Visit to hospitality students on placement

First year hospitality students were taken by the course leader to visit two students on their placement year.

Imogen and Danni are currently working at South Lodge Hotel – a five star luxury country house in Sussex – and were happy to show the students around.

The students were taken on a tour of the hotel and grounds and told about Imogen and Danni’s roles during their placement and how they feel they are benefitting and developing.

Imogen has a front-of-house placement in reception and guest services. She highlighted the importance of meeting and exceeding the expectations of their guests and how vital communication is to the whole guest experience. She will also be spending time with the human resources team during her placement; a department that she feels she would like to pursue as a future career. Imogen commented how valuable it is to be able to apply all the theory from her university modules during her working day.

Danni is on a rotational food and beverage placement and has experienced working within the bars, lounges and Cellar bar as well as the award winning Camelia restaurant and The Pass. She is currently working in the conference and banqueting department where the hotel can accommodate up to 600 guests at any one time within their meetings and events facilities. A new Spa is currently under construction which will also accommodate a further new restaurant dining area.

One of Danni’s key projects for her placement is to assist in constructing training programmes for new staff to ensure the hotel’s high level of service is maintained in all food and beverage areas.

The day not only enabled students to see the inside of a top hotel but also highlight how a placement really helps putting classroom theory into practice.