AAHOA
109 | Passion, Courage and Patience with Dina Patel
AAHOA
Dina Patel, CHO was born in Bardoli, India, and immigrated to USA with her family in 1988, when she was 10 years old. Two years later, Dina’s parents bought their first independent motel in San Antonio, Texas. From day one, Dina helped out in every part of the motel.
Dina earned a BBA (magna cum laude) with a minor in Spanish from the University of Houston in 1999, then began her career working as a System Analyst for Hanover Compressor Company. Several years later, Dina left the corporate world to pursue her dream of business ownership and in 2007, she and her husband opened their first hotel, a brand-new 35-room Scottish Inn and Suites.
Since joining AAHOA, Dina has served as a Southeast Texas Regional Ambassador and completed the AAHOA Certified Hotel Owner (CHO) program. In 2015, she was elected to a three-year term as AAHOA Female Director at Large (Western Division) and to co-chair of the AAHOA Women’s Committee. Dina also serves on the AAHOA Education Committee, is an AAHOA Lifetime Member, and has been an active participant in AAHOA legislative events.
In March 2017, Dina started her new role as Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Mirage Hospitality where she will be responsible for the growth the company.
In This Episode, Dina Reveals:
- How she made the transition from employee in the oil business to hotel owner, how she chose the brand and location, how she got financing, and some of the expensive lessons she learned along the way.
- The three most important skills she developed over the years that enabled her to build her first property.
- The pressures and challenges she has faced as a female entrepreneur, why she’s involved in AAHOA, and the growth of women in leadership roles in the industry and within the association.
- The power of networking and how to build meaningful relationships with like-minded industry professionals.
Resources & Links
Mentioned in this Episode
Dina Patel
Mirage Hospitality
AAHOA
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346 | Repositioning For Recovery: Hotel conversions to outpace new builds
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
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345 | ‘Rosy View of Future’: Hotel industry sees unleashing of pent-up investor demand
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.