Veteran hoteliers and brothers-in-law Baldev Thakor and J.D. Deva have transitioned leadership duties of Maya Hotels to the “next generation.” Parimal Thakor, the son of Baldev Thakor, will be president, and Krishna Deva, the daughter of J.D. Deva, will be CEO of the Charlotte-based hotel development, investment and management company. Maya Hotels counts 10 properties and more than 1,000 guest rooms in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Thakor and Deva both were hoteliers who joined forces in 1995 to create Maya Hotels, which has Hilton, IHG and Marriott as leading brand affiliations. Thakor and Deva will shift to the title of “founders,” and retain a “strategic and advisory” role with the company, according to a release.
“This leadership transition embodies the seamless continuation of the rich legacy established by the company’s founders, Baldev Thakor and J.D. Deva,” according to a release.
Parimal Thakor joined Maya Hotels in 2008 and Krishna Deva came on board in 2019. The two will oversee planning and investment activity for the company. Parimal Thakor, a graduate of the School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University, will focus on the company’s ground-up development and direct capital projects. Krishna Deva, who holds a hotel administration degree from Cornell University and MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, will oversee operations and finances.
“Parimal and Krishna have been instrumental in the company’s evolution during their time at Maya Hotels,” says Baldev Thakor in a release. J.D. Deva says the pair’s “deep-rooted understanding of our business, combined with their forward-thinking spirits, ensure a harmonious transition that honors our past while embracing the future.”
Before joining Maya, Parimal Thakor worked as a consultant in the lodging and gaming industries. Prior to that, he held hotel operations roles at multiple properties, including W and Sheraton hotels in New York and Chicago. He had been a vice president at Maya Hotels since 2008.
Krishna Deva joined Maya as a vice president in 2019, and had previously worked as a management consultant with Boston Consulting Group. She had also worked in corporate finance with Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, a publicly traded company, where she helped coordinate $1.2 billion in capital markets activity.
Here are Maya Hotels properties:
- Holiday Inn Express, 108 Airport Commons Drive, Charlotte
- Hampton Inn & Suites, 9110 Southern Pine Blvd., Charlotte
- Holiday Inn Express, 250 Beatty Drive, Belmont
- Hilton Garden Inn, 444 Cox Road, Gastonia
- Candlewood Suites, 3247 Charlotte Highway, Mooresville
- Tru by Hilton, 117 Alcove Road, Mooresville
- Aloft, 109 Alcove Road, Mooresville
- Avid Hotel, 154 Springfield Farm Road, Fort Mill
- Hampton Inn, 1551 Barbara Drive, Columbia, South Carolina
- Candlewood Suites, 921 Atlas Road, Columbia, South Carolina