Concur. I travel a lot and many of the second tier hotels are run by Indians. They have all been extremely friendly to me. Additionally, the father of a boy who played sports with my son is a Patel, who owns two hotels. He is extremely friendly, gracious and hard working. He is Hindu.
He did say it took him a very long time to stop thinking in terms of castes, but that America would give a penniless import (like himself) the opportunity to become successful and come into contact with many helpful Christians, made it impossible to continue to believe in castes.
Yes. I’m not an expert on the subject, but I have the impression that the Indians have very actively sought out secondary, non-metro and emerging markets. The hotel off the interstate in a rural area is the classic example. They’re not battling the big name brands in destination cities for the fancy downtown convention hotel business. They tend to be serving travellers and families with kids out on the highways. It’s the old story of an immigrant community identifying a niche, providing guidance and mutual support, and hustling its way to success. It’s rather like that other vast, dastardly Asian conspiracy, all the Korean dry cleaners in urban neighborhoods. Or the Jewish delis of a bygone generation.