‘Excited to get going.’ Local family-owned company building its 8th hotel in Warner Robins

A new Residence Inn by Marriott now under construction in Warner Robins is expected to open in the summer of 2026.

The 100-room, four-story hotel off South Houston Lake Road is being built on 4.21 acres near Morris Bank and across from Bill’s Produce Market.

The developer of the new 80,000-square-foot hotel is PeachState Hospitality, a family-owned hotel development and management company based in Warner Robins for more than 30 years.

“We’re excited to get going on this,” said Ricky Raman, chief operating officer for the company. “We’ve always looked at Warner Robins as a core market for us, and we continue to invest and reinvest in Warner Robins over the years.”

PeachState Hospitality has built seven hotels in Warner Robins — including the Courtyard by Marriott at 589 Carl Vinson Parkway, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott at 221 Margie Drive and Candlewood Suites, an IHG Hotel, at 110 Willie Lee Parkway.

Recently, PeachState Hospitality completed a $1.5 million renovation of the Fairfield Inn & Suites that was built in 2008 and a $1.75 million renovation of the Courtyard by Marriott which opened in 2010, according to Raman.

The other four hotels that PeachState Hospitality built in Warner Robins, as well as two the company built in Macon, have been sold, he said.

What will new Warner Robins hotel feature?

Designed as an extended stay hotel for both corporate and leisure travelers, the new Residence Inn at Marriott also will welcome guests who only need to stay a night or two.

Raman likened the hotel to an apartment complex based on its amenities.

All the rooms will come complete with a living room and kitchenette with a full-size fridge, kitchen sink, garbage disposal, dishwasher, cooktop, stove, microwave and cabinetry.

Also, the hotel will offer a complimentary breakfast and feature an expanded fitness center, a laundry room for guests to do their own laundry and a higher bandwidth than the developer’s normal internet offering to meet the needs of the military market, Raman said.

The initial site plans called for both an outdoor patio and a pool. But the pool has been scrapped to instead extend the patio with an outdoor grilling area with two gas grills for guest use, he said.

“So, all the amenities you would imagine in a studio apartment or a two bedroom apartment,” Raman said.

PeachState Hospitality also owns 4.7 acres of property between the new build and Morris Bank at 464 South Houston Lake Road. The property, which also runs behind the hotel site, is being cleaned up and prepared for potential development in the future but there are no plans for the property at this time, Raman said.

Why Warner Robins has good hotel market

PeachState Hospitality chose to build another hotel in Warner Robins because “we’ve seen a long-term demand trend that’s steady and growing,” Raman said.

With not much land available along Watson Boulevard, the company chose the South Houston Lake Road location because it’s a “great connector” from Warner Robins to Bonaire and Ga. 96 to Perry, he said.

The hotel site is near a host of food and beverage options with easy access to Interstate 75 and to Robins Air Force Base, Raman noted.

The demand for hotels in Warner Robins is fueled by multiple factors, including defense contracting with Robins AFB and traveling sports teams with Southeast Region Headquarters for the Little League baseball and softball programs in Warner Robins, Raman said.

Warner Robins also is a popular stop for leisure travelers along I-75 with “tons” of food and hotel options, he said. The city is also home to multiple university outposts.

“And then on top of all of that is just your regular corporate traveler for all the other other companies that I didn’t mention whether it’s health care, whether it’s technology, whether it’s infrastructure,” Raman said. “Obviously there’s a lot of development happening in and around Houston County.”

More about who’s behind the hotel

PeachState Hospitality has a much larger portfolio than Warner Robins alone.

“We have a large and growing portfolio in the Atlanta market and in the Augusta market,” Raman said. “We have three, soon to be five in Augusta … four active in Atlanta, soon to be eight in Atlanta.

“We’ve done deals as far west as Texas, and then we have a couple active projects in Charleston, South Carolina, as well.”

PeachState Hospitality was recognized by Marriott International as a 2018 Developer of the Year for going above and beyond its real estate projects.

The company was founded by Danny Patel in 1989 after he and his family migrated from India a couple of years earlier. The company moved to Warner Robins in the early 1990s. He serves as the company’s president and CEO.

Patel is Raman’s father. Patel’s brother-in-law, Bobby Patel, is the chief product officer, and Patel’s first cousin, Harry Patel, is the chief financial officer.

Danny Patel also founded American Pride Bank in Macon at 4740 Log Cabin Drive. The bank now has seven branch offices across the state, including one in Warner Robins off Russell Parkway, according to Raman.

PeachState Hospitality also owns 4.7 acres of property between the future home of the new hotel and Morris Bank at 464 South Houston Lake Road. That property, which also runs behind the hotel site, is being cleaned up and prepared for potential development in the future but there are no plans for the property at this time, Raman said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 1:00 AM.