Posted on 08/06/2006 8:45:16 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
RICHARDSON (AP) - When Ron Patel talks to customers at the Super 8 Motel he owns, he usually does so in English. When he speaks to the housekeeping staff it's often in Spanish. When he talks to his wife, it's in the Indian language Gujarati.
It's a complicated but increasingly common scene in U.S. hotels and motels, about one-third of which are owned by Indians, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association.
To help keep order in the multilanguage environment, many hotel operators are turning to a Gujarati-Spanish phrasebook developed for hotel owners and being expanded and more widely distributed by the end of 2006.
"Especially the part of Texas we live in - you have to have a few words in hospitality; otherwise you lose the customer," said Vijay Lala, who keeps the book at his front desk at the Pine Lodge Motel he owns in Jacksonville to help him deal with Spanish-speaking customers and employees.
The many Gujarati-speaking hotel franchisees and Spanish-speaking employees in places like Texas and California inspired Nicole Johnson-Reece of Wyndham Worldwide Corp. to request a Gujarati-Spanish dictionary from the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance, an industry group that has made other language guides.
The result was the 80-page, pocket-sized book featuring phrases useful when running a hotel or motel, such as "please unclog the drain" and "inspect the room for all items left behind." The books have been especially popular at smaller "limited" hotels, half of which are owned by Indians.
The guide sold about 10,000 copies in 2005. Most were bought by hotel owners, but some were bought by Indians who owned convenience stores or construction businesses, said alliance spokeswoman Michelle Miller.
"There are some in the family who perhaps are involved in the business who don't have total command of English so it's much easier for them to see it in Gujarati," said Gerry Fernandez, the alliance's president.
The guide was first available only to Cendant Corp. franchisees - now Wyndham Worldwide - although members of the Asian hotel owners group received copies of it at a conference in 2005.
India is the largest English speaking country in the world.
:)~
A lot of Patel's are from Gujarat (its a state in India). A mority of them are back home in India nothing more than Hindu racist bigots.
I thought every Indian who immigrated from India to USA had to adopt the surname 'Patel'.
If that's supposed to be representative of the fine English skills that India boasts, it's no wonder Dell stopped using India for Tech Support.
Just call me Amitava Srivi Priyabrata Ramachandra. (with a Texas twang)
Cheers!
This is supposed to be a melting pot, not a fractional distillation tower.
Cheers!
And when Indians work together, they have to speak to each other in English, because each state in India has a different language, and English is the only common language that they all can understand.
This makes me want to hang out in hotel lobbies just to watch the fun.
It doesn't stop there...in Craig, Colorado, there is a Super 8 owned by a Kris Patel.
**and it's operated by a Patel.....***
About 30 years ago the TULSA WORLD did an exposee of motel owners and found a large number of new owners were..(gasp) PATELS! They were taking over the motel business in the area.
Some were offended till they were reminded by letters to the editor that these were legitimate property owners and not welfare kings and queens.
I have stayed at many a Patel owned motel and have never had a problem.
My only problem with Patel-run motels is they do not understand the necessity with which the American male needs to have ESPN (and hopefully ESPN2) in his room. Since cricket isn't shown, they aren't particularly interested.
" and English is the only common language that they all can understand."
Actually its Hindi not English.
:) speak for north of mumbai, south of mumbai, people don't speak hindi as well as they speak English. The common language in the south is English.
Yep.
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