Chiman Patel

Chiman S. Patel (born June 1, 1942) is a prominent hotel developer and owner, and a co-founder and chair of HP Hotels

Patel immigrated to the United States to complete a degree in biology at the University of Alabama in the late 1960s. After graduating he taught plant physiology at Tuskegee Institute before going into business for himself as a carpet importer.

He bought the Bama Motel on 1st Avenue North in East Lake in 1974. By 1982 he was also working as a motel broker for Molton, Allen & Williams and as manager of the Tara House Hotel in Homewood, having negotiated an option to purchase the property from owner Bud Conaway.

In 1993 Patel sold the Town Motel to his nephew, Bharat Patel and his wife, Daksha, for $450,000, but ended up foreclosing on their mortgage. The younger Patels filed a lawsuit claiming that their uncle had inflated the purchase price and overstated the profitability of the motel, partly because earlier revenues had relied on illegal short-term rentals. A jury found for the plaintiffs and awarded compensatory and punitive damages. On appeal, the Alabama State Supreme Court upheld the court's judgment, but reduced the punitive damages by half, noting that Chiman Patel had claimed in 1994 to have a net worth of around $3 million.

In 2002 Patel developed the Holiday Inn Express Birmingham - Irondale at 811 Grant's Mill Road. That same year he partnered with Mike Hines to form HP Hotels.

In 2019 Patel began developing a Home2 Suites Hoover - Galleria at 3200 Galleria Circle. In 2021 he sold the property along with the business opportunity to Sanjay Patel's Baron Hospitality.

Companies

• Hari Hospitality (incorporated 2013)
• Laxminarayan Hospitality (incorporated 2021)

Hotels

• Bama Motel, 6712 1st Avenue North, East Lake (purchased 1974)
• Town Motel, 414 3rd Avenue West, Graymont (owned before 1993)
• Hampton Inn & Suites Birmingham East - Irondale, 950 Old Grant's Mill Road, Irondale
• Hampton Inn Fultondale, 1716 Fulton Road, Fultondale (sold before 2021)
• Holiday Inn Express Irondale, 811 Old Grants Mill Road, Irondale (opened 2002, sold before 2022)
• Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham Lakeshore Drive, 520 Wildwood Circle North (sold 2012)
• Hilton Garden Inn Tuscaloosa, 800 Hollywood Boulevard, Tuscaloosa
• Hampton Inn Lakeshore Drive, 30 State Farm Parkway, Homewood (opened 2006)
• Hilton Garden Inn - Liberty Park, 2090 Urban Center Parkway, Vestavia Hills (opened 2008, sold 2012)
• Holiday Inn Express Lakeshore Drive, 3020 Commons Drive, Oxmoor (opened 2008)
• Comfort Suites - Alabama 150 (opened 2008)
• SpringHill Suites by Marriott Tuscaloosa, 4020 Greensboro Avenue, Tuscaloosa (opened 2015)
• Embassy Suites by Hilton Birmingham Hoover, 2960 John Hawkins Parkway
• Residence Inn - Hoover (purchased 2019)

References

• Horne, Terry (January 1, 1982) "When it comes to innkeepers, Patel's the name" Birmingham Post-Herald, p. C1
• Patel v. Patel (January 9, 1998) Supreme Court of Alabama 708 So. 2d 159
• Nicholson, Gilbert (December 2, 2001) "Developers pumping $12M into two new hotels." Birmingham Business Journal
• Williams, Roy L. (May 20, 2006) "Demand for rooms prompts hotel builder." The Birmingham News
• Morton, James (July 7, 2014) "Developer planning Hilton, Marriott hotels for Tuscaloosa." The Tuscaloosa News
• Van der Bijl, Hanno (June 18, 2020) "New hotel in works near Galleria." Birmingham Business Journal
• Van der Bijl, Hanno (May 24, 2021) "Baron Hospitality takes over new Hilton hotel project near Galleria." Birmingham Business Journal