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Keni’s story begins in 1982, when his family immigrated to the U.S. with nothing but visas and a network of distant relatives. Like many Patels from Gujarat, his family moved directly into a relative’s motel—18 people living on-site while working every role from housekeeping to front desk to maintenance.



Over time, Keni watched his parents acquire and expand their own motel using a mix of friends-and-family financing, 12% interest bank loans, and extreme frugality. That model—a family living in the back unit, doing every job, and saving every dollar—became the backbone of how Patels came to own 40% of hotels in the U.S. and 80–90% of motels.

Today, Keni owns hotels himself and works as a data scientist at Driftwood Capital, a $5B hospitality investment firm that develops and operates Hilton and Marriott properties.

We break down:

What you’ll learn

• Why Patels dominate the motel industry
  
  
  
  


• How friends-and-family lending works in Gujarati communities
  
  
  
  


• What margins look like for economy vs luxury hotels
  
  
  
  


• Why a single family can run a 17-room motel with 60% margins
  
  
  
  


• When owner-operator models stop working
  
  
  
  


• The full economics behind ADR, RevPAR, NOI, and cap rates
  
  
  
  


• Why Hilton, Marriott & others keep inventing new sub-brands
  
  
  
  


• How COVID impacted economy hotels vs upscale hotels
  
  
  
  


• Why management companies exist (and why they don’t buy hotels themselves)
  
  
  
  

This is one of the clearest, most detailed walkthroughs of the actual business of hotels you’ll ever hear.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Growing up in a motel with 18 family members

3:15 – How Patels finance their first properties

7:00 – The origins of the Patel motel network

10:20 – The “friends & family” lending system explained

12:45 – Life living in a 17-room motel

15:50 – Zero days off & never sleeping through the night

18:40 – Why the first motel is the hardest

20:30 – The true margins of economy hotels

23:00 – Converting to a Days Inn and what changes

25:30 – Keni’s portfolio today + Driftwood Capital

27:00 – How hotels actually evaluate performance (ADR, RevPAR)

31:50 – Why hotel data is so rich compared to other industries

33:40 – Revenue per key & top-line benchmarks

36:15 – Cap rates and valuation differences by hotel class

38:20 – Why owner-operator models break above ~60 rooms

40:00 – Corporate contracts & sales in economy hotels

41:15 – When you need professional hotel management

44:00 – Why hotel restaurants rarely make money

47:00 – The cap rate arbitrage in economy hotels

51:30 – Why hotel brands have 35+ sub-brands

55:00 – Keni’s long-term plans

56:00 – Where to follow Keni