Hamburg, 19 August 2022

As every year, we welcomed new apprentices at the beginning of August. In total, there are seven new young talents who will learn the professions of hotel specialist, cook and specialist for restaurant and event catering at the Empire Riverside Hotel and at our sister hotel, the Hotel Hafen Hamburg. In order to give the apprentices a direct insight into the guest experience and the business, two orientation days were organized for them. They were allowed to check in for one night, visit our restaurants and get to know all departments. Two of them told us how they felt about the orientation days.

Fabian Granzow (17), apprenticeship as a chef:

Orientation days were organized for us new apprentices of the Empire Riverside Hotel and the Hotel Hafen Hamburg from 01.08.22 - 02.08.22.
The two days served as an introduction and orientation in the company. We were well catered for and made to feel like real guests. Everything was very well organized and it was a truly wonderful experience. On the first day, we had lunch at the Empire Riverside Hotel's waterkant restaurant. It was very delicious. In the evening, we were then invited to the Port Restaurant at the Hafen Hamburg Hotel for a 3-course meal. After dinner at the Port, we all had the rest of the evening free. We checked into our rooms on the 13th floor and enjoyed the evening.
After checking out at 9am and having breakfast at waterkant, we continued with the programme. First, we had a closer look at the Empire Riverside Hotel and all departments mostly introduced themselves to us with a small presentation and explained what their tasks are. We also had a safety briefing. At noon, we had lunch again at the waterkant restaurant, delicious as always. After the rest of the programme, we were released to go home at around 3 pm. Looking back, the two days were excellently organized and everything went flawlessly.

Alesja Apke (17), apprenticeship as hotel management:

On the first orientation day, we first met in a meeting room. We received important information and a goodie bag from the hotel with various contents, such as a notebook with the hotel logo and a name tag. First, we read through the important information about our training that we received in a folder. In between there was always something to drink and many breaks with small tasty snacks. We visited the Hotel Hafen Hamburg on the first day and found out that it is very easy to get lost there. At 6 pm, we went out to eat with the apprentice spokeswomen of the two hotels at the Port Restaurant of the Hotel Hafen Hamburg. The 3-course menu at the Port was really delicious. There was a curry-corn soup, a main course of either fish, meat or vegetarian and a dessert of brownies, ice cream and fruit. Afterwards we went to our rooms, because the highlight was that we were allowed to sleep in our hotels for one night. The next morning we all had breakfast in the restaurant waterkant. Afterwards, our programme continued. The departments of the hotel introduced themselves to us and told us what their tasks are. We also had a closer look at the Empire Riverside Hotel. The days were very nice. We got a lot of information about both hotels and got to know each other better. The staff were always friendly and always there for you if you had a question.

If you want to know what happened after the orientation days and what Alesja, Fabian and the other three apprentices have already learned in their first days of work, take a look at the reel on our Instagram account. You can find the link below.