Congratulations to our brand award-winning members!

As 2016 draws to a close, we look back at the tremendous growth AAHOA has experienced this year. Membership has skyrocketed past the goals we set at the beginning of the year. The new AAHOA magazine, "Today’s Hotelier," has been a runaway success throughout the industry. And the AAHOA PAC officially reached $1 million for the first time in AAHOA’s history.

As proud as we are of those accomplishments, AAHOA’s ultimate goal in all that we do is to help you, our members, be the best owners in the industry. And the results are in - AAHOA members are raising the standard for professional excellence in hospitality around the United States. This year, at least 24 AAHOA members were honored by seven different hotel brands for demonstrating excellence as a franchisee and member of the hospitality industry.

The honorees are, in no particular order:

Nilam Patel of Country Inns & Suites received the President’s Award and GM of the Year Award from Carlson Rezidor. "Nilam continually goes above and beyond to retain and train her staff to excel at driving to be the area’s top performing hotels," said Carlson SVP of Midscale Brands, Americas, Jeffrey Freund. "She embraces the brand’s Be Our Guest service program and is committed to fully embracing Country Inns & Suites’ mission to provide a caring, comfortable and consistent stay for each of her guests every day."

On the West Coast, Rajni Marwah received Choice Hotels’ Hotel of the Year award for his high-performing Comfort Suites. Said Dean of Choice University Tim Tobin, "The [Marwah] family has taken great pride in assembling a network of talent with a shared goal of delivering a remarkable guest experience for travelers."

The G6 Partnership Award was presented to Kim and Lee Judson for their Lincoln City, Ore., hotel’s exemplary performance. "[W]e are deeply grateful for nearly 20 years of our successful partnership ... but we are even more grateful for their commitment to deliver excellence every day," said G6 EVP Franchise and International Development Dean Savas.

La Quinta honored five AAHOA members this year - more than any other brand! We’re proud to congratulate GM of the Year Bhavesh Patel (Memphis, Tenn.); Highest Net Promoter - Region 62 Vick Patel (Paducah, Ky.); Highest Net Promoter - Region 64 Sima Vallabh (Bryant, Ark.); Highest Net Promoter - Region 81 Dharmesh "David" Kumar (Cleveland, Texas); and Highest Net Promoter - Region 82 Amit Patel (Columbus, Ind.). "Congratulations to Bhavesh, Vick, Sima, David and Amit for their excellent work in 2016 and for being esteemed members of the AAHOA and La Quinta families," said La Quinta EVP and Chief Development Officer Raj Trivedi.

Two AAHOA members were honored by Red Roof this year. Mahendra Kapadia (Houston, Texas) received the Circle of Excellence Award - Online Travel Review, while Anil Patel (Clarksville, Tenn.) received the Circle of Excellence Award - Through the Roof. Red Roof President Andrew Alexander congratulated Mahendra and Anil, adding, "Red Roof’s strong and ongoing relationship with AAHOA is vital to our continued success and to the enhancement of our position within the industry."

In Santa Rosa, Calif., Sonny Patel received RLHC/Vantage’s prestigious Beata Spirit Award for 2016 - the brand’s highest honor - while Sharin "Sunny" Patel(Houston, Texas) won the New Member Development award and Greg Trzaska (St. Augustine Beach, Fla.) was presented with the Leadership Award (Below 60). Ten other RLHC/Vantage honorees, all of whom were recognized as top achievers for America’s Best Value Inn, included Nilesh and Nayna Patel (Cabot, Ark.); Bina and Paresh Bhakta (Payson, Ariz.);Rajendra Bhakta (Prescott Valley, Ariz.); Dilip Amin (Climesa, Calif.); Ashok and Kay Patel(Inglewood/Hawthorne, Calif.); Pravin and Sukaniya Patel (Cheshire, Conn.); Harkishan Vanmali (Anthony, Texas); Arvind Patel (Houston, Texas); Hasu Patel (Houston, Texas); and Piyush Patel (Rock Springs, Wy.).

RLHC/Vantage EVP and President of Global Development Roger Bloss praised the dedication and hard work of all AAHOA members and expressed sincere enthusiasm for the continued development the brand’s relationship with AAHOA.

Finally, 2014 AAHOA Chairman Pratik Patel was honored by Wyndham earlier this year with the brand’s Advocacy Award. "There has never been in our industry’s history a more important time for advocacy in Washington, D.C.," said Wyndham President and CEO Geoff Ballotti. "We all need more leaders like Pratik Patel to help lead the way."

AAHOA offers its most sincere congratulations and appreciation to these and all other award winners from 2016 and its gratitude to the brands that have worked so closely with us to achieve so much within our industry.