Alumni Society

I started searching for hotel schools and came across quite a few colleges within the country offering “hotel management” or “chef courses”. The International Hotel School was one of them. We booked for an Open Day and my family and I found it very informative and we were very impressed with the presentation that the college offered. This really opened my mind as to what I want to do. That is going into hotel management, rather than being a chef, as I know that it will open many doors for me in the future. You can go anywhere in the world with this Diploma (Hotel Management) - you can do all these things and MORE! I feel that by doing the Hotel Management course, I can learn all the other subjects in running a hotel or restaurant and still get to “cook”. The International Hotel School far outshines the other hotel schools that we have attended for their open days. This was not only noticed by me, but by my parents as well AND we have heard many good things about the school from various people in the industry.

You asked where my dreams have taken me since I left IHS in 2006, I’ve been working in Cape Town at 5 star hotels, then this year I decided I wanted a change, and overseas was the way to go.

Ever since, I have been working in Spain, France, Ibiza, Croatia, and Italy on private yachts … that’s my career!

My experience after IHS has been amazing. I started studying hotel management, not interested in the kitchen side of things at all, but by 2nd year I’d changed my whole aspect and studied to be a chef. I started in airline catering (extremely interesting), then went into restaurants, managing and running different establishments. It’s had some tough moments, but then you take a step back and look at what you’ve achieved … with every bad day, there are 10 good days, which motivate you and make you push on!

After leaving IHS, I went to Dubai and flew for Emirates. I traveled the world to expose myself to world standards of business and service, staying in 4 and 5* hotels. While I was there, I started Elro Business Furniture. We specialise in business, hospitality and educational furniture. In my spare time I do wedding cakes and cakes for special events! I also do events, and weddings occasionally. I wouldn’t change doing my internship with IHS for anything! It was hard work, but I learnt so much!