Field Trip Report

November 3, 2010

Blue Bell Country Club

Christine McGeorge

 

 

    I don't believe I caught the name of the hostess' name however I believe she was the manager of the Blue Bell Country Club. Our hostess was aided by Mrs. Berke who was just recently hired from the country club. The country club was first established about fifteen years ago, it has a golf course and social memberships available to those with a desire to join. The country club has a golf theme where most if not all of the rooms are named for a professional golfer, i.e. the Palmer Room and the Berkdale Room. The property is kept fresh and up-to-date to keep the interest of members and other clientele from wandering.

    The Palmer Room is able to hold a tight forty people but the country club would rather keep the parties down to a more reasonable twenty-four to thirty-two people if at all possible. It is considered to be a lounge and is perfect for small Christmas parties and other small social events. Then, there's the Berkdale Room which was set up for a corporate event at the time of the tour and could a hold much larger party than the Palmer Room. The Members Lobby was where we started the tour were greeted by our hostess. The Grand Ballroom is where they would hold their largest parties such as funeral lunchrooms, weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and other big social events because it was definitely big enough for such gatherings. When we went downstairs we were immediately greeted with the golf pro shop, and to the left the hallway that led to the corporate offices, the ladies and men's locker rooms, the golf course and tennis court entrance, and a little bar room which can also be rented out to members and non-members alike.

The sources of revenue are the weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and other social events as well as their in-house restaurant the "Putter's Grill" and the bar room. We were told that the country club has done two weddings in the past however they've decided not to do two weddings anymore. Usually, the country club holds corporate events during the week days and social events during the weekends. Our hostess explained some of the details of what the employees' jobs consist of i.e. the houseman's job of carrying food out to the tables and that their chef is primarily a banquet chef.

Many career opportunities are available like front desk/guest service agent who signs the members and non-members in and out of the hotel and country club. Then, there's the hotel bellman/concierge that help the guests with their bags and then takes them to the guests' room, preferably, with the guests in tow. The banquet housemen who serve the guests in the banquet halls, and the banquet cook's who supply a predetermined amount of food to the guests of a social event. The restaurant line cooks who provide food for the patrons of the "Putter's Grill" and how they could end up swapping jobs with the banquet cooks. Finally, there's the housekeeping staff that keeps the guests' rooms tidy and well organized. Possible advantages to working at the hotel/country club are the wealth of experience that the facility provides, the hospitality hours that are needed to complete the hospitality program, and extra cash for the holidays. Some possible disadvantages to working at the hotel/country club are working weekends and holidays.