Amity University B.H.M. Review By Shubham Sachdeva

My overall review about studying Bachelor of Hotel Management at Amity University, Noida would be a positive one! The University has various international accreditations, and is the only not-for-profit university based in Asia to have received a US regional Accreditation. The university is also recognized by various statutory bodies of India such as the Council of Architecture and Bar council of India.

The admission process was really short for me — fill up the online form, and appear for assessment at the university. Assessment for BHM included a written test (which included comprehension) to check proficiency in the English language, followed by an interview with the faculty of Amity school of Hospitality. The interview was also very short and crisp in itself. The questions were not so technical, but focused more on the faculty knowing about you as a person and your interest in the course. The result of the assessment was given to us quite quickly over the email within a couple of weeks.

Academics at the university are really good with a strong and well-designed curriculum. I joined Bachelor of Hotel Management, which is a course delivered at the Amity School of Hospitality, Amity University Noida. The course requires a strong balance between practical skills and theoretical knowledge, owing to the nature of work at the industry that most students aspire to work in after graduating from this course. The highly experienced faculty and multiple well-designed practical labs ensured that the balance was seamlessly delivered through an extensive curriculum and regular simulations of how the tasks are performed at a real five-star hotel. The eligibility to join the course simply required aspirants to have passed 10+2 (or equivalent) exams from a recognized educational board. There was no requirement to have cleared any entrance exam in order to join the course at the university.

The reason why I joined this course was because I aspired to become a hotelier and this was the career I chose after I graduated. Amity University was my choice of institute to get this degree from because of their well-designed 4-year curriculum that gives students a strong exposure to the industry, experienced faculty and well-designed infrastructure. The course subjects were really elaborate. In addition to core subjects of the industry, several other subjects such as accounting and a foreign language (French) were also a part of the curriculum, as such subjects often help in the hotel industry, making this course a solid choice to groom any aspirant well enough to get a job at a leading hotel chain.

The faculty for my course was excellent at the university. Most of them had hands-on work experience in the industry and a doctorate degree, with good experience in teaching. There were a total of 15 faculty members at Amity School of Hospitality, in addition to which there were visiting faculty members that taught subjects like French, Behavioral Sciences, English, and any other extra courses. The average teaching experience for the faculty members at Amity School of Hospitality stands at around 15 years. The faculty members were extremely professional and taught their subjects very well.

Having been trained hoteliers themselves, the faculty members had great knowledge about the industry, with some of them having knowledge about multiple operations in the industry, giving us a wide exposure and different perspectives, which really helped me, open up my mind about the industry and learn from different perspectives. The faculty members were also highly supportive and were always available if I needed to reach out to them to get any help at all, be it with my exams, assignments, research reports, internships, or even general queries about the industry and career.

The training and placement cell of the college was very efficient. They were constantly supportive and kept a very well-managed record of all placements, both upcoming and previous records. The placement and training cell also kept pushing us to prepare better for our placement interviews and were there with us through all the steps. Regular interactive sessions were held with faculties taking care of the placement cell to ensure that they keep us well-versed with latest industry trends and to ensure we had all the resources we might require to crack placement interviews. For students interested in making a career in food production, the faculty members encouraged them to practice their skills in the training kitchen of the institute under their supervision, so as to polish their skill and work on evaluation criteria that the interviewers and selectors were looking for.

The placement cell managed to give us opportunities to interview with the leading hotel companies in the country, Such as The Oberoi Group, ITC Hotels, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Radisson Hotel Group and Leela Hotels, Palaces and Resorts. The cell also ensured we got opportunities to apply for country’s leading management training programs with companies like The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development, IHG, Haldiram’s and Jubilant Foods. The packages in the hotel industry are standard all over the country, with the institutes not playing any role in getting higher or lower packages. The efficient placement cell ensured that 100% of the students who appeared for placements got a job through campus.

The University also provides well maintained hostel facilities. There were separate hostels for boys and girls. The Hostels were quite large and could accommodate a large number of students. Both AC and Non-AC options were available for the students to opt from. The Hostels were extremely safe, well guarded and clean. Entry to hostel buildings was restricted to students staying at the hostels through a different ID card, and no outsider or day scholar was allowed to enter the hostel building.

For meals, the students had a large variety of options, from the hostel mess, to international chain outlets like Domino’s, Subway and various independent outlets, to ensure that the students always had a wide variety of options to choose from. Often on the weekends a movie screening used to be held for hostel students to also provide them with regular entertainment. Festivals were also celebrated quite nicely in a common area for all students who chose not to go home for holidays. The fees varied depending on the type of hostel chosen, and can be checked on the university’s official website.

The infrastructure of the University is probably one of the most well developed in the country. Spread over 60 acres of land, Amity University, Noida has not spared any expense to make sure that the campus is at par with international standards with international universities. The campus is spread across various blocks that house different institutes. Each block has its own administration area, and various, well maintained and hygienic washrooms for both students and faculty members on each floor.

The campus also has a small gaming lounge called “Arcadia” equipped with its own bowling alley, and students can play pool, snooker, Video Games, Foosball, and more indoor games. Arcadia also has a small cinema setting with lounge chairs and a small jam-pad for musicians to come together and practice. Hotel Management is a course which requires strong practical skills, and to impart those skills, the institute houses excellent labs for students to practice and master their skills under the supervision of highly experienced faculty. The labs include Basic Training Kitchen, Quantity Training Kitchen, Advanced training Kitchen, Training Restaurant, Training Bar, Training Bakery, Housekeeping Lab, Training Suite, Model Front Office Lab with reception and concierge and a Back Office. The campus also has clean and pocket friendly cafeterias and spacious parking lots for students and faculty members.

The campus life at Amity University is amazing. With solid focus on education and practical development, the campus life is still very well balanced to ensure that students have other areas than education to showcase their talent and skills. The campus has two major festivals in a year, The Amity Youth Festival and Inbush Era. Amity Youth Festival is the annual college festival where the entire university participates in a large number of events spread across 3 days. But, even before the main 3-day festival begins, there are a large number of small events organized by various independent student bodies, such as quizzes organized by like-minded groups of students based on their favorite TV series or movies. Many student bodies host treasure/scavenger hunts spread all over the campus, which encourages students from different institutes to come together and interact.

Small-level music and dance competitions, apart from the main events are often organized this month long celebration and the campus is often lit up with some or the other activity always going on. Inbush Era is an event organized by the Amity Business School to promote young entrepreneurs and business minds to come forward and showcase their ideas. Both the festivals are headlined by celebrities. Talking about celebrities, a lot of film stars often grace the campus with their presence quite often as they come to promote their latest films. The campus life is a perfect blend of learning and fun.