since have built six more
high volume clubs in that city.