I don't want to make a racial thing out of this, but there isn't anyone who can match us for effort, dedication, stamina on the job.''. https://yourmileagemayvary.com/2021/10/29/tennessee-hotel-named-nicest-place-in-america/, Some years back, I checked into some inexpensive hotel near Corning NY while making my way west and ran into one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen up to that point apparently the owners daughter. What kind of businesses do people from Gujarat state in India own? And 70 percent of those moteliers hail one same state: Gujarat. Employment in the U.S. accommodation sector fell by a whopping -47% as 961 thousand hospitality workers lost their jobs between March 2020 and May of 2021, but only ~560 thousand of the nearly one-million lost hotel jobs have been brought back as of June 2021. Florence, like many cities, was still struggling with public school integration when friends Ravi and Chandra Patel showed up to buy a small roadside hotel in 1980. Thestatus would make it easier forthe Patelswhoaccount for between 15% and 20% of Gujarats population of more than 63 millionto access education, government jobs and other facilities, thanks to Indias reservation system. Indias reservation system allows for 15% reservation for scheduled castes, 7.5 % for scheduled tribesand 27% for OBC across government institutions. '', In the earlier days of the motel phenomenon, Indians tended mostly to buy mom-and-pop establishments. Keywest Inn in Hobart, Ind., is owned by BK Patel and is also a part of the Vimana franchise. In any case, our motels are American-owned, too. Of this nearly one-third have the surname Patel - a popular one among Indian Guajaratis. Jay Chaudhry Following an arranged marriage in 1976 in the Gujarati town of Nadiad, they left for the United States, but not out of desperation or a lack of options at home. What eventually became Marriott International was started, and is still run, by the Marriott family. The organization, open to all hotel owners, now has over 16,000 members across the country who own 26,000 hotels spanning all tiers. Grapevine-based NewcrestImage is partnering with a hospitality industry investment firm to acquire 16 Marriott-branded hotels in nine states. Major hotel brands have led the charge. The other backward class (OBC) is a term coined by the Indian government to refer to groupsthat have historically been disadvantaged. . They share the same slot in the elaborate Indian caste structure, with its four principal castes and myriad subcastes: they are both vaishyas, or traders, who were once employed to calculate the tithes that were owed to medieval kings by farmers in Gujarat, an Indian state on the Arabian Sea, where their origins lie. Negative, depressed assets have a negative effect on banks, and they wanted the assets off their books.. By the 1960's, Pramod estimates, there were still only 60 or 70 Indian-owned motels, mostly in California. Many of the Indian owners I spoke with acknowledge that they are aware of such attitudes, but add pragmatically, as Mike Patel puts it, they ''have learned to live with that sort of prejudice. We believe the percentage of lower and midscale hotels owned by AAHOA members continues to increase, but those same owners are also rapidly developing upscale brands as well.. Marriott. The Global Hyatt Brand is owned by the Pritzker family. The Global Hyatt Brand is owned by the Pritzker family. ''And why not? The Patel community comes from Gujaratmostly central and southern parts of the statein India. Hasmukh P. Rama, 51, is the chairman of the American Hotel and Motel Association, the trade group representing America's $85.6 billion lodging industry. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. In the 1980s, ironically, they protested vociferously against reservations for other communities. It's a generation thing,'' he says. It's an attitude buttressed by a puritanical aversion to frills and frivolities, one that has its roots as much in the kind of Hinduism that the Patels practice as in their historical tradition as commercial perfectionists. Have a friend in Texas whos parents were Patels and ran a motel. As the first news aggregate for the hotel industry, Hotel-Online is the industrys must-read daily news source for everything hotel curated for busy professionals. What percentage of hotels are owned by Patels? In fact the 2 Patel families I know couldnt be more different. Too bad on them (or rather, as a white person, us). Another important thing,'' he adds, ''is the cash flow. After extensive coverage by, But when the first Patels arrived in the United States in the 1940s, they had virtually no experience in hospitality, according to Pawan Dhingra, the author of, The 1940s were a time when native-born hoteliers were looking to get out of their motel business because they were either becoming too old to run the day-to-day operations, or their children werent interested in it, Dhingra said. (Read more about the South Asian American experience here .). You dont need fluent English, just the will to work long hours, he said. Which I have enjoyed. I like psychology more, she said. he said. Why did the Gupta Empire collapse 3 reasons? . With his support, a bank loan and some savings, her family bought one of budget motel chain Motel 6s properties in Tyler, Texas. Patels and Amins, however, are not as far apart as Smiths and Browns might be. Would-be motel owners will put down as much as they can afford and their extended families will all chip in for the rest. 154. the Tata group A version of this article appears in print on, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/magazine/a-patel-motel-cartel.html. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Why does phosphorus exist as P4 and not p2? The dirty secret is that in the 1970s, banks had foreclosed on older, smaller, roadside economy properties that were not profitable, said Steven Belmonte, the chief executive officer of Vimana Franchise Systems, a hotel franchise that works closely with Patel hoteliers. Though they only set up shop relatively recently, Divya, a 22-year-old psychology major, isnt sure of the hotels fate. 9 years ago. Vilpesh was a plain-speaker. It also allowed franchisors to focus on their strengths. I need to clone myself. The benefaction is intended to help students from minorities go to schools for hotel management. In 2010, roughly 70% of branded hotels were franchised operations. ''With some help from my uncles,'' says his son Vilpesh, ''and with the money we had from selling our house in London, Dad bought a motel. It makes for a staggering 42\% of the US hospitality market, with a combined worth of $40 billion. Major hotel brands have led the charge. It does not store any personal data. They stayed on and flourished economically after these colonies won their independence. Things changed for the family in 1989. But if you start looking at smaller hotels and motels, especially the privately-owned ones that arent chains, you discover that a lot of them are owned by Indian-Americans, many of them first, second, or even third generation immigrants. But as their reach within the industry expanded, nontraditional funding became much less common, Rogers said. During the past 30 years, immigrants from the same region of India -- most with the same last name -- have come to own more than 50 percent of the country's economy motels and up to 40 percent. The companys subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and they are known as one of Asias largest and notable hotel and hospitality companies. Instead, he has shifted his focus to educating the American population about the Bhagavad Gita, and hes doing it through the motel Patels. According to Pramod, his grandfather left his Gujarati village in 1949, at the age of 29, for a better life in America. The association was formed, he adds, ''in response to that prejudice.'' We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. You don't need fluent English, just the will to work long hours,'' he says. I got $50,000 from my dad and $50,000 from my in-laws. The "Patel Motel" phenomenon - As many as 60% of mid-sized motels and hotel properties all over the US are owned by people of Indian origin, and of this nearly one-third have the surname Patel, a popular one among Indian Gujaratis (those that came from the Indian state of Gujarat) : r/wikipedia r/wikipedia 9 yr. ago by [deleted] Read the latest edition of the Commercial Observer online! There are perks, too, for franchisees, who get to own a property with brand recognition, receive key money and have access to global reservation systems and loyalty programs. About 75 to 85 percent of these hotels are owned by Indians, mostly from the Patel community, according to a spokeswoman for the organization. Unlike the majority of the Patel clan, he doesnt own his motel. They run the gamut from small business men and women to major NYSE-listed real estate investment trusts. The State Bank of Texas in Dallas is an interesting example of something that combines both traditional and nontraditional financing. mostly central and southern parts of the state, in India. Marriott, for example, owned or leased just 28 properties in the United States that operated under brand names including Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, Residence Inn and Fairfield, at the end of. PC: Nicholas Henderson/flickr. Over three-and-a-half decades later, the Potel phenomenon has left the world gasping. What should I expect from a recruiter first call? Eventually, the mere perception of dominance becomes self-fulfilling. After the pandemic hit, the company's revenue dropped to $200,000 in April across all of the hotels. What percentage of hotels are owned by Marriott? But it isn't quite that simple. Its a quiet invasion. By the 1980s he and his two sons were running several motels and hotels in California, and now, four years after Patels death, his granddaughters are taking the family business forward. ), Read this first to help ensure it gets approved, http://www.hotel-dot.com/united-states/orlando-fl/golden-link-motel-kissimmee-photos-paypal, https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Faff.bstatic.com%2Fimages%2Fhotel%2Fmax500%2F267%2F26725402.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motelplanet.com%2Fusa%2Fsnyder-tx-motels.html&tbnid=pF0DTbleyoDVzM&vet=12ahUKEwiE0sbQrs3nAhUR3VMKHcKXCJIQMygpegQIARBW, https://yourmileagemayvary.com/2021/10/29/tennessee-hotel-named-nicest-place-in-america/, Confusion Between The Chase & VISA Luxury Hotel Collections, The Strangest Reason Ive Ever Used To Request A Room Change, Dont Hate Hotels For Raising Prices In Peak Season. Look a bit closer and the picture is even more arresting: about 70 percent of all Indian motel owners -- or a third of all motel owners in America -- are called Patel, a surname that indicates they are members of a Gujarati Hindu subcaste. Nothing about this racially motivated as some will indeed take it but more of a culture difference. We want reservation to preserve our dignity and our heritage. Now they are looking for a change. But I'm just enjoying my achievements, right? A look into the distribution capabilities of independent vs. branded hotels including channel mixes, how loyalty evolved during the pandemic, and cost structure. Their kids were not interested in the business.'' His hotel franchises Wyndham Garden New Orleans Airport, Holiday Inn Express Donaldsonville, Candlewood Suites Houma, Best Western Plus Houma Inn, Holiday Inn Express & Suites LaPlace, Best. This makes up approximately half of the hotels in the United States, according to Chip Rogers, the chief executive officer and the president of AAHOA. The Patels ventured into the . The Patel family have siezed ownership of almost all housing options available to low-income residents of San Francisco. Buying a motel, even one that's in the red, usually requires a substantial down payment, one beyond the reach of most new immigrants. There are some 22,000 hotels and motels owned by Indians across the US, togethervalued at $128 billion. Marriott Jr. is Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Marriott International, Inc., one of the worlds largest lodging companies. They pay $725 million a year in property taxes and employ 800,000 people. I didnt book an air bnb or bed and breakfast, I booked a suite at a hotel. The British brought thousands of Indians to their colonies there in the last century to serve as laborers and traders. There are many different decisions each hotel owner needs to make, whether to affiliate with a franchise or not, what kind of property and customer to target, and how they will market, distribute, and operate their properties. ''In some American small towns they think 'Patel' is an Indian word for 'motel.' Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. He says that after a couple of fires in Tennessee in the early 1980's, Indian moteliers had trouble getting insurance coverage. Unfortunately, racism is still alive and well. Wouldn't you want to be called Brown if the rest of the world was called Smith?''. Franchisees also help brands adopt to travelers changing preferences. ''If you look at an example of a domination of an economic niche by an ethnic group,'' says Thomas Espenshade, a professor of sociology at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University, ''the general story is told in terms of the pioneers and the followers. But if youre paying $160/night in Downtown Boise, thats definitely on the cheaper side. Despite their united struggle against discrimination, the Patels are far from homogenous in terms of how theyve curated this empire. Franchisors also offer programs for new owners to learn the business of operating a hotel, Guichardo says. The statement, I learned later, was not all that far from the truth. We're Patels, and Americans. *** Feature photo: Desert Hill Motel, Tulsa OK, owned by Jack Patel. 's family owned a marble mine. His father came to America and bought a motel in 1982, but Amin himself was reluctant to leave his then home, London. ''I'll tell you something, though,'' Amin adds. Though they only set up shop relatively recently, Divya, a 22-year-old psychology major, isnt sure of the hotels fate. Since they had an established motel clan, the hotel industry had become more easily accessible to them, and more people got into the business. Who was the man who started a hotel chain in California? '', Such is the world that now works to the benefit of Mit Amin, the bed-and-breakfast owner in Atlanta, who is the modern face of the Indian hotelier. Why do Indian-Americans also own the majority of Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins? According to the latest figures from the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (A.A.H.O.A. POTEL, MOTEL, HOLIDAY INN (SAY WHAT?!) ''It was Hicksville,'' he tells me. They managed to do this by living and working in their motel with their extended family helping to manage it. These are cities where a franchise owner might need to differentiate the product in view of competition from independent brands that are not affiliated with any major hotel group.. The concurrent global oil crisis meant people were taking fewer driving vacations, which hurt the motel business. I know exactly where on 192 this place isI passed by it, almost daily, for years (specifically look at the pic of the hotel sign). Theirs is a plain little motel, built in the local architectural vernacular, with a gently sloping gray slate roof, a facade of muted pink and a well-tended grass verge. The community owns a mix of low-budget and middle-budget hotels, both independently and as a part of a franchise. More than 40 percent of the motels in the United States are owned by Indian Americans, and 70 percent of them are Gujaratis. ''It's all about opportunity and example,'' Rama replied sagely, starting into a speech about hard work. The "Patel motel" phenomenon, as it is popularly known, has made a major impact on the American hospitality industry. Accounting for 34,260 hotels across the United States, Indian Americans owned hotels account for 60 percent of all hotels in the U.S., according to a new study conducted by Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) in partnership with Oxford Economics, a global leader in forecasting and quantitative analysis. These companies continue to move away from owning the real estate portion of properties and toward a model where they grow in scale through franchise agreements. : Patels currently own 22,000 motels and hotels in the United States, collectively valued at $128 billion. The hotel owner landscape is broad and diverse. Companies that transitioned into a more asset-light strategy found themselves in a stronger position. Hotels Revenue per available room of the U.S. hotel industry 2001-2022 Industry overview U.S. hotel and motel industry market size 2012-2022 U.S. hotel and motel industry market size. Does perfume smell better on skin or clothes? Motel Gitathe nonprofit organization behind the initiativehas placed its spiritual leader Srila Prabhupadas version of the scripture in 7,000 hotels across the United States. Sheldon Adelson. formed various advocacy groups that resulted in the creation of one organization in 1989 called the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. But weve started seeing features of an evolved select service product in markets where it makes sense Austin, Nashville, New York. Access exclusive travel research, data insights, and surveys. The U.S.-based hotel chain is the worlds biggest, after its merger with Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 2016. The status would make it easier for the Patelswho account for between 15% and 20% of Gujarat's population of more than 63 millionto access education, government jobs and other facilities,. I was in the heart of a certain kind of Texas -- the kind I'd probably only visit in pursuit of a story -- and the room was a godsend. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. He used to be a prosperous dry-goods merchant in Lira, a town in central Uganda. By 2019, that figure rose to roughly 80%. It began with 160 members. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Faff.bstatic.com%2Fimages%2Fhotel%2Fmax500%2F267%2F26725402.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motelplanet.com%2Fusa%2Fsnyder-tx-motels.html&tbnid=pF0DTbleyoDVzM&vet=12ahUKEwiE0sbQrs3nAhUR3VMKHcKXCJIQMygpegQIARBW..i&docid=pVReqMlNX8VsdM&w=500&h=332&q=hotel%20%22American%20owned%22%20kissimmee&client=firefox-b-1-d&ved=2ahUKEwiE0sbQrs3nAhUR3VMKHcKXCJIQMygpegQIARBWd&ved=2ahUKEwiE0sbQrs3nAhUR3VMKHcKXCJIQMygpegQIARBW. ''You must know the ancient Sanskrit phrase, Atithi devo bhava -- The guest is God.' You need to travel a little more, friend. Hotels generally pay a 15 to 30 percent commission when a traveler uses the online booking agency to reserve a room. I don't mean Italians owning pizzerias, or Japanese people running judo schools. . And the English were once the predominant nationality of printers. '', That kind of success has, inevitably, bred resentment in some quarters. As for how some Indian-Americans decide to live their lives, that is definitely not your or my business. Shift in ownership However, there are some Indian Americans , because they like to own their own businesses go for running gas stations and convenience stores. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". That, however, is one key to how this particular niche was captured. The most significant reason early on was probably a combination of the idea that the motel sector didn't look terribly attractive when Indians started buying in, and those who were buying were able to assemble unusual amounts of cash from an extended group of relatives and friends. Ninety miles south and there was another cousin in another motel. Where does Thigmotropism occur in plants? So, he borrowed money from his relatives and made each of them directors at the bank. Share of hotel rooms in the U.S. 2017-2020, by chain type. '', ''It doesn't get us down,'' he insists. It's not an extravagant life style. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. This was two years ago. All three of these large, well-known hotel brands were started by white American citizens. I thanked the man and we shook hands -- not a gesture you often see enacted between owner and customer at the front desk of an Econo Lodge. Given that hotel development is a capital-intensive business, flagship brands are keener than ever to license out their name to an existing property, or to seek investment from outside companies to develop properties. You can look at their website yourself if you wish, but what impressed me was the diversity of their leadership. For further information, visit jll.com. This makes up approximately half of the hotels in the United States, according to Chip Rogers, the chief executive officer and the president of AAHOA. I stayed (more than once) at a hotel in N San Diego county owned by Indian family, who could not have be nicer. he asks. ''It was not hard for us to do.''. They gives Indian run hotels a bad image overall. Melting pot means a little bit of everyone, not mostly white and a little bit of everyone else.. In the mid-1970s, the community began migrating from Africa and Asia to North America. ''It comes naturally to us.