Ever Notice How Many U.S. Hotels Are Owned By Indian-Americans? Here’s Why.

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If you’ve traveled around the United States for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed something.

A surprising number of hotels and motels—especially smaller properties and roadside inns—are owned by Indian-American families.

That’s not a coincidence.

The story of how that came to be is one of immigration, family support, entrepreneurship and a whole lot of hard work. And once you hear it, you’ll never look at a roadside motel quite the same way again.

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.

How Indian-Americans Came To Dominate The Motel Business

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. I mean, who’d ever think that much of the industry’s growth can be traced back to one community—and one surname that’s become almost synonymous with the motel business?

The ‘Patel Motel Cartel’

After watching this video, I HAD to find out more, especially about this “Patel Motel Cartel.” (of course, despite the nickname, there wasn’t actually a “cartel.” Instead, families and community networks often pooled their resources to help relatives purchase hotels and build successful businesses.)

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. What impressed me most wasn’t just the CEO—it was how diverse the entire leadership team was. It looked exactly like what people picture when they talk about America being a melting pot.

Where Things Stand Today

Fast forward to 2026, and the number of Indian-Americans owning hotels has continued to increase:

• According to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), Indian-Americans now own more than 60% of all hotels 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

I think that’s what I like most about this story.

On the surface, it seems like a curious travel fact: “Why are so many hotels owned by Indian-Americans?”

But once you dig into it, you realize it’s really a story about families helping one another, immigrants taking a chance on a business others often overlooked, and generations of hard work paying off.

Sure, you’ll still hear people joking about the “Patel Motel Cartel.” But behind that nickname is a remarkable example of entrepreneurship that has helped shape the American hotel industry.

And the next time you check into a hotel and see the owner’s last name is Patel, you’ll know there’s a good chance there’s an incredible story behind it.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary