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.

Hotels

• Bama Motel (purchased 1974)
• Town Motel
• Hampton Inn & Suites Birmingham East - Irondale
• Hampton Inn Birmingham - Fultondale
• Holiday Inn Express Birmingham - Irondale (opened 2002)
• Hilton Garden Inn - Wildwood Centre (sold 2012)
• Hilton Garden Inn Tuscaloosa
• Hampton Inn - Lakeshore Drive (opened 2006)
• Hilton Garden Inn - Liberty Park (opened 2008, sold 2012)
• Holiday Inn - Lakeshore Drive (opened 2008)
• Comfort Suites - Alabama 150 (opened 2008)
• SpringHill Suites by Marriott Tuscaloosa (opened 2015)
• 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
• 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