Message from CEO Neil Amin
Shamin Hotels’ CEO Neil Amin spent many years learning about business but if you ask him today, he’ll tell you his most important learning experiences were rooted in family. “Today, Shamin Hotels is a successful business, but at its core, it is and will always be about family – meaning both my own and the extended family that includes every associate in this company.”
“Every associate is equal, everyone’s opinion is equal and everyone works as a team to provide a memorable guest experience. We don’t ask any associate to do anything that we would not do ourselves.” Neil Amin, CEO Shamin Hotels
THE STORY OF P.C. AMIN: From Rural India to American Enterprise
They came here seeking opportunity, leaving their rural farming village in India, and traveling across the sea. P.C. Amin came to the United States in 1970 out of economic desperation. With hard work and the right education, they found success. Mr. Amin’s American story started at the University of Utah, where he earned a master’s degree in engineering. Upon graduation, he boarded a bus, and travelled state to state looking for a job. With only $20 left in his pocket, he got off the Greyhound bus in Richmond, Virginia, and by chance spotted a listing for a position at the Virginia Department of Transportation. When he applied for and got the job, they asked if he wanted to know how much it paid. He told them it didn’t matter.
Years later in 1978, Mr. Amin went to visit a friend who owned a hotel in Fredericksburg, Virginia. During his stay, he made a decision that would change his life forever. “I immediately came to the conclusion this is what I wanted to do,” he said. “I didn’t have money, but I had a dream.” Mr. Amin recruited his brother-in-law B.N. Shah, and together, they purchased a bankrupt hotel in Lumberton, North Carolina. From those humble beginnings and that lone 104-room inn, Shamin Hotels would grow into the largest hotel owner and operator in Virginia, with 60 hotels, 8,000+ rooms, 3,000+ associates serving over 2 million guests a year.
