Life Behind the Lobby: Indian American Motel Owners and the American Dream

by Pawan Dhingra

Indian Americans own about half of all the motels in the United States. Even more remarkable, most of these motel owners come from the same region in India and―although they are not all related―seventy percent of them share the surname of Patel. Most of these motel owners arrived in the United States with few resources and, broadly speaking, they are self-employed, self-sufficient immigrants who have become successful―they live the American dream. However, framing this group as embodying the American dream has profound implications. It perpetuates the idea of American exceptionalism―that this nation creates opportunities for newcomers unattainable elsewhere―and also downplays the inequalities of race, gender, culture, and globalization immigrants continue to face. Despite their dominance in the motel industry, Indian American moteliers are concentrated in lower- and mid-budget markets. Life Behind the Lobby explains Indian Americans' simultaneous accomplishments and marginalization and takes a close look at their own role in sustaining that duality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, History, Asian American

264 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2012

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chances are that anyone who has stayed in motels in the last decade has stayed in at least one owned by an Indian American, even if that is not apparent to the guests. Indian Americans own almost two million rooms with property values of well over $100 billion. About a third of Indian American owners have independent properties, typically all lower budget. Indian Americans own about 60 percent of budget-oriented motels generally and over half of some motel chains. Of franchise motels built in the last few years, those owned by Indian Americans comprise more than 50 percent. The motels can be found nationwide. They are in major cities, suburbs, and exurbs, and off interstate highways. This accomplishment is all the more remarkable when one considers the small segment of India from which most owners descend. Seventy percent of Indian American owners share the same surname, Patel, although they are not all related. They come from the Indian state of Gujarat, either directly or from elsewhere in the diaspora (for example, the United Kingdom or East Africa). And a majority originate not just from Gujarat but from within a 100-mile radius of the central region of the state. Patels alone own about one-third of all the nation's motels. It is no wonder politicians and the new media often celebrate them.

Pawan Dhingra's Life Behind the Lobby examines a fascinating culture of first and second generation Indian and American Indian motel owners. Dhingra recognizes the motivations and challenges of this enterprise is not easily reduced to or explained by facile assumptions. His study is all academic jargon and citations. Since this is a university press publication, Dhingra wastes no narrative space attempting to lure a reader with scandal, hearsay, or click bait.

The result of Dhingra's approach is a very dry, very academic read on a fascinating subject. I enjoyed the candid statements he culls from different entrepreneurs. Some come across as inspirational and rational, while others come across as close-minded and arrogant. What motivates these entrepreneurs, how they react to and work around economic or racial challenges--it makes for captivating reading despite being written like some PhD candidate's dissertation.

I recommend only to readers not turned off by academic language. Trust me--Dhingra is all about citing evidence for his hypotheses.

This has the indirect effect of contributing to the racialization tied to capitalism. To the extent that capitalism depends on the racial stereotyping and segregation of competing groups, the notion of the model minority will remain active. The more that Indian Americans own motels, the more they become racially stereotyped as natural fits for that position, and they grow in the industry. They become perceived as good moteliers, just as Latinos become good service workers, Third World women become good assembly-line workers, and so on. In addition, for capitalism to be accepted despite the inequalities that it creates, the public needs to be convinced that the system is fair.

[Dadao · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling book that gets into the nuance of race/ethnicity, gender, culture, and the power entangled. The stories in the book are sophisticated yet convincing. My favorite part is how the families of motel owners preserve, exercise, and increase their power by navigating, sometimes exploiting and reinforcing, the existing racial/gender/cultural hierarchies. It powerfully demonstrates how context matters because it is hard, even immoral, to simply judge how they do not choose to "resist" or fight back in a textbook way. It also reminds us how any of the simplistic theorization of sexism, racism, xenophobia, and the like — whether it be romanticized or critical — should be seriously reassessed. It is this richness that I appreciate the book the most.

However, the author seems to fall short of theoretical syntheses, with possible theoretical contributions buried in the dense writings. For example (or rather, in particular), the author has a tendency of suddenly jumping into big words (e.g., capitalism, neoliberalism, Foucaultian disciplined body) in the middle of empirical discussion without sufficient theoretical elaboration. Sometimes I wonder if the book might be better read (or even written) as a popular non-fiction instead of an academic monograph.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book on my reading list for years, so I have no idea how I came across it. I've never stayed in many motels (or hotels or AirBnBs, etc. for that matter), so I was super intrigued by this. Although the premise is not weird or anything, I had no idea that Indian immigrants owned so many motels in the US wanted to know more about how this came to be.

Author Dhingra looks at premise from different angles: the history of the families and people who came here, where they came from, the difficulties they experienced, the areas they moved to, etc. The Washington Post wrote up about how Indian restaurants are increasingly popping up at truck stops to adjust to the changing workforce of people now driving trucks around the US in May 2023, perhaps a natural shift as the population must find other industries, the changing needs of the trucking industry, etc.

While informative, I do agree with the negative reviews: as a text, it was a tough read. I had hoped this would be more of a narrative but instead it was a really dry study that read like a thesis that was then published into a book. It is an important read and I do think it is worthwhile (especially as I am unaware of other books that cover this same subject?), but it was a slog.

I'm sure there will definitely be an audience for it: easily a text that could show up in a syllabus on immigration, the trucking industry. Indian-American history, etc. As a standalone read (not for a class and without other context like a book or documentary, etc.) for a layperson this is probably not a great pick if you want something "light." Borrow from the library or buy as a bargain book.

Library borrow was best for me.

[Sumukh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m Indian-American so there is nothing about this book that is particularly astounding since it is my lived experience and having interacted with Patels, Gujarati community, and motel community in the Midwest throughout my life.

The author is a professor at Oberlin College and so the book is very academia-oriented which he acknowledges. It’s certainly an interesting book for those outside of this community to better understand and interact with.

The book has aged at this point so it would be great to see a 2nd edition which, given social media, has allowed understanding of Indian-American communities, lodging/travel, etc to expand and to write from that lens and how much has changed in just 15-20 years on these people and this industry.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Thomas Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as it tells the incredible story of how a small group of migrants from India, ended up transforming the entire American hotel and hospitality industry in less than 50 years. I picked it up after I heard the author interviewed on NPR, and was intrigued.

[Vijay Viswanathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, interesting read.