Business partners Baldev Thakor and J.D. Deva were convinced the plot of land not far from Interstate 85 in Mount Holly would be perfect for their first newly built hotel. Their bankers needed some convincing.
“Three different people who did a feasibility study said, ‘No, it’s not going to work here because it’s in the middle of nowhere. There’s no restaurant close by, it’s not visible from the interstate,’” says Deva. “We told all of them that we know where the business comes from from operating our hotel in Gastonia. We just followed our gut.”
More than 500,000 guests later, Thakor’s and Deva’s business savvy proved correct. The business partners, who married sisters, last week celebrated the 25th year of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites they opened in 1999. The hotel has delivered $15 million in economic impact in payroll and property and tourism taxes to the town of more than 18,000 residents about 15 miles east of Charlotte.
“This hotel has been the launching pad for every hotel that’s come after it,” says Parimal Thakor, the son of Baldev, who was named president of the family business Maya Hotels in April. Deva’s daughter, Krishna Deva, is the company’s new CEO, part of the “next generation” of leadership for the Charlotte-based company that now counts 10 properties and more than 1,000 guest rooms in North Carolina and South Carolina. They have about 400 employees and many more vendors – from those who provide the breakfast foods for guests to those who deep clean the carpets.
Baldev and J.D were first friends in a rural town in India. Baldev arrived in the U.S. in 1985 and J.D. would follow in 1981. Both men managed separate hotels before branching out on their own in 1995. “We said together we can do bigger, better things,” says Baldev.
The first hotel the new company owned was a Ramada Inn in Cleveland County.
“We came here with nothing,” says Baldev, “but we knew one thing – this is the land of opportunity.”
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites remains special because it was the first hotel they built themselves. It was important to the pair – and a third brother-in-law, Naren Vivek – that the first hotel they could call their own was a Holiday Inn.
“In those days, Holiday Inn was the most prominent brand by far,” says Baldev. The hotel started out with 65 beds, but 27 beds were added later for a total of 92.
Baldev and J.D. recalled their early days of hotel ownership. They relied on family and friends to help them with work such as setting up rooms with furniture and caring for the towels and linens – things today that they would leave for the “professionals.”
“In those days it was our family and friends who helped us for months, and especially the last 15 days before opening,” says Baldev. “They were all here everyday working hard.”
And their hotel now is surrounded by nearby restaurants, a second hotel has come as well as a YMCA. Birmingham, Alabama-based Robins & Morton is building a 66-bed hospital expected to open later this year across the street for CaroMont Health. While their hotel is in Mount Holly city limits, it has a Belmont address, prompting its owners to say it’s located in “Mount Holly/Belmont.”
The business partners not only brought a hotel to Mount Holly, they also brought the first commercial elevator to the town. J.D. says he was surprised to learn that little fact so many years ago.
“We’re very proud to say we built the hotel with the elevator,” says J.D.
Note: An earlier version of this story stated the first hotel the company owned was a Days Inn on U.S. 321 near the Interstate 85 interchange. J.D. Deva had owned that hotel before the founding of Maya Hotels.