Placement Opportunities

We are able to offer customised placements and training programmes to students at all levels. What would it be like to spend your placement with us? Here is some feedback from some of the students who have worked with us recently...

Mike from the ROC Hotel School in Amsterdam

Studying Hotel Management, he spent a 5 month placement at South Lodge Hotel during 2007.

"I started out as a trainee Conference and Banqueting (C&B) waiter.  After about 2 months I was promoted to running some small functions. Besides that I worked in the C&B Bars, which I loved!

The best thing about working at South Lodge was seeing the guests leave even more satisfied then they arrived.  The team was also amazing, everybody was really nice, and it felt sometimes that we were one big family.

I learned how to be a supervisor, how to motivate employees, how to communicate towards your superiors, how to plan activities so they go as easy and smooth as possible. Most importantly, it doesn't matter how hard and long you work, when something needs to be done, do it and enjoy it.

I would recommend Exclusive to a work placement student in the future because I had an amazing time and I learned a lot.  Exclusive Hotels has some great hotels in England and they (from my perspective) give some pretty good possibilities to grow in whatever direction you want to go.

My favourite memory of working for Exclusive is the atmosphere in the staff accommodation, and all the laughter we had in C&B (even during long shifts). I still love the memories from the weddings."

Zheng Lin, studying International Hospitality Management at the University of Surrey, Guildford

Zheng spent his one year placement at Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa from July 2007 until July 2008.

"I was offered the opportunity to do a Front of House placement at PHP. Throughout the 12 months, I was trained in various departments such as Reception, Housekeeping, Accounts, HR, Sales and Business Development.

Besides basic training and learning at each department, I was also given many opportunities to be involved in some special projects such as “Exclusive Thinking Team” (a team looking at ways to improve the efficiency of our working practices).

What I like the most is the way I was being treated during my placement. I felt I was a member of the Exclusive family rather than just an internship student. I was given a lot support and help from all people in the hotel. They valued my contributions and supported my development. The strong sense of belonging almost made me forget my student identity at once. I was very much motivated by the pride of working for a prospecting company like Exclusive Hotels. The continuous investment and development certainly indicate the company has a well planned long term strategy and foresighted vision.

Upon the completion of my placement, I have developed myself by gaining invaluable experience and knowledge from various aspects of the hotel business. I have made many friends and established a strong relationship with the Exclusive family. 

I will definitely recommend others to do their placement with Exclusive Hotels, not only because the company is young and energetic with exciting prospects and potentials, most importantly, Exclusive Hotels practices what they preach as to “Employ, Respect, Develop and Support the right people”.

I am extremely glad that I was part of the team and contributed all I could to make PHP a leading hotel in UK. I already start to look forward going back to Exclusive Hotels after finishing my studies."

Annabelle from the International College of Hotel Management in Adelaide, Australia

Annabelle completed a six month placement in Food and Beverage at Pennyhill Park at the beginning of 2008.

"Through completing my work placement, I have gained an immense amount of knowledge not only within the operations of a food and beverage outlet, but throughout the whole hotel.  In comparison to my previous hotel experience, Pennyhill is much smaller and belonging to a more boutique brand, Exclusive Hotels.  This appealed to me when I was applying for work placements abroad. 

The main focus of my placement was within the Brasserie where I was taught all the daily operations of the restaurant, supervisor skills including money handling, report writing, using the computer systems, and hardest of all managing people! The work placement was a great opportunity to put into practise what I had learnt in the classroom at college and applying these skills to the real world. 

I would definitely recommend Exclusive Hotels for future students undertaking work placements as the brand recognises the hard work each and everyone puts into making the service exceptional, opportunities are given to all staff members which I don’t think are always given in other hotels and the brand really strives to achieve participative management. 

I would have to say that my most memorable moments were starting work at 6:30am on cold mornings and the wonderful greeting received from my colleagues which always put me in good spirits!"

What to do next?

If you would be interested in carrying out a placement with Exclusive, please contact the HR department at the relevant property.

HR departments