potel

n. a hotel owned by a South Asian, especially one from India. Subjects: English, India

Etymological Note: Patel, a common Indian surname, + hotel. A term also using Patel in its construction is Patel shot.

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Citations: [1986 Herb Caen San Francisco Chronicle (California) (Oct. 14) “The Good Life” p. 35: Witness housing for the homeless, a never-ending scandal. Patel, a common Indian name, has become generic. Put the poor in a Potel, since we don’t seem to be able to build shelters.] 1999 Leonard Dinnerstein Ethnic Americans (Sept. 15) 4 ed., p. 113: Others purchased service stations, but the most notable businesses were motels, many run by Indians with the surname Patel. By 1985 an estimated 80 percent of California’s independent motels were operated by Indians. They then branched out and won the concessions for over a quarter of the Days Inn chain motels. One wag labeled these “Potels.” 2000 Times of India (June 10) “Blood And Land”: The diasporic or long-distance Indian remains an enigma, most of all to herself. From Silicon Valley and Potels’ (Patel-run hotels) in the US, to the National Health Service and the retail grocery trade in the UK, Indian immigrants have changed the texture and idiom of their host societies. 2000 Jug Suraiya Times of India (Nov. 9) “Aaya Ram to Uncle Sam’s rescue”: In a related development, the Indian chapter of the Potel Owners’ Association of America pledged to reserve accommodation in their US-based potels—or Patel-owned hotels—for any vote counters or other cogs in the political machinery. 2002 Bharati Mukherjee Desirable Daughter (Mar. 27) p. 156 @ (Mar. 12, 2003): We were passing through an area of cheap hotels, “potels,” with pretty names (the Casa Prieta comes to mind). 2004 Indra Sharma Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint) (June 22) “Potels Motels”: Today some 60% of all budget hotels, typically called motels (sometimes now “Potel Motels") are owned by Indians. 2005 Telegraph (Calcutta, India) (Mar. 15) “Family ties”: Many people in the US believe that Asok represents most IITians. At the other end of the spectrum are the Potels (motels run by Patels, which are all over the place in the US). 2005 Chidanand Rajghatta Economic Times (India) (Sept. 5) “From India to Indiana”: Then followed the hotel-potel-motel crowd, which has bought up vast properties along US highways and Inter-States on the East Coast and is steadily moving westward.

Posted 12 Jan 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend