The Bluche campus buildings are harmoniously spread throughout Bluche alongside the restaurants, apartments and family habitations of this quiet mountain town. The campus structure spans across the entire village with close to 20 academic and accommodation buildings as well as to Crans-Montana with further residences.
ACCOMMODATION
Students enjoy the advantages of community living in apartment complexes with double rooms in Bluche and Crans-Montana. Special rooms like single rooms and apartments are also available upon request, for an extra fee. Most accommodation features a comfortable double room divided so that each student has a personal living area for the desk, bed, safe-deposit box, closet, poster-board and nightstand. Almost all rooms have a shower, sink, and toilet in the room. Some single rooms share a bathroom with one other single room, located just across the hall.
To assist students with the maintenance of their rooms, cleaning staff regularly come to vacuum and clean the bathrooms, and they change the bed linens once a week. Bed linen, pillows, and duvets are provided by the school but towels and bath mats are not.
Accommodation in Peter’s Farm and Les Cheminots include a TV and refrigerator. Most residential buildings have communal areas where students gather to work on projects, or just to relax. Each building has laundry facilities, including irons and ironing boards. Kettles, refrigerators, and TV sets are allowed in the rooms. Students can rent a refrigerator and extra storage for a small fee.
TRANSPORTATION
A car is not necessary for students living in Bluche. Switzerland has a fantastic public transportation system, and the walk between classes is short and easy. Busses and a funicular railway service connect Bluche with the resort of Crans Montana above and the main line railway station in the town of Sierre below. Parking is limited but available for an extra fee.
DINING
Students receive full board at the university which includes three meals a day Monday through Friday and two meals per day during the weekend (brunch/lunch and dinner). They have five dining options to choose from.
The Marketplace: this main dining room serves all three daily meals and consists of several food stations. Students can choose from a selection of different meal types including the salad buffet, sandwich bar, a vegetarian option, and a delicious dessert bar. Reservations are required for dinner and for lunch and dinner on weekends.
A la Carte: Our fine dining restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and serves a three meal course (appetizer, main course and dessert) to students and their guests. Meals are covered by the standard board; however, wine and other beverages are available at an additional cost. Reservations are required and dress code for evening meals.
Café du Village (CDV): This informal restaurant is located next to the funicular station in a residential building. This outlet has a relaxed atmosphere and offers meals at lunch and dinner (covered by standard board), as well as late evening snack at a reasonable cost. Reservations required for evening.
The Sandwich Bar: This fast-food style café offers sandwiches at noon for those students wishing to grab a quick bite.
The Lobby Bar proposes cakes and sandwiches.
In addition to the five dining restaurants on the Les Roches campus, the village of Bluche also has three privately-owned restaurants. The Petit-Paradis Hotel offers traditional local cuisine. The San Nicks Pizzeria is a friendly café offering Italian specialties. Run by a Les Roches alumni, the Japanese restaurant the Edo is also close-by for a taste of the exotic.
ACADEMIC FACILITIES
Academic learning facilities include:
- 30 well equipped classrooms, maximum capacity of 45 seats each.
- 2 computer rooms
- 2 auditoriums (of 70 seats each)
- 1 newly renovated library with extensive study resources
- 1 Media Center where faculty and students can study, work on group projects, and print documents.
The campus is equipped with wireless internet throughout. All learning facilities have state-of-the art equipment, including computer projectors, color printing, scanning or copying, audio visual devices and digital cameras. These tools are available to assist students in making presentations.
Our new extensive library holds 10,000 books and professional magazines and some 2,000 CDs/DVDs. In addition, students also have access to more than 7,000 on-line journals and publications which are very helpful for research during assignments such as case studies or preparation of a dissertation. Our professional librarians offer expertise to ensure the required information is available.
CRAFT-BASED LEARNING (CBL) FACILITIES
Food Service CBL
As part of the craft-based learning courses, students serve all three daily meals to staff, visitors, and their fellow students. The campus has different types of restaurants, so students can learn and practice the various styles of service. From our fine dining restaurant, where classical service techniques are used, to our fast and efficient dining room, CDV and Sandwich Bar where a more contemporary service style is needed.
The Shelter Bar is a beverage preparation and service classroom where tea, coffee, wine and full-bar service is demonstrated and practiced so that students feel comfortable in a variety of restaurant positions. Cleaning science practical work takes place in the kitchen and teaches students the proper sanitation methods for food-service materials and the operation methods for modern sanitation devices.
Culinary CBL
The kitchens at Les Roches are enough to make even a 5 star hotel chef jealous. As a student, you will work with the best equipment and ingredients. Supervised by industry professionals, students get involved from the very first day in the kitchen. Culinary concepts will be introduced, including all the major food groups, international cuisine, and food preparation methods for pastry, meat and poultry, soups, salads, vegetables and desserts.
These concepts are introduced in the Demonstration Kitchen where students begin the three-step culinary learning process. From there, students will prepare over 1,500 meals in the Marketplace kitchens for the buffet-style meals. To perfect their culinary skills, students will go on to prepare made-to-order meals in the A la carte restaurant. The CDV and Sandwich Bar allow students to gain some experience in fast-food preparation.
Housekeeping CBL
The new housekeeping CBL classroom is actually a chalet called the "Petit Roches" where students practice front office skills in two separate front-desk receptions on the first floor. The different cleaning methods and products are demonstrated on a variety of surfaces in a special room for this purpose. On the top floor, a life-size mock hotel suite is open for housekeeping practice where students learn everything they need to know about how to make a perfect room.
PICTURES
