TRUSHA PATEL, founder and CEO of Platinum Holdings in Austin, Texas, started the company to build better financial stability for her family as her husband, former AAHOA Chairman Hitesh “HP” Patel, began his political career.
Platinum Holdings company, which she helps operate along with her original LLC Capital City Hospitality Group, serves another purpose as well.
“I knew that shifting with another LLC would be able to position it into more of a DEI initiative where it's women hospitality developers that we can see out there. My big thing was bringing them out from behind the scenes, letting women see women that look like that,” Trusha told the Women of Color Power List 2025.
“I could do this and be able to come in with that core reason to create this safe space ecosystem where it's ownership at the heart of it, not brand, not investment, not other factors but just a core ecosystem where people can come with ideas for roadblocks and challenges.”
Today, Trusha serves on the board of directors for the Austin Hotel and Lodging Association. She is a lifetime member of AAHOA and since 2009, she has served as an AAHOA ambassador and committee member.
Like many other Asian American hoteliers, she has a lifetime of experience with hotels.
Trusha’s parents, the late Jayantilal Patel from the village of Varad and Tara Patel from the village of Khoj, both in the state of Gujarat, lived in England when she was born. They immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Austin in 1979 when Trusha and her two sisters and brother were children.
“My dad purchased his first independent property, C&M motel, and it was a small unit,” Trusha said. “Like everyone else, we had the same humble beginnings pretty much did every single sector you can think of in the hospitality space.”
Later, when that first hotel became successful, Trusha says her father built the 25-room Roosevelt Inn Motel [CH2] and the Homestead Inn Motel. When Trusha was in her teens, Jayantilal opened his first branded hotel, a Howard Johnson.
“At 17, while in college, I played a crucial role in establishing my father’s first branded hotel, a significant leap from managing three independent ones. I handled brand relations, insurance and financing negotiations,”[CH3] Trusha recalls, adding that her father was the first Asian American in San Antonio to build a franchise hotel at that time.
“Our journey as an Indian immigrant family business reflects resilience, innovation and adaptability, driven by hard work, community support and strong family values. Starting with humble beginnings, we leveraged our cultural values of hard work, community support and a strong sense of family to build a scalable portfolio in the hospitality industry. My experiences fuel my belief in creating pathways for future generations and empowering women to achieve their aspirations within our community.”
Trusha and HP have two children, Kylissa Patel, a second-year student at Brookyln Law School, and Khaleal Patel who is a engineering student at Texas A&M University. She was in her early 20s when they married.
“But all in all, I didn't lose myself,” Trusha said. “I still continued my passion to be outside the hospitality space because I knew my investments, my savings were going to be invested in hospitality.”
Platinum Holding came about after the COVID pandemic eliminated the C-Level corporate position Trusha held at the time.
“It gave me a reflection point, saying, ‘What do I do? Do I create my own pathway, or do I start with another industry?’ At that time, I made that bold decision and said, ‘I'm going to do what I've always done.’”
She also noticed a big part of woman hotel ownership was lacking.
“At that time, DEI initiatives were being brought forward because they did notice that one out of 10 hoteliers that are developing (properties) are women. Because there's so many out there, there's so many obstacles and challenges, I decided to create Platinum Holdings.”
Trusha also had a personal experience that highlighted for her the essential challenge faced by women in the industry. At that time, she had a telling encounter with a lender at a conference.
“At that conference I went up to a lender and said, ‘I received your term sheets. However, I need to be able to make money out of this project. Currently, I can't. Is there any room for negotiations with upfront, prepayment penalties, terms, percentage of interest, just the overall capital stock?’ The gentleman says, ‘No ma'am, this is the best we can do. They cannot work with you any further.’”
Later that day, HP and Trusha met the same lender when they were together. HP introduced her as his wife.
“The gentleman said ‘HP, those are your deals?’ and the guy right away said ‘HP, don't worry, let me work, let me get you better terms. Let me give you this. Let me give you that.’ And here I am right next to my husband.” Trusha remembers.
“It really gave me insight into this industry right now as the biggest obstacle and a lot of women will reference my story because it's a real story and because I could have given up. My mission just became more resilient, where it's that I'm a very outspoken, educated, experienced woman. If I'm dealing with it, imagine all the other women that are just barely cracking the space.”
Getting funding for women hoteliers’ developments, particularly affordable funding, remains a challenge, Trusha notes. However, she does think total equality in the industry is definitely accomplishable.
“It's an ongoing journey,” Trusha says. “We're seeing the first stages of it, where a lot of the brands and a lot of the associations and organizations are creating programs around this. What that tells you that the awareness is out there. My focus continues to be on institutional REITs, private equity funding, and expanding my hospitality portfolio.”[CH4]
[CH1]Not new, just positioning and branding as another LLC
[CH2]My father built 2 additional independent hotels on Roosevelt Avenue, The Roosevelt Inn Motel and Homestead Inn Motel.
[CH3]He was the first Asian American in San Antonio to build a franchise hotel at that time.
[CH4]My focus continues to be on institutional REITs, private equity funding, and expanding my hospitality portfolio.
