Professional Experience of a Lifetime: And We’re Still Students!

Founded in 1481, the Beau Rivage is an iconic emblem in the beautiful lakeside city of Nyon, Switzerland. With ambitious plans to renovate, expand and continue to meet the needs of its clientele, the hotel is undergoing a new venture design project and has turned to the students of IHTTI for their fresh ideas.

Real-World Hotel Renovation Project
Lead by IHTTI Lecturer Delia Schaedel, 5 enthusiastic MIB2 students spent the last few months putting their newly developed design and corporate management skills to important use! The Beau Rivage invited the IHTTI class to undertake a real-world simulation project to provide concrete improvement recommendations to the hotel renovation project.

With access to the full plans, the students used 2-D and 3-D digital design programmes to develop floor plan and structural modifications and recommendations based on current trends in the hospitality industry. Throughout the process they heavily considered design, branding and marketing strategies that would keep the client’s satisfaction and target market as the focus.

It is a project scope beyond simply interior design that encapsulates the full venture understanding from start to finish. And the best part is at the end of the process there is a real chance that the Beau Rivage will incorporate the student ideas into their plans.

"My overall experience as a student at IHTTI and this class has been exactly what I hoped it would be! I find it very interesting how IHTTI integrates the full design-learning aspect into Hotel Management. We learn that design is not only about aesthetics but is how about how you can better your business through research of what is both wanted and needed from the client. The opportunity to gain experience from a designer and project manager perspective is invaluable. This project is definitely something that I will look back on for the rest of my professional career!"
Pia Stange, MIB 2 student at IHTTI

A Fresh Perspective
Assistant Director of the Beau Rivage Nyon, Ms Maddalena Pracchi has been involved with the project since the beginning. She shared that she hopes this project will help the students understand how important their studies are and the value they bring to the changing hotel industry. Innovative and harmonious design is necessary to succeed and there is a clear shortage of talented interior designers with a hotel perspective. IHTTI is well-positioned to fill this talent gap.

"The students are young and haven’t started their careers yet and are still able to think outside of the box. They bring new ideas and ways of seeing things. It is so refreshing! When you are in something every day you can miss seeing something that fresh eyes don’t see. We hope to continue with this project with IHTTI and would highly recommend a project like this for another hotel property!"
Maddalena Pracchi, Assistant Director, Beau Rivage Nyon