Category Archives: School facilities

First Impressions

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Hey to everyone from the beautiful Les Roches!

I am not able to express my feelings in just one blog. If you are not here in Bluche, it is difficult to understand exactly the feeling you get when you are walking around the campus, and the amazing scenery that I am able to see from my balcony every time I wake up, but I will try to give you an idea about Les Roches and the area.

First of all, when you will come to Les Roches you will take part in the induction week. The purpose of the induction week is to learn about the regulations, to familiarize us with the campus and to share important information about the program. I have to say that it was an overload of information the first week but it was worth it in order to understand some important details that I didn’t know.

After the first week, some of us started with academics and some of us with practical, working in the restaurant outlets of the school. If you do not have any work experience don’t panic because the supervisors and the teachers have a lot of work experience in the hospitality industry and they act like workmates and not as a teachers. They try to help us a lot and to give solutions to possible problems.

I was in the first group and I started with academics for the first week. Believe me, if you have a passion for hospitality this is the place that you are going to learn the extra tips for a successful hospitality career. Every class is really interesting, it is not like a typical class, the faculty has a passion for what they are doing. The teachers share their experience from the industry and you can see in their faces that they love what they are doing. We had a lot of discussions, sharing opinions and generally a really friendly environment in the class. One of the classes that I found really interesting among the others is the Bar and Beverage class where we start learning about the history of wine. In the future, we are going to have wine tasting and many more activities like culinary visits.

Now I really want to focus on the social life of Les Roches. A lot of us were afraid it would not be the best. Believe me, the social life here is amazing! Greece, where I came from, has a world renowned nightlife but here you can have a lot of fun, trust me. Here in Bluche we have two bars where everyone goes. The first one is the Sports Bar, a bar operated by Les Roches students and faculty where you can meet most of the students having fun from 9 -11.30 pm. The second is the Atlas bar, very nice atmosphere and Dj Baldo Durazzo from Napoli, my best friend here in Les Roches, rocking on the decks every Friday night. Ten minutes by taxi is the renowned resort of Crans Montana. A place full of restaurants, bars and clubs; every Friday night after Atlas and Sportsbar everyone “goes up” as we say here. In Crans, you can find clubs and bars full of people, excellent cuisine, and traditional restaurants.

This week, I am in stewarding and service. Because of my work experience it is much easier for me but I am not able to say it is not challenging. Don’t worry, because in Les Roches you will meet some of the kindest and friendliest people. Everyone smiles and try to help each other. Team work is an integral part of hospitality and every day the faculty focuses on that.

Thank you very much for your time, I need to leave now or I will lose my duty. Believe me I can understand now the “Les Roches way of life” and if you want to be successful you will love it too.

Work hard during the day, play hard during the night.

Leandros Pembos

Working in Market Place

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Here at Les Roches, the Market Place is the major Food and Beverage outlet, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to a large percentage of the students and staff each day. It is a very important part of our training in HOI as service students and HOII as kitchen students. Because it is the largest and busiest of the outlets, there is an element of pressure and working quickly and efficiently is very important.

We spent two weeks working in Market Place, one week on breakfast/ lunch shift and the other on lunch/ dinner shift including a class on Service Concepts. Each day we were allocated a section and a number of tables in each section. Each morning we set the tables for lunch with special napkin folds, after lunch we set for diner and after diner for breakfast. There we had to give a menu explanation, take orders, serve water and clear the plates when the guests were finished.

The goals of our practical training were learning about 6 major points:

  • Teamwork- this is important in any group activity and more so when there are a number of tables to be served and the work load is shared.
  • Guest interaction- you have to make small conversation with the guest that you are serving and begin to get to know them so that the next point becomes easier.
  • Anticipation- this is where you pre-empt the guests wishes and act before they have to ask.
  • Observation- you have to be aware of all you tables and their needs and also see where you teammates need help.
  • Communication- is developed and is a necessity with you team mates, teachers and of course the guests.
  • Organization- in a pressurized situation it is necessary to be well organised. A trick we learned was never make a trip to a table or back to the side board empty handed, always pick up a plate here or there and bring a water jug to top glasses up.

In service concepts we learn a range of things from using kitchen equipment, cutlery and plates to flower arranging. Each day we had a different topic to cover and we managed to fit a whole lot into two weeks.

Les Roches A-Z

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Here are some terms that are commonly used at Les Roches amongst the students, teachers and staff.

A la carte - The most formal of the dining options at school. This fine-dining restaurant is also used as a classroom with service students and can be booked for dinner by students when there is space. It is located in the main building on the ground floor to the right of Market place.

Boxnet – is an online file sharing platform for the teachers to the students.

CDIP – Students must do an internship for 6 months each year for the 3-year Hotel Management Diploma.  The Career Development and Internship Office is invaluable in completing the process of getting an internship, having it verified and when we leave Les Roches helping to find job placements. They also organize presentations from different hotel groups that come to Les Roches for recruitment purposes.

CDV- Café du Village. This is one of the residences but also a student bar and restaurant. By day, service students are taught here and by night it is run by the F&B interns and students gather here to socialize, have a drink or eat.

CBL – Craft Based Learning is the practical training section of the syllabus. Every two weeks the students rotate to be on either practical or academic schedules.

Crans- Montana- Often you will hear students saying “are you going up?” or “did you go up?”- this is referring to travelling up the mountain to Crans-Montana. Here we go to the supermarket, bank, to eat or to go out in the evening. Those of us who like to ski go up mostly on the weekends or in the week (if we have time) and students from Les Roches get a discount on the ski passes.

Funi (Funicular Train) – Other than taxis, this is the main way of getting up and down to either Crans-Montana or Sierre.

K- Hotel Operations 2 (HOII) - Kitchen

Library- Found in the main building, here you can find a wide array of books and DVDs for borrowing with your student card. It is also a quiet place to study or read.

Lobby Bar- Here Madame Christiane or the Intern Mary- Carmen sell coffees, sandwiches, pastries, cold lattes, snacks and sodas. There is always a crowd here as some of us need a little caffeine fix before the next class.

Lobby- This is where students come at break times and between classes to work, socialise, check their mail or have a refreshment.

M- Hotel Operations 3 (HOIII) – Management

Main Building- When you arrive at Les Roches you will park somewhere outside of the Main building and enter. Here you will find the lobby, reception, the library and most of the classroom areas. It also houses one of the male residences.

Market Place – This is the most popular of the eating options at school. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a large part of the CBL (practical training) takes place for the culinary, stewarding and service.

Mini Market – Newly opened, the Mini Market has a variety of small supermarket items and is a good place to pick a few things up if you haven’t made it up to Crans- Montana.

Moodle – is the schools Course Management System. It is accessible by all students for information about the school and each student can access his or her course information, including the syllabus. Also posted on Moodle are activities, CDIP information and general announcements. This is very important to both teachers and students.

Petit Roches – During your academic week in Rooms Division Operations we have two practical applications taught at Petit Roches. This little chalet houses the “mock hotel room”, a practice Reception area, and materials for Housekeeping and Front Office training.

PFA- Pré Fleuri A- For a quick sandwich lunch or dinner PFA is open in the week Monday to Friday. A little more casual than Market place or A la Carte, you can sit outside (when it’s warm enough) and usually the chefs play music.

PPs (Petit Paradis) – PPs is a family-run hotel and restaurant just next to the main building. They serve the Swiss favorites: fondue and raclette. Often, students go there to just have a drink and relax “off campus”.

Reception- is the first point of call for any visitors who come to Les Roches. It is just as useful to the students, we can buy padlocks, get money or directions and they are able to answer most of our inquiries.

Residences - PF (Peters Farm) 1, 2, 3, 4; PF (Pré Fleuri) A, B, C, Cheminot, Tacot, Main Building , St. Francois, CDV

S- Hotel Operations 1 (HOI) – Service

Student Services- The Student Help point- When checking on your first day, Student Services gives you the all important Student ID, assigns your room and starts the procedure for getting your B permit (necessary for staying Switzerland).  It is to the left of Reception.

Student Social Committee – The committee organizes events and socials. Students can join it if they have an interest in organizing and helping. For example, the upcoming Mufti Day (a day when students can wear whatever they want).

Facilities around the school

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The time is flying as we are getting further on with our classes and busier with assignments. Many of us here at Les Roches look forward to the midterm break but can’t believe how fast time is passing by.

We are having a great time though, recently  some classes have been a bit more demanding because of the latest tests but that is the way it is, you have to be tested, both to see how well you do in a particular signature through a written exam and also to test your practical performance.

The Library

After a normal day of school some areas inside the main building are great for studying too. Places like the library for more individual study and a quieter environment are open until  8pm at night and even during the weekends until 5pm, here you can always rent some movies for free and there is a great variety of books as well.

The Lobby

Some other areas in the main building are usually meeting points for after school activities, and students usually get together here to discuss school projects or studying in groups.

Some of the other facilities are the restaurants here at the school where we get great food during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each meal is also a good way of learning and seeing the real environment of a restaurant because it is students from Les Roches who are on practical duty who serve and cook.

Restaurant à la Carte

The school has 4 types of restaurants for the students to eat and where students practice, we can eat at the A la Carte restaurant, which is very similar to a fine-dining restaurant offering very good food and having the type of service that is usually provided by this kind of restaurant and we can also see how the other students perform.

As PGD students, my classmates and I also need to learn this type of cuisine and service.  Here is a recent picture of my classmates and I as we attended the A la Carte Restaurant of the school.  We really enjoyed the food, and our waitress from HO1 was really great.

Restaurant à la Carte

Restaurant the Market Place

Restaurant the Market Place

We have other options like eating at the Market Place restaurant, which is a buffet type and most of the students eat there as well. We also have the Sandwich restaurant at PFA, there you can get great sandwiches and fruit and salads; this one offers a self-service style of snack bar and it has some chairs to sit outside which is very nice during the sunny days.

And last, you can also get great food at CDV, Café du Village, where they offer different types of menus and it is similar to a restaurant as well.

In each one of these (depending on your program), you have the opportunity to perform in the service area or cook in the kitchen. In this way, all of the students are also involved and surrounded by this kind of environment which is very helpful.

By the time you go on internships or start real jobs you have this type of previous experience which definitely builds character to face similar situations in real businesses.