Family behind several Sonoma County hotels lists Windsor hotel in Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The family associated with a Sonoma Wine Country hotel, Holiday Inn Windsor, has placed the property in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - and another hotel they manage in Healdsburg is up for sale.
The 100-room Holiday Inn Windsor-Wine Country is the lone asset of the company Windsor Hospitality Group LLC, according to a June 3 bankruptcy filing in the Northern District of California Bankruptcy Court. The property is owned by the Desai family, who own or manage at least two other hotels in the region, and has several local creditors including Johnson Pool & Spa, Sonoma County Resource Recovery and the town of Windsor.
The Desai family, headed by Nitin and Priti Desai, purchased a small hotel in San Francisco in 1988, and four years later expanded their vision by developing their first hotel in the prominent wine country town of Healdsburg in 1992, according to the website of their company, Pinnacle Management Group. But their portfolio seems to be in flux, as payments on Holiday Inn Windsor-Wine Country fell behind and as they seek to sell Hotel Vinea for $7.5 million in Healdsburg.
Nitin and Nick Desai could not be reached for comment. Attorney C. Alex Naegele, representing the group, told The Press Democrat in an email "They are a small business that fell behind on some payments, and hope to make a speedy recovery/reorganization through the bankruptcy process."
Chapter 11 filings take place when a property owner seeks to address their debt and reorganize their finances to avoid a Chapter 7 asset liquidation. The June 3 filing appears to only apply to the Holiday Inn Windsor-Wine Country property, not any of the other Desai properties. General manager Nick Desai Jr. of Windsor is named as the responsible debtor in the case per a court order filed June 9.
Desai Jr. is also a founder and co-partner of the Desai family's company Pinnacle Management Group, according to his LinkedIn profile. The hotel is one of four properties listed in the portfolio of the company, which has a Las Vegas, Nevada, business license and receives mail in Windsor, according to its website.
While it is unclear if the Desai family owns all of the hotels listed on Pinnacle's portfolio, a Press Democrat analysis of records held by Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder shows they have owned the Holiday Inn Express Windsor for decades and then developed Holiday Inn Windsor-Wine Country under a hefty development fee deal in 2015, and renovated it in 2022. Multiple family members are connected to three LLC companies all listed at the same address in Healdsburg, including Windsor Hospitality Group LLC and the hospitality and commercial real estate firm Town Green Enterprises. Nitin Desai is CEO of both.
The family's company Pinnacle also appears to be selling the hotel at the same address as the LLCs, Hotel Vinea. It is currently listed for sale starting at $7.5 million with Coldwell Banker Realty as a Travelodge Wyndham property. It is not clear if the family owns this property.
Family members Brandon, Priti and Kevin Desai are listed as creditors of Windsor Hospitality Group LLC in the Chapter 11 filing, all listed at the same Healdsburg address with the Secretary of State. The family was involved in a dispute with an investor in 2023 involving all three LLCs, which they lost in arbitration, according to a Sonoma County Superior Court filing.
The filing comes as single-property hotel operators face an unsteady economic outlook, in a county where multiple cities are reliant on transient occupancy tax levied on hotels and other lodging properties for revenue. The chambers of commerce in Windsor and Healdsburg, and the town of Windsor, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the filing or the local impacts of this case before publication.
Windsor Hospitality Group LLC filed a motion in court last week to request that International Hotels Group (IHG) wait before removing the hotel from its system, as the group has been able to operate under the Holiday Inn name through the IHG system under a franchise agreement and is now behind on its franchise fee payments. Naegele, representing Windsor Hospitality Group LLC, claimed that if IHG were to remove the hotel from its system, it would experience issues with occupancy, reservations and revenue among other impacts.
However, Naegele withdrew the request after IHG provided written assurances that the hotel will not be de-listed from its system.
In an order filed in court June 10, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali ruled that the group may use cash collateral to pay its expenses to preserve property of the estate and continue operation. A final hearing on the matter will take place July 31.
Staff Writer Natalie Hanson reports on business and agriculture for The Press Democrat. She can be reached at natalie.hanson@pressdemocrat.com or at 619-665-5887.
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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 6:41 PM.