Skip to content

Search

Latest Stories

Rip Patel is growing the brand

G6 Hospitality’s new VP for franchise development, shares his story in April’s Leadership Series

Rip Patel is growing the brand

The foundation for Rip Patel’s interest in hotel franchise development was laid in his teen years. Patel, appointed in January as G6 Hospitality’s vice president for franchise development, shares that story in this month’s Leadership Series.

When he was almost 16 years old, Patel and his family were developing their first franchise hotel, a Holiday Inn Express. As part of the process, they had to undergo an inspection by the franchise representative.


“I just remember being so nervous and all the family being nervous. This was kind of a make it or break it for us,” Patel said. “He came in and just went through everything while we're just sweating, and everything worked out. I always remembered and appreciated that particular meeting, and I thought that's something that I definitely want to do in the future.”

That future is now, and Patel has definite goals for his new position.

A lifetime of experience

Patel is a second-generation whose parents moved to the U.S. and began managing a friend’s hotel in Tennessee when he was 4 years old and his sister was 1.

“They ran the whole thing from housekeeping to front desk to maintenance,” Patel said. “A lot of times, my mom would have my sister in the housekeeping cart on the bottom while she's making up rooms and I'd be running towels, doing laundry, whatever I could at that time, while my dad was handling the other stuff.”

AH APRIL LS G6 Rip Patel HI Express Rip Patel said he was inspired to work in franchise development after observing the process when his parents developed their first franchised hotel, a Holiday Inn Express in Texas.

They then moved to California and then Texas where they were able to buy a 15-room hotel. It was a 24-hour operation with the whole family doing housekeeping, running the front desk and doing maintenance.

“While my buddies were out having a good time on weekends, I was cleaning rooms, doing laundry, and everything else you can imagine in a hotel,” Patel said. “That's when I knew I would always be in this industry.”

Patel also realized at that point that he preferred development over operations. That led his footsteps toward G6.

Working for the brand

After graduating Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management, he was hired at Atlanta- based U.S. Franchise Systems under AAHOA co-founder Mike Leven. He joined G6 10 years ago and served as director of franchise development until his recent promotion.

His goal for the new job is simple.

“The same it's always been is to grow the brand with great ownerships. That's our focus,” Patel said. “Finding the right markets, working with the right folks and getting hotels open.”

Marketing G6 to franchisees is easy, Patel said. The company sells itself.

“The biggest thing is our business model. It's a low overhead, more bottom-line profit system,” Patel said. “No breakfast, no rewards program, our rooms are efficiently designed, requiring less labor, less maintenance, overall operations model requires less staffing. We have so many things that really create a bigger bottom line for our owners. And that's why we've been so successful for the last 60 years.”

AH APRIL LS G6 Rip Patel big 6 Rip Patel started with G6 10 years ago and served as director of franchise development until his recent promotion.

Franchisees’ concerns are generally about topics out of the company’s control, Patel said.

“It's the economy, its interest rate, its rising costs, labor shortages. And you know, we hear them loud and clear,” Patel said. “G6 has owned and operated thousands of hotels, so it's not that we don't know this, we've seen it firsthand, and we appreciate these problems.”

Along those lines, the company did see a slowdown in 2023.

“It was a slowdown, but it wasn't unexpected, and I think our owners were prepared. They were ready for it, and that's on the retail side,” he said. “But our owners also we're like, ‘Heck, we know what this brand is, we know what it does.’”

G6 did have a record year for development signings, Patel said. They signed 120 deals.

“That was really fueled by our Studio 6 brands, Studio 6, and Studio 6 Suites. Economy extended stay lodging still continues to be very, very strong and 60 percent of our signings were for that segment, for those brands. And even this year, that trend is continuing.”

Keeping the light on

Patel said the light will definitely stay on for 2024, referencing the Motel 6 motto “We’ll keep the light on for you.”

“We're going to be visiting several markets throughout the year, having VIP events where the development team will be, in particular markets, very strategic markets, and, we'll be sending out a lot of notices,” Patel said.

AH APRIL LS G6 Rip Patel family From left, Rip Patel’s wife Lichi Patel, daughters Emma and Eyva along with Rip.

Patel expectations do not rely on the state of the economy.

“This economy segment that we're in, it's obviously recession proof. We've seen that just these past few years what it can do for hotel owners and then not only just the brand but the segment,” Patel said. “We've been a safe haven for owners to park money during rough times because they know that we're going to continue to have cashflow, we're going to continue to appreciate at our assets.”

More for you

Marriott
Photo Credit: Marriott

Marriott closes $355M acquisition of citizenM

Summary:

  • Marriott International completed its $355 million acquisition of citizenM, a Netherlands-based select-service brand.
  • Integration into Marriott’s systems is underway.
  • Founded in 2008 by Rattan Chadha, citizenM targets travelers seeking smart room design, shared spaces.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL COMPLETED its $355 million acquisition of citizenM, a Netherlands-based select-service brand founded by Rattan Chadha, as announced in April. CitizenM’s portfolio includes 37 hotels with 8,789 rooms across more than 20 cities in the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific.

Keep ReadingShow less
Peachtree Group loan
Photo credit: Peachtree Group

Peachtree backs $42M loan for AFC deal

Summary:

  • Peachtree provided a $42 million floating-rate loan to Banyan Street Capital for the acquisition and repositioning of Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead.
  • The deal delivers capital at a reset basis, with comps pricing 98 percent higher, reflecting strong collateral and execution.
  • It recently launched a $250 million fund to invest in hotel and commercial assets mispriced from market illiquidity.

PEACHTREE GROUP PROVIDED its first mortgage loan to Banyan Street Capital for the acquisition and repositioning of the 914,774-square-foot Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead, Georgia. Peachtree said the office sector is at an inflection point, similar to the retail segment previously.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s Proposed Visa Fee Threatens Seasonal Hospitality Workforce

Report: Trump visa fee sparks summer staffing fears

Summary:

  • Trump’s proposed $250 Visa Integrity Fee faces pushback from groups relying on seasonal J-1 workers from Latin America and Asia.
  • J-1 visa holders often work as housekeepers, amusement park staff, and lifeguards from pre-season through Labor Day; more than 300,000 use the visa annually.
  • DHS and the State Department have not clarified how the fee will be implemented or who qualifies for a refund.

A $250 VISA Integrity Fee in President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is drawing criticism from groups that rely on seasonal workers from Latin America and Asia on J-1 and other visas, Newsweek reported. The organizations warn the cost, though sometimes refundable, could reduce the summer workforce that supports U.S. beach towns and resorts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wyndham & Grubhub Offer Free Delivery to Guests & Staff

Wyndham, Grubhub offer free delivery to guests, staff

Summary:

  • Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is partnering with Grubhub to offer free product delivery to guests and staff at nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels across 20 brands.
  • A Grubhub account is required to activate the complimentary Grubhub+ membership; no credit card is needed and the membership does not auto-renew.
  • Wyndham recently deployed Elavon’s cloud payments interface to more than 6,000 U.S. and Canadian franchisees.

WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS and Grubhub, an online ordering and delivery platform, will offer item delivery to guests and staff with no delivery fees and other benefits. The service is available at nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels across 20 brands, with orders placed through the Grubhub app on-site or by scanning a hotel QR code.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Hotel Construction Hits 20-Quarter Low in June

CoStar: Hotel construction drops in June

Summary:

  • U.S. hotel rooms under construction fell year over year for the sixth straight month in June, hitting a 20-quarter low, CoStar reported.
  • About 138,922 rooms were under construction, down 11.9 percent from June 2024; the luxury segment had 6,443 rooms, up 4.1 percent year over year.
  • Lodging Econometrics recently said Dallas led all U.S. markets in hotel construction pipelines at the end of the first quarter, with 203 projects and 24,496 rooms.

THE NUMBER OF U.S. hotel rooms under construction declined year over year for the sixth straight month in June, reaching a 20-quarter low, according to CoStar. Additionally, more than half of all rooms under development are in the South, mostly outside the top 25 markets.

Keep ReadingShow less