From Engineer to 4 Red Roof Hotels: How He Built the Portfolio

Glenn: [00:00:00] Yeah, everybody. It’s your hospitality friend Glenn here on the show floor of a AAHOACon 2026. I found my friend Priyank Patel over here. He owns not one, not two, but four Red Roofs. And I said, I gotta go and find out what this is all about. Congratulations on all of those properties. So you started nine years ago. Tell me a little bit about what made you want to be a hotelier other than culturally? I feel like you’re legally obligated. Like us. Like us. Jews have to be doctors and lawyers.

Priyank: [00:00:29] Not really. I’m. I’m. I’m the fourth generation hotel. Really? I started the business. This is not something I inherited from my parents. And coming from the engineering background, when I made my decision nine years ago, this was my first property. Red roof was in Manassas, right. And coming in into it with a hesitancy. But then I told myself, like, you know, I want to invest myself financially as well as with whole heart and start learning the business.

Glenn: [00:00:56] But then let me ask you this then. Engineering is pretty good, good career. Why would you leave that career to become a hotelier? And then what was it about Red roof that made you say, this is my this is my future?

Priyank: [00:01:08] That takes me to your previous question, where I do have extended family that have been in this business, and those uncles and aunts are also engineers, but they are in hotel business for years, so when I. Before I switched, I asked my extended family, why did you choose this career and not pursue your engineering? Right. And they said they would make or I would make. I would be more successful doing a business, dictating my own schedule, make more money and, and I can work anytime I want and I can be off anytime I want.

Glenn: [00:01:39] I love that, and as a small business owner, I know that means you work seven days a week and you never take time off. But you can if you want to, but you can’t.

Priyank: [00:01:48] If you want to. You know what you’re doing now.

Glenn: [00:01:50] So you get into your first red roof, which is fine, but it’s really the second one that makes a big difference to me. Right? What made you say, I really like this relationship? Genuine relationships, you know, and and made you want to invest in a second property?

Priyank: [00:02:06] Yeah, actually, I would go to second, third and fourth. And I want to keep going because this is a great team. These people, I love them. They’re my family. And the reason I went on to my second was because when I learned my first, they taught me so well that it encouraged me to go for the second one. And then they kept teaching me. And that encouraged me to by the third, fourth, and maybe I don’t know what future holds.

Glenn: [00:02:33] Yeah, that’s that’s pretty awesome. One of the things that I do love about what Red roof does is they take you through that whole process when you go into these things. And I said this with Matt in another interview, you don’t know what you don’t know. They make that clear. They help make you successful. That’s pretty wonderful for you. Congratulations. Tell me about being here at home. What does it mean to you?

Priyank: [00:02:54] This is a great platform. A great platform for the hotel owners to connect with the vendors in, in all sectors, whether that be lending, whether that be franchise, whether that be needing your furniture for the hotel or connecting with your peers. People, how they operate the hotels of fellow hotelier, how they, how they do their business differently than you. And connecting with them every year brings a lot of joy to me, and I enjoy going at our convention. As a matter of fact, I am also board of Director for the Washington DC area for a nice and serving on the board. I’m learning so much through Ahoa and Ahoa has so much to give to it to its members that I encourage everyone to become a member of Hope.

Glenn: [00:03:41] I love it, thank you. Great. That’s amazing. Like share, subscribe this video. And while you’re at it, get five, ten franchises with red roof real vouch for it. See you all later. Bye. Thank you.