Kukreja Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology B.H.M. Review By Shubham Kumar

KIHM is not just a good college but perhaps the best college for studying hotel management. It’s not because I am a KIHMian or because I'm just saying it for the sake of saying. My experience here will prove to you why it is the best college for hotel management. Kukreja Institute of Hotel Management provided us with some of the best faculties on the planet. How to manage a sustainable kitchen is what we learned from them. Also, how to sell food because a simple DIY doesn’t work with food. If you charge 500 for a dish, it should look like it is DIY with grating and present it in such a way that customers don’t feel like they are overcharged. So, all the attributes of hotel management were taught here and the award in the college cabinet proves why it is the best college for hotel management.

Hotel management studies are done in labs and kitchens and both these facilities at Kukreja are one of the finest. Also, while I was studying, we were taken for trips to various established QSRs and chefs who shared their experiences with us. Six months internship was a part of our course and we all were sent to some of the best hotels of Dehradun, Rishikesh, and Mussoorie. I was sent to Fairfield by Marriott where I initially struggled in the kitchen but gradually succumbed to do it the way it is required. Internship was tough as we were made to work 14 hours in a day and before sending us in front there was a lot that went through. What hotel management studies do in you is it will instill patience in you as I can say from my experience that I started appreciating the smallest of things because I knew a lot of effort has gone into this happening.

Initially when I joined the Hotel Management program, I felt dicey because it was a hobby turned into education. The faculties made us comfortable and attended the labs and kitchen with us together. They taught us the art of not just making the best dish but also the art of hospitality. Hotel management is not about cooking but hospitality in all. Faculties also made us study the subjects and know the equations as there are various factors and formulas that have to be studied theoretically. I don’t care what others think but people in general think that hotel management is all about chefs and we learn just cooking dishes at college.

KIHM has connections with all small and big hotel chains in and around Dehradun. From Marriott group to Hyatt group and from McDonalds to Starbucks, KIHM had good connections with all who came for placements and checked our skills. Almost the entire class was hired though some chose for pursuing higher studies, while some already had the same businesses back home. I joined this course as I wanted to do a job and luckily I got placed with one of the best QSRs in India and that too in my city. The initial salary offered to hotel management students range between 15–25k.

The college doesn’t have its own hostel but Dehradun is not short in PGs and flats and one can easily find them. To be honest, students at Kukreja were at max from Haldwani as the institute is still not that famous that people from other states came and joined our college. With each passing year, the ROI is getting better as placements have almost doubled to what they were back then. So, as of now I don’t see a need for a hostel as the campus anyways can’t afford a hostel inside it as it wasn’t that big.

There were two kitchens, one was basic and the other one was a pro kitchen. We started with a basic training kitchen, and ended our course by settling in the pro kitchen. For students who were into hospitality started off with behind the scenes and ended up showing their skills at the café of the college. There were 6 labs in all such as housekeeping lab, strategy lab, organizational and management behavioral lab. The college garden was converted into a restaurant set-up as our events were related to our field mostly.

One thing that I will agree upon is that a hotel management course is fun for those who do this course purposely. There were few students who took admissions even without knowing what they required to do in this course. The college used to have many celebrations like the Momos Eve, Pav Bhaji Night, Dosa Day as students were taught making almost all the Indian cuisines. So, for four years at Kukreja Institute, I had fun almost every single day.