- Maya Hotels’ F&B concept Dear Charlotte to open in late fall.
- It is a rooftop restaurant, bar and event space.
- Thakor and Deva led the design with partners.
MAYA HOTELS’ F&B concept Dear Charlotte will open at Hilton Garden Inn Steele Creek in southwest Charlotte, North Carolina, in late fall. The rooftop restaurant, cocktail venue and event space will have its own menu.
Maya Hotels Co-CEOs and cousins Parimal Thakor and Krishna Deva are developing the venue as the company’s first independent food and beverage concept, Maya said in a statement. The company is developing the HGI Steele Creek as well.
“Steele Creek has continued to grow, and we saw an opportunity to bring something more distinctive to this part of Charlotte,” said Thakor. “With Dear Charlotte, we wanted to create something beautiful, specific and unexpected in a part of the city that deserves a gathering place of its own.”
The property will feature botanical cocktails, artisan pizzas, shared plates and private event spaces. It will serve the area near Charlotte Premium Outlets, Topgolf and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, with access to the future River District.
The project was initially planned as a hotel development without a food and beverage concept. After construction paused during the pandemic, Maya Hotels revised the plans and removed 11 guest rooms from the sixth floor to create the restaurant and cocktail venue.
Deva said people remember how a place makes them feel and who they share it with, not every detail of a night out.
“Every decision we made, from the music and lighting to the cocktails and service, was meant to give people another reason to stay a little longer, come back sooner and introduce someone else to Dear Charlotte.”
Design elements
Thakor and Deva led the design with interior design partners.
The design will include botanical elements, black millwork, teal zellige tile, arched backlit bar shelving, reindeer moss chandeliers, a greenhouse and a faux ivy arrival wall with a replica historical statue, Maya said. The venue will draw from Charlotte and Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the botanist, collector and patron of the arts after whom the city was named.
The cocktail program will include drinks inspired by Queen Charlotte’s interest in botany. The food menu will feature pizzas made in PizzaMaster ovens, along with shared plates, dips, salads, vegan options and pizza dough sandwiches.
The venue will offer private and semi-private event spaces with a capacity of 250 guests. It will include a dining room and bar for up to 100 guests, a 1,744-square-foot patio for up to 100 guests and a 344-square-foot greenhouse for groups of eight to 50.
The spaces will support corporate receptions, team dinners, client entertainment, networking events, holiday parties, birthdays, wedding-related events and other gatherings. HGI Steele Creek will include 124 guestrooms and meeting rooms for events.
Thakor, a Charlotte native, and Deva, who spent part of her childhood in Gastonia, grew up in their family’s hotel business. Their parents founded Maya Hotels more than 30 years ago.
Maya marked 30 years in hospitality in 2025, growing from a single motel in 1995 to a portfolio of branded properties across the Carolinas. In January, the company completed renovations at three hotels in the Carolinas over the past year, updating about 34 percent of its guest rooms and upgrading guestrooms, public spaces, technology and layouts as part of its capital deployment strategy.
