Athena Hospitality Group is a full turnkey hotel management company with a focus on mid-tier and upper-tier branded hotels. The principals of Athena collectively have over fifty years of experience in all aspects of the hospitality industry including construction, operations, branding and finance. Jayesh Patel, Devesh Patel, Vimal Patel and Nisarg Desai, together with their combined expertise and vast experience, formed ATHENA HOSPITALITY GROUP.
To Achieve Trust, Honesty, and Excellence by Networking within the hospitality industry, and to provide the highest level of Accommodations to our guests, employees, friends, colleagues, and our community.
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Compliance Officer
Chief Construction Officer
Vice President, Operations
Vice President, Marketing & Revenue Strategies
VP of Asset Mgmt
Director of Revenue Optimization
Director of Revenue Management
Regional Director of Operations
Office Manager
Regional Director of Sales
Accounting Coordinator
Procurement Specialist
Director of Culture & Engagement
Jayesh (Jay) D. Patel originally founded Athena Companies in 2002 which evolved to Athena Hospitality Group. Under his leadership as President and CEO. Jay has been involved in the hotel business since the age of 8. As a little boy, he helped his father and mother at their independent motel in Shelbyville, TN. The essence of customer service was embedded in him at an young age through his father. Jay continued to help his parents as they grew their business from an independent motel to four budget franchised motel portfolio.
In 2001, after the loss of Jay’s father, he decided to take over the family business and grow it to his best ability. Today Jay has ownership in 19 hotels and manages 11 of them. His portfolio includes brands as Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Choice, Best Western and others.
Jay Patel has received many awards from Choice Hotels International and was also awarded the Choice Hotels Premier Legacy Award in 2012. He is also very active in the hospitality industry and community and social organizations including AAHOA and Trustee at the local Gujarat Cultural Community Association of Middle Tennessee.
Jay graduated from University of Cincinnati and holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Business Finance and Business Management.
Devesh was raised in a family embedded in hospitality. He began his experience in the hospitality industry at a young age as he grew up with his family in a 24-unit independent motel in Cookeville, TN. He witnessed the hard work, dedication, and sacrifices of owning a small business. At the age of 14, his family moved to Florence, KY, and built Best Western – Florence Inn, his family’s first franchise hotel. He would help his parents on weekends and summers throughout his youth at Best Western.
After college, Devesh returned to the family business and started working at one of his family’s hotels. He oversaw all aspects of management while increasing guest experiences, revenues, and streamlining processes. Devesh has always been an entrepreneur from a young age. He wanted to venture outside of the family business and started a successful online company in 2010 called OneStopParking.com. After several years, his passion was still in the hospitality industry. He teamed with Jayesh Patel, Vimal Patel, and Nash Desai and formed Athena Hospitality Group, working with management, development, and acquisitions of hotels.
Devesh currently resides in Union, KY, where he enjoys traveling with his wife and two boys, golfing and cheering on his Cincinnati Bengals & Reds!
As a third generation hotelier, Vimal has gained a wealth of knowledge in hotel operations from his predecessors over the span of several decades . The roots of the hospitality industry were instilled at a very young age for Vimal as his family moved numerous times during his childhood in hopes of finding a hotel that they could call their own. That day finally came in 1991 when Vimal’s parents were asked to manage and take a minor ownership in a Best Western Hotel in Starkville, MS. At this very hotel is where Vimal witnessed the dedication and sacrifices that his parents overcame to successfully operate a hotel. This is also where he got his first taste of hotel work as he constantly helped his family complete small tasks around the hotel such as folding laundry and refilling the vending machines.
But as Vimal continued his education into high school, he began to excel in the math and science fields, and his interest shifted towards a career in pharmacy. He attended the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy where he received a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2005 and Doctorate of Pharmacy Degree in 2007. Vimal continued to work at his parent’s hotel as a front desk agent throughout his college years, when he would come home for the holidays or the summer. That is when he decided that one of his lifelong goals was that he wanted to go into business together with his father. After completing college, Vimal worked for a chain pharmacy for 7 years as a staff pharmacist and 3 years as pharmacy manager, all the while, he continued to help his father run the Best Western in Louisiana on his off days from the pharmacy. In 2014, Vimal fulfilled that lifelong goal when he went into a partnership with his father at the Best Western. After 10 years of pharmacy work, Vimal knew deep down he ultimately belonged in the hospitality industry and his passion for growing the family business was now stronger more than ever. At that point, he left his position in the pharmacy to fully focus on growth and development of his family’s hotel portfolio. In the short 4 years since taking ownership in his first hotel, Vimal has developed and fully opened 3 additional hotels in Louisiana. In 2017, Vimal Patel partnered with Jayesh Patel, Devesh Patel, and Nash Desai to form Athena Hospitality Group as all four partners carried the same vision of aggressively developing successful hotels while maintaining the highest standards in the hotel industry.
Mark T. Wasiak’s 35+ year career includes multi-property oversight and Regional Vice President experience. His career includes diverse property management of convention, airport, boutique, and commercial property spanning both coasts and throughout the South and Midwest in union and non- union operations. In addition to multiple property types, he has had the extraordinary opportunity to work within a wealth of corporate brands, Renaissance, Marriott Hotels, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Hilton Hotel, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Sheraton, Cambria, Radisson, and Holiday Inn. Found great success in the General Manager role in both Hilton and Marriott properties. Developed operational systems that have become the standard by Corporate Teams in the following disciplines: Sales Team Deployment, Strategic Revenue Management, Budget & Forecasting, Labor & Cost Management, Team Member Development, Guest Relations, Capital Planning, Mechanical & Asset Management, Renovation Oversight.
Phill is responsible for developing our sales, marketing, and revenue management platforms, as well as overseeing and directing revenue generation and marketing strategies across all operating departments for Athena Hospitality. Phill has over 35 years of experience in the hotel industry, concentrating in sales, marketing, and revenue management at the hotel, regional, and senior leadership levels. Prior to joining Athena, Phill spent 14 years with John Q Hammons Hotels & Resorts as Vice President of Sales and Revenue Management. Prior to JQH, Phill held various executive and regional management positions at the brand level. He started his hotel career with Winegardner and Hammons after college graduation becoming a very successful General Manager and eventually transferring to JQH as an opening GM. He has served as a member of the Marriott Full-Service Sales and Marketing Advisory Council, and Hilton’s Embassy Suites Marketing Council. He is currently serving as the President of the Nashville Chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI).
Racheal brings over 20 years of exemplary customer service to Athena Hospitality Group. She comes to us from the finance and accounting industries where she has spent most of her business career. Teaming up with local small businesses in the Cincinnati area, it became her passion to assist these companies in reaching their optimal growth.
Racheal received her degree in Business Administration with a focus in Finance. She lives in Taylor Mill, KY with her son, two dogs and two cats. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking, fishing, camping and most outdoor activities. You may also catch her supporting her hometown sports teams and checking out local wineries.
Cassie brings with her approximately 25 years of customer service experience in the banking, retail and dental industries. She has spent more than 14 years in banking learning all the fundamentals of the industry including accounting, retail, and fraud prevention. Cassie lives in Florence, KY with her son, daughter, and grandson.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and watching her son play sports. She mostly likes being outdoors, working in her garden, or watching her local Cincinnati sports teams.
Leiann is an experienced sales professional with over 15 years in the hospitality industry. Leiann is a proud graduate of the University of Cincinnati – Linder College of Business with a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management. She has experience with hotel brands including Marriott, IHG, Choice, and Graduate.
Leiann’s passion for hospitality started when her mother worked as a Front Desk Agent at the local Doubletree. She would go to work with her mom, help bake cookies and pass them out to guests as they passed through the lobby. Although Leiann was very young she loved helping the guests and talking to them about their day! Leiann went on to work in many facets of the industry including entertainment venues, restaurants, bars, and hotels.
Leiann started her career in sales as a Sales Assistant at the SpringHill Suites, where she learned the basic understanding of hotel sales. She then moved on to get experience in Catering Sales, Executive Meeting Sales, Group Room Sales, and even Clinic Sales before accepting a Director of Sales role with Athena Hospitality Group. Leiann has supported and embraced our Athena sales disciplines and has become instrumental in helping our teams with insight, client support, and ongoing sales training.
Leiann Enjoys watching Bengals football, finding new brunch spots, and spending time with her loved ones and fur babies.
