How Switzerland is training up the next generation of luxury hoteliers

The stakes are high in a Michelin-starred restaurant – and they are even higher if getting your university degree rests on delivering impeccable service.

“The most stressful part is always the flambée. Everyone is terrified of getting it wrong”, says tonight’s 20 year-old waiter at Le Berceau des Sens. The restaurant is run by Swiss hotel and management school EHL and became the world’s first ever student-training restaurant to obtain a Michelin star in 2021.

Glancing over to his supervisor nervously, the student waiter sets a piece of rhubarb alight. The restaurant goes quiet and diners turn to watch before he sighs in relief – the flambée has been a success.

“Our professional chefs are the ones actually cooking and seasoning the dishes, but students help with prep and service”, confides 31 year-old Lucrèze Lacchio, the restaurant’s first female head chef. “I don’t believe in shouting in the kitchen, things may get stressful but students are here to learn”, says Lacchio.

A school which is 130 years old

Founded in 1893 by hotelier Jacques Tschumi, EHL is the world’s first ever hospitality management school. The first classes took place in the five star Hotel d’Angleterre, which sits on the banks of Lausanne’s Lac Léman.

Today, the school is nestled in the hills above the city, in a campus which feels like a cross between a swish Californian university and a luxury airport terminal. Spread across 80,000 square metres, the last round of renovations cost the school 250 million Swiss francs. On site there are seven restaurants, where local diners can taste top notch food at a cut price.

Netflix getting in on the hospitality act

Although the campus may be brand-new, the Swiss art of fine service is anything but that. Switzerland’s luxury palaces rose to fame from the mid-19th century onwards, becoming a popular retreat for British aristocrats. One of the world’s most renowned hotel entrepreneurs César Ritz – owner of the Ritz and Carlton chains – also hails from Switzerland.

In recent years, Switzerland’s hotellerie story has even attracted Netflix’s attention, with an eight-part period drama set to air later this year. The series tells a fictionalised account of the birth of luxury tourism in Switzerland, marking the first ever co-production between Netflix and Swiss national broadcaster RTS.

Children of the rich and famous

As well as traditional classes, pupils at EHL undertake a ‘training’ year, rotating across the school’s restaurants and kitchens. The goal is to understand what lies behind the finer things in life – taking classes in wine tasting, mixology, as well as chocolate making.

Among the 56 professionals chefs teaching pupils, six are winners of the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France prize, an award presented to France’s most talented cooks.

But not every semester is about glitz and glamour, with students also taking a module in housekeeping for instance. “A lot of students have either famous or rich – like very rich – parents. So discovering that they will have to change dirty sheets or use a toilet brush can be a shock to them,” confides a first year student, while pointing to a classmate’s Louis Vuitton handbag.

Switzerland’s reputation

At EHL, 72% of students are international, dishing out 180,000 Swiss francs for a four year course, while Swiss pupils pay 85,000 francs. With 400 bursaries for 4,000 places, for many families schools like this are not an option.

The school’s reputation may be a pull factor, but other top Swiss hospitality schools like Les Roches and the César Ritz College also have large cohorts of international students. Swiss boardings schools have long been famed for attracting the children of royals, politicians, as well as the super-rich. For many students, a degree from a top Swiss hospitality school is a stepping stone into the world of finance and luxury goods.

When hospitality runs in the DNA

For others, hospitality is part of their DNA. 20-year old Heloise Aguerre’s parents may be farmers, but she has always wanted to leave her wellies behind to join her aunt and uncle’s boutique hotel business.

“The school is a financial investment which not everyone can afford, but I have always known it’s what I want to do,” she says brimming with enthusiasm.

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For student Nikita Novelle – who comes from a family of wine producers – coming to EHL has been about learning how to run a business.

“My dream is to take over the vineyard. The thing is I know about wine, about how you physically run a vineyard work but I need to learn about the organisational of things in a school which understands the industry I am going into.”

All about the “human experience”

At EHL, enhancing the “human experience” is at the heart of everything pupils learn, explains Achim Schmitt, the school’s Dean. Some would question why such a costly degree is necessary for learning how to engage in professional interactions. But 20-year Jurriaan says the people skills he gained were “indispensable” during his latest internship at a luxury five star Parisian hotel.

“In Parisian palaces you have to deal with very demanding – and sometimes rude – customers. I had to deal with angry regulars who insisted they had booked a room which they had simply not. I find resolving these situations satisfying, using my people skills to calm the situation, negotiate and ensure that people leave with a smile.”

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But if the customer is to feel like a king, a certain hierarchy must also be instilled. On the EHL campus there are no trendy baggy jeans or dirty trainers in sight, with students obliged to adhere to a formal dress code.

This may sound like a nightmare for many 20-year olds fresh out of school but here many students enjoy the pomp. 23-year old Julia is one of them, “Even when I am not coming onto the campus I no longer wear jeans or T-Shirts. I like tradition, order, when things are clear and there are rules.”