Hotel new venture for entrepreneur

WOODSTOCK – Henry Patel of Woodstock likes to compare his beginnings in business to a child learning to walk.

In 1997, the now-41-year-old decided to stray from his background in mechanical engineering and opened the County Cupboard convenience store in Woodstock.
He was still a bit wobbly, leaning on others to fill in his gaps in business knowledge.

When that was a success – County Cupboard remains open today – Patel kept the momentum going, opening many more businesses throughout the last 15 years, including three Armanetti Beverage Mart locations in McHenry County and various convenience stores in McHenry County and Wisconsin.

His latest endeavor, a Woodstock Best Western, opened in February.

“A little bit of success and your confidence gets built up,” he said in an accent native to his hometown of Borsad, in western India. “If a kid is starting to walk a little bit, now he thinks he’s going to walk a little bit further, and a little more. And now he’s running.”

Last year, Patel bought the old Day’s Inn and poured into it almost $1 million in renovations, gutting and redoing the inside before reopening 10 months later.

Patel said the old hotel had a lot going for it, but needed and update.

Changes included new carpets, bathrooms, windows and furniture. Patel also refurbished the indoor pool.

“It’s going to go good because we have a lot of marketing and these are some good products,” he said.

Patel admits outright he doesn’t have any experience in construction or furnishing hotels. But he trusts what he calls his “owner’s eye,” which he said has become sharper during the last 15 years.

Instead of being an overbearing presence during the remodeling process, which started in April 2011, he used his business expertise to tweak the direction of the project, and to add value where he saw fit.

Patel said he was confident in the abilities of the construction team he’d assembled, and only offered input in the form of business-minded suggestions. It’s a concept he said is one of his most important – drawing on the expertise of others in areas he lacks knowledge or know-how.

Lora Kott has seen that first hand. She started work as the wine manager at Patel's Huntley and Woodstock Armanetti locations in December 2010, after spending time working in the food and beverage departments of several other businesses through the years.

Still, she said she's had to earn Patel's trust.

“At first, everyone’s got a little growing pains to go through,” she said.

Patel’s experienced some of those growing pains himself. When he takes on a business in an unfamiliar industry, he said, he realizes it’s a calculated risk. That’s why he’s constantly doing research, trying to gain an edge.

“Everybody has different abilities,” he said. “The best scenarios – I don’t like to be expecting it. If you (start a business), you have to look at the worst scenarios. ... That’s where you start, I think, is from there.”

Best Western
What: The newly renovated hotel opened in February with a new lobby and indoor pool, as well as completely redone rooms. There are 43 rooms, including eight suites.
Where: 990 Lake Ave., Woodstock,
How much: Room rates arange from $89.99 to $149.99
More information: 815-337-0065