This page is for the student, or the parent of one, trying to decide where to study hospitality. It names ten schools worth knowing, says why each one is here, and then turns to the question the schools cannot answer for you: what the people who run the world’s best hotels say a school did and did not give them. The ten are not ranked, and the page does not say one is better than another. Rankings change every year and measure things that matter less than fit.
How the ten were chosen
Four tests. The school awards a recognized degree or holds accreditation from a body that a hotel group’s recruiters would know. It has a practical component built into the course rather than bolted on: a training hotel, compulsory placements, or a year in industry. Its graduates go into the kind of properties and groups described in my books, by the school’s own account. And the ten together cover Switzerland, the United States, the rest of Europe, Asia and Australia, so that a student can find an option near home or deliberately far from it.
Fees vary widely by school and country and change every year, so they are not given here. Each school’s own site has the current figures, along with application dates. What follows are the facts that hold: where each school is, when it was founded, what it offers, and how it puts students in front of real guests.
The ten, in alphabetical order
Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School, Torrens University (Leura and Sydney, Australia). Founded in 1991 and now part of Torrens University, which is registered as an Australian university. The bachelor begins with a residential trimester at the Leura campus, which runs as a simulated hotel, and builds in several hundred hours of paid industry placement; master’s and diploma programs are offered in Sydney and Melbourne. The Asia Pacific option on this list.
Cornell University, Nolan School of Hotel Administration (Ithaca, New York). Founded in 1922 and the reference point for hospitality education in the United States, with an AACSB accredited undergraduate degree. The Statler Hotel on campus is a working teaching hotel where students work alongside professional staff, and the school’s published employer lists are dominated by the luxury groups named in my books.
EHL Hospitality Business School (Lausanne, Switzerland). Founded in 1893 as the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, the oldest hotel school in the world and the one most often cited by luxury hotel recruiters. Its bachelor is a Swiss university of applied sciences degree and the school also holds American accreditation. The structure is the point: a preparatory year of immersion in the industry, two six month internships, often abroad, and a consulting mandate before graduation. Marc C. Brugger, then general manager of Rosewood Hong Kong and Rosewood Beijing, chose it over a Paris business school.
“I visited both schools, and when I saw the atmosphere at EHL, suddenly all of my early memories and emotions came back to me from traveling to glamorous hotels when I was young.” Marc C. Brugger, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
Glion Institute of Higher Education (Montreux and Bulle, Switzerland; London). Founded in 1962, recognized by the Swiss Accreditation Council and holding American accreditation. Bachelor and master’s programs in hospitality and in luxury business, with two six month internships in the bachelor and a formal specialization in luxury brand strategy. The London campus suits a student who wants Switzerland and the United Kingdom in one degree.
Hotelschool The Hague (The Hague and Amsterdam, Netherlands). Founded in 1929 by the Dutch hotel industry and accredited by the Dutch and Flemish accreditation body. First year students are required to live in the school’s own training hotels, and the course runs through student staffed restaurants and two internships, the first at operational level in a full service hotel or a starred restaurant. The European option for a student who wants a practical school outside Switzerland.
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Hotel and Tourism Management (Hong Kong). Founded in 1979 as a school of a publicly funded university. Its teaching hotel, Hotel ICON, is a full scale property owned by the university, and work integrated education is compulsory in every undergraduate program, with a six month placement the norm. Bachelor, master’s and doctoral programs, including specialisms in luxury experiences. Asia’s benchmark school.
Les Roches Global Hospitality Education (Crans-Montana, Switzerland; Marbella; Abu Dhabi). Founded in 1954 and holding American accreditation. The bachelor is preceded by a preparatory experiential year, builds in two internships, and its placement lists are dominated by luxury operators, among them Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental and The Ritz-Carlton, the properties whose general managers fill my books. Three campuses let a student move between Switzerland, Spain and the Gulf.
Taylor’s University, School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events (Subang Jaya, Malaysia). The hospitality school of a university that began as a college in 1969. Its programs carry Malaysian government approval and a dual award with a French university, with an internship as a core part of the bachelor and on campus hotel rooms for front office and housekeeping training. The Southeast Asian option, and the one on this list closest to the Asian properties described in the books.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Harrah College of Hospitality (Las Vegas). Hospitality has been taught at UNLV since 1967, and the college sits a short distance from the Strip. The degree requires a substantial number of verified hours of industry work, and the college runs bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs. The public university option in the United States.
University of Surrey, Surrey Hospitality and Tourism Management (Guildford, United Kingdom). A university established by Royal Charter in 1966 that has taught hospitality for over sixty years. The bachelor can be taken with a Professional Training Year, a full year in industry in the United Kingdom or abroad, with partners that include Four Seasons, Hilton and Langham. The United Kingdom option, chosen over others for the compulsory year rather than an optional one.
What the hoteliers in the books say about school
Several of the general managers I interviewed attended a hotel school and several did not. What they agree on is the order of things. The school opens a first door, and the years on the floor after it are where the education happens. Luc Delafosse, then managing director of Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, was plain about it.
“To this day, I can say that I learned most of what I know on the job and through interactions with general managers, owners, investors, and other colleagues that I keenly observed and listened to.” Luc Delafosse, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
Krister Svensson, then general manager of The St. Regis Bangkok, began as a steward and says the start was the point.
“I learned early on that starting from the bottom was incredibly important to understanding roles you would otherwise be oblivious to later on.” Krister Svensson, then General Manager, The St. Regis Bangkok
Alexander Pichel, who became general manager of Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta, left high school in the tenth grade, did internships on a friend’s advice, and was accepted into the hotel management apprenticeship at the Bristol Hotel Kempinski in Berlin, then the best hotel in the city. His path and Brugger’s path through EHL arrive at the same place. The question on whether you need a degree to become a general manager sets both sides out with more of the people who lived them.
How to use this list
Visit, if you can. Brugger’s decision turned on the atmosphere of a campus. Ask each school two questions the brochure will not answer: how many weeks a student spends in front of paying guests before graduating, and where last year’s graduates actually went. Then read the career questions on this site, and the profiles of the thirty six hoteliers in the book, for the part of the path no school can shorten.