East Kent College opens hotel school
East Kent College has opened a 28-bedroom hotel school in Broadstairs to provide students with live work experience.
Named after shipbuilding magnate Sir Alfred Yarrow, the Yarrow is located in a Grade II-listed building built in 1894. It opened on 25 July, following a multi-million pound refurbishment, and has a 64-cover restaurant, a 120-capacity event space, a salon and spa.
East Kent College owns and operate the hotel, which will provide students from the catering and hair and beauty departments with the opportunity to work alongside industry leaders to hone their skills and gain valuable live commercial experience.
The hotel is managed by Andrea Whigham, who most recently worked as general manager at Birmingham's Hotel Indigo, while the restaurant is headed by Ben Williams, previously of two-Michelin-starred restaurant the Square in London, Read's restaurant in Kent and the ABode hotel in Canterbury.
Commercial director of East Kent College, Shane Godwin, said that the hotel's focus would be on providing the highest levels of customer service and quality. He added: "As a training hotel it's been really important to ensure all of our professional staff are passionate about the hospitality industry, and giving every customer the finest experience possible."
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