The Hotel Management School Maastricht in the Netherlands has created an innovative approach to hospitality education with their teaching hotel, Château Bethlehem. The hotel is embedded within the school and provides students with real-world training experiences through various semester-long workplace learning opportunities. By integrating the hotel into the curriculum, the school aims to provide a challenging environment for students to attain skills needed for a bachelor's degree in hotel management through an experiential learning model. Initial results suggest the teaching hotel has been well-received by both students and guests as an inspiring feature of the school.

1. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality

2. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
Teaching Hotel Château Bethlehem
A Case Study

3. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
The Facts
• 60 years of hotel management tradition
• 1.100 students
• Largest faculty of Zuyd University
• 4 years Bachelor Program + Masters

4. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
An Innovative Approach to Workplace Learning
The Idea
• Create hotel embedded in school
• Challenging /experimental environment to
attain skills for Bachelor in Hotel Management
• Innovative approach to workplace learning
• Principles of co-creation
• Perspective of transformation + conceptual
thinking

5. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

6. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

7. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

8. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

9. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

10. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

11. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

12. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

13. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

14. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

15. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

16. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

17. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

18. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

19. Hotel Management School Maastricht
The next step in hospitality
The Teaching Hotel

20. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
Hotel Management School Maastricht
Operational Training
• Semester 1 “Hospitality Operations”
Workplace learning – 6 weeks
• Semester 3 “People & Business in Hospitality”
Workplace learning – 1 week
• Semester 4 Operational Internship
• Semester 8 Management Internship + MIT

21. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
The Learning Environment
• Integral part of curriculum
• Semester 1
Hourly positions in Food & Beverage/
Rooms Division
• Semester 2
Supervision
• Semester 4 + 8
Selected places for operational + management internship

22. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
The Learning Environment
• “Organized” training environment
• Learning organization
• Exposure to creativity + conceptual thinking
• Breeding place

23. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
The Business Side
• Financial performance
• Reactive marketing + PR strategy
• Network marketing
• Consider your competitors

24. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
The First Results
• Strong PR coverage national/international
• 97% of guests will recommend hotel
• Overall service quality 81%
• Students perceive hotel as inspiring feature of
institute

25. The next step in hospitality
Hotel Management School Maastricht
Bouke Jongsma
Manager in Training, 2011
“Teaching Hotel Château Bethlehem – a hotel
where students and guests have a central role.
A historical building with a modern interior.
The hotel is an environment where the learnt
theory can be applied in practice in a
passionate and stimulating way . It brings
students together, it creates a community
feeling. My time in the hotel has introduced me
in many ways to the experience of hospitality.”