Our Leadership

Chetan Patel
COO
Chetan Patel is the Chief Operating Officer of Buckhead America Hospitality, where his responsibilities include property operations, planning and budgeting, and new development strategy. Chetan is a 20-plus-year veteran of the hospitality industry. Prior to starting Buckhead America Hospitality, Chetan was the Executive Vice President at Cornerstone Hospitality, where he directed all hotel development efforts. Prior to Cornerstone, Chetan was the Senior Vice President at the Country Hearth Inn brand hotels, in charge of all franchise development and administration. Under Chetan's leadership, the Country Hearth brand grew from 5 open hotels to 59 open hotels. Chetan is active in the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and involved in various civic groups in and around Atlanta. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Georgia State University.

Rajeev Desai
Corporate Revenue Manager
Rajeev Desai is Director of Revenue Management for Buckhead America Hospitality. A 13-year hospitality veteran, he began his career with the company in operations as a front desk agent and later moving on to become General Manager of three of the company's properties. During his tenure with the company, he has managed two of those properties through multi-million dollar renovations and brand conversions. He has operations experience with several brands including Econolodge, Super 8, La Quinta, and Best Western. Prior to joining Buckhead America, Rajeev worked for Starbucks Corporation and then Invesco Retirement Group. Rajeev holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from The Georgia Institute of Technology.

Kajori Mitra
Kajori Mitra has been a Commercial Mortgage and Banking professional for over 16 years. She has been associated with Buckhead America since January 2010, where she is involved in the opportunistic acquisitions of properties and notes, arranging financing and investor relations. Before joining Buckhead America, Ms. Mitra was a First Vice President at Specialty Finance Group LLC ("SFG"), overseeing Capital Markets, Servicing, Asset Management and Investor Relations of its Mortgage and Leased Asset portfolios. Prior to SFG, Ms. Mitra worked at GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation for six years in various leadership positions in Credit and Capital Markets. Ms. Mitra started her career at Raymond James Mortgage Capital as a CMBS Structurer and Underwriter. Kajori holds a Masters in Economics from The University of Iowa and an MBA from Louisiana State University. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst ®.
Advisory Board
Dipan Patel
Dipan is a 25–year hospitality industry veteran, who has spent over 17 years with CB Richard Ellis as an Executive Vice President in their Hotel and Leisure Group. At CBRE, Dipan has brokered over 600 transactions representing sales in excess of $2 billion. He is the recipient of multiple awards at CBRE – consistently placing in the top 3% among producers. Dipan has advised and represented major national hotel clients during his tenure at CBRE as well as represented CBRE at major industry events. Dipan is intricately involved in raising capital, new investments, joint ventures/strategic partnerships and financings. Dipan holds a B.S. in Computer Science from The University of Georgia and a Masters in Hospitality Management from Cornell University.