Hotel Management & Development Professionals

Chiman Patel, Chairman. Chiman Patel is an experienced hotel industry professional with over three decades of hotel ownership, management and development expertise. A native of India, Chiman earned his BS and MS degrees at Sardar Patel University in Anand, India, where he also taught.

In 1971, Chiman moved to the United States to earn another MS degree while teaching at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He purchased his first hotel in 1975, and before founding HP Hotels in 2002, he had owned a total of 8 hotels in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Chiman currently owns and operates hotels under the Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn and Hilton corporate banners.

While continually developing additional hotel projects, Chiman co-founded HP Hotels in 2002 when he saw the need to expand his operations into hotel management and development. Chiman's vision is "to become one of the top 10 hotel management companies by the year 2009." [Top]

James M Hines, President / CEO, HP Hotels and HP Properties.  Mr. Hines founded HP Hotels in June 2002 and HP Properties in September 2007.

HP Hotels has become one of the most trusted and recognized third party hotel management companies in the country.

HP Properties was founded to service client needs for hotel development as Hines and his staff developed and opened over 10 properties during his tenure at HP Hotels. The need was apparent to formalize the services being offered by HP Hotels and HP Properties was formed. Currently, HP Properties is developing 7 hotels in five different states for ownership groups with an experienced and dedicated staff.

Mike began his hotel career in 1983 after college, and has served in multiple positions from waiter to General Manager. His operational experience, financial knowledge, and committed team play have helped owners lower costs, bring projects in on time, and open properties with heads in beds. [Top]

Joseph Powers, Vice President of Accounting. Joe Powers is Vice President of Accounting of HP Hotels and partner in both HP Hotels and HP Properties. Joe has over 21 years of experience in the hospitality industry. His personal philosophy is "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want." He strongly believes that having common goals with the other members of the team will help insure that everyone is working towards the same goal!

Born into a military family, Joe had a lot of exposure to different cultures and people, all with common goals. Raised primarily in a small North Alabama city, Joe attended Auburn University for 2 years and then transferred and graduated from The University of Alabama.

Joe first started working at a hotel in Auburn during his freshmen year of college and then moved to the Sheraton Capstone in Tuscaloosa where he worked for 15 years prior to helping found HP Hotels in 2002.

Joe is the proud parent of 2 children, Brittany and Bryant, and still resides in Tuscaloosa. [Top]

Wendy Miranda, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Wendy Miranda is a recognized sales talent with nearly 20 years of sales and marketing expertise. She has a real drive for going into new markets and identifying creative ways to achieve revenue targets and achieve market penetration and growth. With a significant ability to quickly identify core drivers of market success, Wendy offers our hotel teams strong leadership, guidance and support achieved through hands-on experience in building relationships, sales and promotional marketing.

Wendy graduated from the University of North Carolina Charlotte with a B.S. in Business and a major in Marketing in 1997. Before joining HP Hotels, Wendy's background was in property management for eight years serving in positions such as Corporate Housing Sales Director followed by being the Property Manager of a 300-unit apartment community. Due to her diverse experience in sales and marketing and property operations, Wendy began her hospitality career in 1999 as a General Manager, successfully opening a Hampton Inn & Suites. Following her passion in sales, she was promoted to Regional Sales, selling for multiple brand hotels including Hilton, Choice and Intercontinental under HP Hotels. With much success in all areas of property performance, achieving one of the highest rev par yields at our Hampton Inn & Suites in Concord, North Carolina, she was promoted to Vice President
of Sales and Marketing in 2005.

Wendy is married to Michael Miranda and they reside in Birmingham, Alabama. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Her passions are reading, horseback riding and interior design. She is a member of International Administrative Association Professionals, which has served as an excellent vehicle for successfully networking and building lasting business relationships." [Top]

Jeff Schneider, Vice President of Operations. Jeff Schneider is an accomplished industry professional with over 25 years of hospitality experience. Throughout his career, Jeff has managed numerous properties, including Hyatt, Hilton, Radisson, Holiday Inn and Choice, as well as having managed upscale boutique and independent resort hotels and conference centers. Jeff has held regional operations positions with MEI Hotels and Doramar Hotels

Jeff is recognized for the exceptional work environment he has created in the past, for the consistently high level of service his hotels provide guests and employees, his extensive involvement in his hotels' communities, his support of the brands he represents and for his keen financial management of assets. A Native of Westchester County, NY, Jeff is a graduate of University of New Hampshire with a BS in Administration and a minor in Psychology.

While creating an upbeat work environment through the infectious quality of his good nature, Jeff strictly manages the bottom line of our hotels. Jeff summed up the strength of his interpersonal skills best when he simply said, "People like to work for me."

Jeff has a long history of community involvement with his hotels and of participation in BNI (Business Network International) and Rotary chapters. He has been awarded General Manager of the Year through the Mile High Chapter of HSMAI and has held leadership roles with Rotary International.

Jeff is married to Emily and they have a 4 year old boy named Henry. Other than his precious family time, Jeff likes to snow ski, scuba dive and ride motorcycles. [Top]

Jason LaBarge, Senior Director of Operations. Jason grew up in northwestern Vermont on the Lake Champlain Islands. He was exposed to customer service at an early age when his parents opened and operated an independent Video Rental Business for 22 years. Jason learned early on from his dad that hard work and dedication to excellence paved the way for success. He attended Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont where he graduated with a degree in communications. Jason is currently continuing his education in Hospitality Management while attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst Isenberg School of Management.

Jason has been in the hospitality industry for over 14 years. He began his Hospitality Career with Omni Hotels as a Bell Captain for 2 years, then moved on to Hyatt Hotels where he was a Assistant Front Office Manager. He then found his passion with focused service hotels particularly the Hilton Garden Inn Brand where he was AGM and GM of two HGI's in Charlotte, NC and Rock Hill, SC.

Jason resides in Rock Hill, SC with his Wife Tenley, 4 year old Daughter Madelyn and their Dog Shelby. When Jason is not spending quality time with his family and friends he enjoys golfing, hiking, and camping. [Top]

Lynn Kimbrel, Office Manager. Work has been an adventure for her and not just a job. Lynn has advanced her career from a standardized contract review to actually qualifying contractors for cable construction and installation. She had the opportunity to set up conferences in hotels across the US from Ft Myers Fl to Breckenridge Co, so Lynn had the pleasure of seeing the hotel business from a different perspective than what this job will show her. Outside of work her free time is spent gardening, traveling and taking care of her pets and the wildlife where she lives (yes, she feeds deer, throughout winter). Lynn too is a HUGE SEC football fan and for her there is only one team and that's Alabama. [Top]