Students of the Commerce Stream of Indian Public School had a remarkable training session at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located in Farwaniya on 20th September 2023. The students were accompanied by their teachers Mr Saji Samuel, Mrs Soniya Bibin and the Principal Mrs Lucy A Cherian. The programme aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills required in providing exceptional guest experience in the hospitality industry. The primary objective of this training was to equip the participants with a comprehensive understanding of Customer Service, effective communication and the best practices in the hospitality sector.
The 44 students left the school at 8 am and were excited and thrilled during their journey to the hotel. On reaching the venue they were warmly welcomed by Mr Ganesh Kumar and his team. They were seated in the glamorous and lavishly decorated Al-Murjan ballroom. They were introduced to the General Manager and the heads of the various departments of the hotel like the Finance Manager, the HR Manager, the head of the Engineering Department, head of House Keeping etc. The General Manager extended a warm welcome to the participants and it was followed by the address by IPS Principal and one of the students, Ivanna Edith Dsouza delivered the vote of Thanks. The General Manager presented the Principal a memento to commemorate this event. The students were then split into groups of 8 and sent to five different stations set up by the staff. The stations were House Keeping, Bakery, Food Carving, Mocktail preparation and table arrangement.
The students were given a first-hand experience under the guidance of the staff of each section on how to make a bed, how to lay a table, how to ice and decorate cupcakes, make cookies, make Mojitos, and how to carve fruits and vegetables. It was a thrilling and novel experience for all the students. The delightful sight of students with a rolling pin in their hand making cookies and decorating cakes was indeed a welcome change. The session was very interactive and all their queries were patiently answered by the staff.
It gave students an insight into the day to day workings of a 5 star hotel chain. They were given a break with a delicious array of sumptuous snacks like croissants, pastries, sandwiches and juice. After that they were taken on an engineering tour where they got to see the 11 power stations, water tanks and 5000 tons AC units.
After that the students were taken to the ballroom where there were different table arrangements like the classroom style setup, theatre style setup, the U setup, the formal meeting set up, formal dining setup etc. The students were taken on a tour to the different rooms like the Royal Suite which is usually used by the royal family and diplomats and the Normal suites. Finally all were escorted back to the Al- Murjan Hall where thoughtfully assembled keepsake bags were distributed to the students by the staff. The students were dazzled and impressed by the beautiful architecture and interior design of the hotel. Each space was well planned and gave a lavish, luxurious and glamorous vibe. It was truly an amazing experience for the students and also gave them an insight into another career opportunity. The students returned back to the school armed with new information and a truckload of memorable experience.