Great Hotels of the World

Placement organization

Name of organization: Great Hotels of the World
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.ghotw.com

Student

Name of student: Nikki Bordewijk

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Marketing alliance for 4* and 5* hotels
Organization’s activities: Representing independent 4* and 5* hotels
Target group of the organization: Middle to high class
Company culture: There are many interns within the company and they are treated just like any other colleague.
Number of employees: 50-100
Dress code: casual, but smart if there are clients coming into the office.
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing & PR, Leisure, Corporate, MICE, New Biz, Account management, Operations team.
I worked in Marketing & PR
Brief description of your daily activities: Arranging press trips for journalists to our member properties, writing newsletters and press releases, updating social media pages, responding to journalist request. Every week/two weeks there is at least one member property that is coming into the office for a meeting, or a skype meeting. Marketing & PR is usually part of these meetings.
Brief description of your company assignment: PowerPoint presentation of all the coverage our members have received in 2012/2013
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Ashleigh was my supervisor. She is really nice and helpful and always willing to answer all of your questions.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? You need to be a team player, flexible, enthusiastic, stress-proof, social, open-minded, hard working
Additional company requirements for this placement? Outlook, Microsoft Office: word, excel, powerpoint
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Any other language is a plus

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I wanted to live together with a friend who was also doing her placement in London, so we arranged our accommodation ( 2 bed apartment) through an agency, which is quite expensive. Finding a room for one person is cheaper and easier.
How did you go to work every day? Tube

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 120,00 (you can find Ryan tickes for EUR 20,= though)
Accommodation (monthly): € 625 GBP
Local transport (monthly): € 120 GBP
General costs of living (monthly): € 400 GBP
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Lunch money 5 GBP per day and transport 30 GBP per week.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: nikkibor@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Within the organization: Everyone is super friendly, so just be open and enthusiastic. Also, the company usually has about 20 (foreign) interns, so it is really easy to make friends.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: I’m sure you know all the great things that London has to offer. Shopping, clubbing, museums, parks etc. Be sure to visit other places in the UK (Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge).

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link