Kukreja Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology B.H.M. Review By Kanu Priya

I hail from the beautiful city of Rishikesh and hotel management was something I was very excited about. I planned to go places with the course but my parents only sent me as far as Dehradun for BHMCT. Kukreja is arguably one of the finest institutes but had limitation as it teaches just the veg options. Rishikesh is a place where non-vegetarian food is not allowed but I never wanted to confine myself but it was what it was and finally my hard work paid off as I was among the toppers of my batch and Kukreja rewarded me with a scholarship of 2 lakhs for further studies. So, Kukreja institute back its students even if they want to study elsewhere. I can’t thank them enough for their help as it didn’t just made me self-sufficient but also made me convince my parents to let me go out and explore.

Many national surveys have ranked our institute quite highly as the institute is best in academics. BHMCT of Kukreja focuses mostly on innovations, research works, expert guidance, and participatory learning. There was so much to learn that a miss will be our personal. From 1st to final year, we have learned every art of hotel management. Soft skills play a huge role in hotel management and Kukreja institute focuses mostly on that. Many people think that hotel management is about cooking but hotel management is not a cooking course. The course teaches us responsibility that in concierge services, reception handling, marketing, and functions of a restaurant and a bar.

Along with good knowledge, all the teachers of the institute had a great industrial exposure too. They were the ones because of whom participatory learning became intense and mandatory in a way. Many workshops and routine training by them made us a finished product as we were ready to serve the industry immediately. Since, my forte was cooking; we had to attend special workshops and had to work with HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, and Cafes) chains of the city. Faculties guided us and helped us through thick and think of the business we were going to serve.

Kukreja institute is such a big name that is has signed treaty or MOUs with many national and international hotel chains that are operational in India. Before the placements we were trained thoroughly at those hotel chains. Placements are well above 80% as many hotel chains become the part of campus placement drive every year. It’s the training and central placement cell of the college that works intensely in getting us placed. Most placements were in the state of Uttarakhand as the state has some of the finest hotels and resorts. I could have had placements as I was the topper in my batch but I also received a scholarship for higher studies, so rather than job, I decided to go that way.

Unfortunately, there’s no hostel facility at the campus and I had to travel daily as driving from Rishikesh to Dehradun is around 30 kilometers. It became lengthy and hectic but PGs in Dehradun aren’t that attractive. At least the ones that I saw were not worth it. May be in other areas which were far from the college are fine but then if I had to travel anyways why not from my home then. Many students from different cities of the state came and studied here and accommodating a hostel in the campus will benefit the college more.

College had a beautiful infrastructure as the college building itself is a marvel. Besides that, the college nestles some of the finest labs required for studies. BTC (Basic Training Kitchen) lab was the place where I spent more time than the classes and it was probably one of the coolest parts of infrastructure. Besides that, too there were few more labs including the HKL (House Keeping Lab). The college has a beautiful garden at the front and we had done many photo shoots there. There’s a library that was small as only limited students could enter the library at a point. Strength is anyways low of the college, so hardly faced any issue accessing the library.

All three years, we were taught practical and theory side by side. The campus life started with basic learning like methods of cooking, and food commodities. The final year ended with us becoming a pro in kitchen equipment, and food ethics. In the name of extracurricular activities, the college has an annual cultural event. Cooking itself is a fun for those who love it and therefore I enjoyed every single second that I spent at Kukreja Institute of Hotel Management.