Inn at Water's Edge Provides COD Students With Real-World Experience
College of DuPage Culinary & Hospitality Management students are gaining invaluable real-world experience at the new Inn at Water's Edge.
The boutique hotel is part of the Culinary & Hospitality Center located on campus in Glen Ellyn. The inn, which opened to the public in October, gives students a unique opportunity to learn the operations of a working hotel. The professionally run Inn at Water's Edge offers six fully-appointed suites, with room service and a full breakfast included in the price.
To earn an associate's degree in Hospitality Management, students must complete a 150-hour internal coop that consists of 50 hours at the front desk, 50 hours in housekeeping and 50 hours in ancillary hotel positions, such as the bell staff. Students in the program work alongside professional staff under the guidance of the assistant hotel manager.
“This has been a great opportunity,” said student Thuy Tran of Chicago. “We're learning how to handle real-life situations. I've cleaned rooms and helped guests check out, and lately we've talked a lot about what housekeeping is.”
Tran attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for three years and was still undecided about what to pursue. She finished her general education requirements and talked with friends who worked in the hospitality industry. After researching schools, she chose College of DuPage.
She enjoys the combination of culinary and hospitality management courses that the Culinary & Hospitality Center provides. She is taking a class that requires her to work at Wheat Café, the student-run restaurant in the Center.
“Everything here applies to our hospitality education,” she said. “I'm gaining a lot of experience.”
Mary Beth Leone, assistant professor of Hospitality Management, said many of her current students remember the former learning spaces and truly appreciate how the Inn at Water's Edge is enhancing their educational experience.
“While we require students to work an external coop, this facility provides a new dimension to traditional lectures,” she said. “In addition to the internal coop, I can now take students to the inn for hands-on exercises and then return to my classroom in the same building.”
Alyssa Westman of St. Charles started in the program last spring and remembers the former space that was used as a hotel lab.
“It was a little room and not very effective,” she said. “Here we work with the professional staff and actual situations.”
Westman said people within the industry are already hearing good things about the inn. Earlier this fall, she applied for a front desk position at a local Hyatt. During the interview, she was asked about the College's new facility.
“When you think of school, you think of classrooms,” she said. “Here it's for real, and that's what makes this program different.”
For information about the Hospitality Management program, call (630) 942-2059, email leonem@cod.edu or visit the program web site. To make reservations at the Inn at Water's Edge, visit www.innatwatersedgehotel.com.