The Global Hyatt Brand is owned by the Pritzker family. What eventually became Marriott International was started and is still run by the Marriott family. Although it has changed hands a few times, the Hilton brand of hotels was founded by the Hilton family in the early 20th century.
Indian-American Ownership of Smaller Hotels
All three of these large, well-known hotel brands were started by American citizens who were white. But if you start looking at smaller, lower cost hotels and motels, such as Super 8 and Motel 6, and especially the privately-owned ones that aren’t chains – the “mom and pop” places – you discover that a lot of them are owned by Indian-Americans, many of them first, second, or even third-generation immigrants. How that came to be is pretty interesting…
The ‘Patel Motel Cartel’
After watching this video, I HAD to find out more, especially about this “Patel Motel Cartel.”
The New York Times ran its piece about the Patel Hotel Cartel in 1999, and it goes into much more detail than the video. Some highlights:
- When one buys a hotel, you need to have tens of thousands of dollars available for the loan. Would-be motel owners will put down as much as they can afford, and their extended families will all chip in for the rest
- At the time of the article (granted, 25+ years ago), roughly 70% of all Indian motel owners—or about one-third of all motel owners in the U.S.—were named Patel. It’s a surname that indicates they are members of a Gujarati Hindu subcaste.
- Why do so many Indian-Americans go into the hotel or motel business? According to Vilpesh Patel, who was the owner of the 85-room Flamingo Inn in Windsor, CT at the time, ”Technically, it’s easy to run. You don’t need fluent English, just the will to work long hours,” he said. “And it’s a business that comes with a house — you don’t have to buy a separate house.” (This is true – when I worked as an occupational therapist in home health (similar to a visiting nurse) here in Central Florida, I had several elderly patients – usually of Indian or other Asian descent – who lived with their adult children in the hotel they (the adult children) owned.
- Not surprisingly, white competitors, especially in the rural South, have sometimes placed not-so-subtle “American-Owned” signs outside their hotels. ”It doesn’t get us down,” said hotel owner Mike Patel. ”If we survived Idi Amin, a couple of redneck motel owners aren’t going to bother us much. In any case, our motels are American-owned, too. We’re Patels, and Americans.”
Modern-Day Representation
The video mentioned HHM Hospitality. You can look at their website yourself if you wish (the company has since changed names to HHM Hotels), but what impressed me was the diversity of their leadership. The President & CEO, Naveen Kakarla, is, of course, Indian-American. However, the rest appear to include a team whose appearance and last names are in line with those of the United Nations. Just as our Great American Melting Pot is supposed to be (emphasis on “supposed”).
Where Things Stand Today
Fast forward to 2025, and the number of Indian-Americans owning hotels has continued to increase:
- A report by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) says that Indian-Americans own more than 60% of all hotels and motels in the United States; roughly 20,000 properties. Of those, about 70% are owned by Gujaratis and most of them have the surname of “Patel” or “Amin”.
- Indian-American-owned hotels and motels generate over $40 billion in revenue and provide more than 600,000 jobs in the United States.
Oh, and best of all? A hotel in Kodak, Tennessee, was voted as “Nicest Place in America” in 2021. It’s owned and run by one Sean (Vishant) Patel.
Final Thought
Frankly, I find the story of how so many Patels came to run hotels and motels charming. It’s a prime example of living the American dream – working hard, ignoring the haters, and ultimately being successful – and I just love that!
*** Feature photo: Desert Hill Motel, Tulsa OK, previously owned by Jack Patel. PC: Nicholas Henderson/flickr
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9 comments
Indian-American hotel owner says, ”If we survived Idi Amin, a couple of redneck motel owners aren’t going to bother us much. “
Uh, Idi Amin was a dictator in Uganda (Africa).
Maybe he spent time in Uganda too? I dunno. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There used to be a large Indian community in Uganda. Field Marshall Doctor President Idi Amin Dada expelled them in 1972. Many went to Canada. Some went to the United States.
I didn’t know that. Interesting!
Uganda — and some other parts of southern and eastern Africa — had sizable Indian Subcontinent-origin populations because of European settler-colonialism bringing in labor from other parts of their empires. A plurality of these communities in parts of Africa were Gujarati. In the case of Uganda, Idi Amin expelled most such South Asians in 1972 after quite the build up in hostility toward such minorities in the country and said it was to put in indigenous Africans into the socio-economically privileged positions European colonizers had sort of helped them into while trying to keep down the indigenous Africans.
The main problem with some hotels owned or operated, some of which operate as indentured servant sharecropper-style, is the lack of budget for upkeep. The towels and sheets get worn out, the buildings fall into disrepair, and proper cleaning or even HVAC systems fall by the wayside. One of the other issues I’ve run into at some hotels is that the family lives on the property and ends up with a ton of kids and extended family running all over the place.
I don’t really think it has to do with race as much as it does with cultural norms. A family from India or China cooking up a huge batch of curry to stink up the entire hotel three times a day isn’t any worse than a group of white or black potheads stinking up a hotel smoking pot. A wealthy older businessman who still hasn’t learned not to let his hotel door slam at 11 pm isn’t any worse than a poor construction worker who has his buddies join him in his room to yell and laugh over some beers at 11 pm.
It’s for a particular reason that Gujarati Indian PM Modi put up a statue of Gujarati Indian Sardar Patel in Uganda several years ago even as he had died in the 1950s IIRC.
The cartel was a way to get Green Cards easily for many of these. While the GC required to invest money and employ people, most of the money was not coming from India and employment requirements was dubious met when most of these hotels were already existing. Another example of the local population being replaced by another with cheaper wages.
Have to wonder how international tourists feel about that when they plan a vacation in the US and…
(Comment redacted by YMMV to remove portion(s) that is/are against YMMV’s requirements for approval)