Pinnacle Hotel Group
City: Little Rock
Category: Category III (76-300 Employees)
Year: 2016
The Pinnacle Hotel Group was incorporated in 2007 when four friends with similar backgrounds and business interests joined forces to create a hotel management company second to none.
Chet Patel met cousins Rocky and Shawn Govind at the University of Arkansas, where they became roommates. They were each children of Indian immigrants who owned and operated small motels in Arkansas.
The three and Nick Nagin, who had a similar background in Mississippi, began working together in 2001. Their first major acquisition was the Country Inn & Suites in Fayetteville, which opened in 2003 and was rebranded as a Comfort Inn Suites in 2011.
Today, Pinnacle Hotel Group owns nine properties in Arkansas. The newest, the LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Fayetteville, had its grand opening in January. Pinnacle Hotel Group has plans for a Hilton Garden Inn and a Holiday Inn Express in downtown Little Rock near the intersection of Fourth and Rock streets, Patel said.
Patel, who was raised in Clarksville, is president of Pinnacle and serves as secretary of the Arkansas Hospitality Association. Rocky Govind of Pine Bluff is vice president of development and construction; Shawn Govind of Crossett is director of operations and real estate; and Nagin is director of procurement and purchasing.
The Pinnacle Group, Patel said, is working to be at the forefront of the hotel and motel management industry. While all hotels and motels offer basically the same experience, Patel said, the goal of Pinnacle Hotel Group is to separate itself from the rest so the visitors will remember and want to return. Pinnacle Hotel Group works with the properties’ general managers to make sure their needs are met and they have time to do their jobs.