Five-star mentorship at Hotel Benilde

MANILA, Philippines - The De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (CSB) has long been known for its flagship Hotel Restaurant and Institution Management (HRIM) course, but it continues to improve, starting with the renovation and rebranding of its Hotel Benilde.

“The building has been there since 1999,” says general manager Dennis Sebastian. In fact, CSB was the first school to open their own hotel laboratory, prompting the PAASCU to require other schools to follow suit.

In 2012, the school deemed it high time to renovate, with work on the hotel starting in March 2013. Hotel Benilde reopened early this year.

“It has a totally different look,” says Sebastian. “The rooms used to be so dark and heavy. Now brighter and lighter, more modern.”

Once only offering a limited number of room types, Hotel Benilde now has a presidential suite, which used to be three separate rooms; a one-bedroom suite; deluxe king and deluxe queen rooms; superior rooms; and dormitories that can sleep eight per room.

The minibar is complimentary in all the rooms and the hotel also has a gym, pool, function room, and two restaurants – Vatel Restaurant, on the top floor, a 100-seater, is run by a French executive chef.

CSB is the sole Philippine representative of Institut Vatel, a leading French hotel management institution. With its brand new facilities, Hotel Benilde impressed Vatel delegates from all over the world when it hosted the Vatel international convention this year.

“We have five-star amenities at a three-star price,” says Sebastian.

Hotel Benilde also provide CSB’s HRIM students with hands-on experience that is at par with five-star hotels. “The exposure builds confidence and gives them an edge with employment,” says Sebastian.

“The HRIM program is unique because it has tracks: culinary arts, travel and tourism, and hospitality management, so they can really focus on where they want to be and we can train them more specifically on the career path they have chosen,” says program chair Gil Acuña. “There is also the International Hospitality Management program in partnership with Institut Vatel in France, one of the leading hotel schools in Europe. They can get a double degree from the Philippines and France and can eventually work in Europe.”

Acuña adds that the renovation of Hotel Benilde is beneficial to the students because “now it is more in sync with the trends in the industry. It keeps them abreast on what is new.” To keep up, the HRIM curriculum has also been upgraded.

“We make sure that what is being taught in the classroom is what is being applied here in the hotel. It’s a perfect match. Each unit in the hotel has a mentor. It’s very collaborative,” says Acuña. It was CSB that spearheaded hiring teachers who have worked in the industry. Teachers including Sebastian and Acuña have worked in some of the most well-known hotels both locally and abroad.

Students also learn a lot from the hotel staff – all of whom are CSB alumni. “We hired people who graduated from SHRIM, from the front desk personnel to the waiters to the kitchen staff – they’re all alumni,” says Acuña. The alumni become mentors and role models for the students.

“The graduates are all over,” Acuña adds. “From Apari to Mindanao, there will always be a Benildean there, either owning or working in a hospitality-related business venture.”

Both Sebastian and Acuña agree that Hotel Benilde breaks down the walls of the classroom by bringing them into the real world.

“The hotel has actual guests that students can interact with, not just simulations. If you’re a guest here, somehow you would have contributed to those students.

You’ll become part of their mentors. We are equipping them for the career that they have chosen,” says Sebastian.

The school caters mostly to alumni from De La Salle University and CSB, those attending conventions and some balikbayans. Hotel Benilde also offers a “stay and learn” program with packages for schools who would like to send their students to learn with the hotel’s up-to-date facilities.

“Ever since, the hotel has been open to the public, but more so now,” says Sebastian, who hopes that the renovations will bring in even more guests who will enjoy five-star amenities and become five-star mentors.

Hotel Benilde is located at Arellano cor Estrada streets, Malate, tel 230-5230. Photos by Ernie Peñaredondo