# The History of The Patel Motel Phenomenon Part 1

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/asian-american-history-101-3066911/the-history-of-the-patel-motel-phenomenon-part-1
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/asian-american-history-101-3066911/the-history-of-the-patel-motel-phenomenon-part-1.md
Podcast: [Asian American History 101](https://stenobird.com/podcast/asian-american-history-101-3066911)
Published: 2026-01-26T08:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com/the-history-of-the-patel-motel-phenomenon-part-1
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/asianamericanhistory101/6-04_The_History_of_The_Patel_Motel_Phenomenon_Part_1.mp3?dest-id=2498237
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/asian-american-history-101-3066911/episodes/the-history-of-the-patel-motel-phenomenon-part-1
Duration seconds: 2609

## Resource

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 04! When it comes to immigrant groups in the U.S., especially Asian Pacific immigrant groups, it's not unusual to see certain industries become almost synonymous with specific communities of people. We saw it with Chinese laundromats, Thai restaurants, Vietnamese nail salons, Cambodian donut shops, and more. For Indian Americans, one of those industries was the motel business. So in this episode, we're here to share the origin and history of the Patel Motels as well as how families got into the business in the first place. We also share some of the challenges the business owners faced in the U.S. on the road to becoming dominant in the field. We start the episode by sharing what's on our social media feeds. We close it with a new recurring segment called "Racist or Not" where we take a phrase and talk about whether it's racist… or not. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101 . For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101 . If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com . Segments 00:25 Social Media and Road Trip Memories 14:32 The History of the Patel Motels, Part 1 27:50 Racist or Not: White on Rice

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## Transcript

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