Discover the little known history of Indian immigrants from Gujarat who established a flourishing hospitality empire through strong community, mutual aid, hard work, and sacrifice. Mahendra K. Doshi’s book Surat to San Francisco chronicled for the first time how Patel “trailblazers” laid the groundwork for a vast network of Indian-owned hotels in San Francisco’s central city. The author will share this inspiring American success story at TLM with a lecture and screening of the 2025 short documentary inspired by his work, Patel Motel Story.

Indian hotel owners and the Indian-American community are integral to the history of San Francisco’s Tenderloin. Their transformative effect on our neighborhood and adjoining residential hotel districts, however, is part of a much bigger story of immigrant success.

Mahendra K. Doshi’s book, Surat to San Francisco: How the Patels from Gujarat Established the Hotel Business in California 1942–1960, chronicles this American Dream come true: how a handful of undocumented immigrants went from leasing inexpensive residential hotels in San Francisco to establishing a vast network of Indian hotel owner/operators that, today, stretches nationwide. Based on over 160 interviews with “trailblazing” Indian hotel owners and their descendants, Doshi’s rigorous work brought this specific lineage of the South Asian diaspora into focus for the first time.

On May 21, 2026, Doshi will share this Patel hotel history, presented alongside a documentary inspired by his research, Amar Shah and Rahul Rohatgi’s Patel Motel Story, an official selection of the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. Join us for a talk with Doshi and a community screening of Patel Motel Story!

Contact the host of Patel Hotel History w/ Mahendra K. Doshi + "Patel Motel Story" screening