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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317 | Together Again: U.S. hotel industry begins to see return of small meetings
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316 | Pandemic Trailblazer: Hunter Hotel Investment Conference leads lodging industry’s 2021 event circuit
The Hunter Hotel Investment Conference will be the industry’s first large event to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. The Atlanta event will be a hybrid format of in-person and virtual access, also an industry first. Lee Hunter, chairman of the conference, knows the level of expectation is high among other conference planners as well as industry professionals eager to network after more than a yearlong hiatus. Episode 316 of Lodging Leaders podcast features Hunter as he tells what it takes to re-launch the industry’s conference circuit amid the COVID-19 outbreak.