‘Care Meets Luxury Hospitality’ With Oakland Care Team Members Receiving Five-Star Training
12 team members from across Oakland Care have experienced luxury hospitality training as part of a collaboration with the five-star Cliveden House Hotel in Berkshire.
Cliveden House, which is operated by Iconic Luxury Hotels, is a stately home with an illustrious history having been built in 1666 by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham for his mistress. Now, the famous Grade I listed building is a five-star hotel enjoyed by those in search of a country getaway.
After following the work of professional body The Institute of Hospitality for several years General Manager at Oakland Care’s Elsyng House, Daisy Slavkova, and Director of Operations, Malcolm Hague, decided to reach out to the organisation.
The duo had a vision to further elevate the hospitality skills of Oakland Care team members with afocus on bolstering the level of person-centred care and luxury support they offer to residents.
Through their conversations with the professional body the team were introduced to Iconic Luxury Hotels and Cliveden House, who welcomed a crossover between the care sector and hospitality sector.
12 team members were given the opportunity to train and learn from the five-star hotel’s specialist teams over the course of two days. This included supporting in the kitchen, housekeeping, spa and hosting of events at Cliveden House.
This proved to be a huge success, with the Oakland Care team learning a wide range of new skills and building an understanding of customers’ behaviour and how to significantly exceed expectations from some of the best professionals in the hospitality industry.
Oakland Care’s ‘hospitality influencers’ will now take these lessons and learnings forward within their own role, including influencing the new service training being delivered across the care home group.
Reflecting on the success of the collaboration, Malcolm Hague, Director of Operations at Oakland Care, said:
“This has been a wonderful opportunity for a sector-first experience at Oakland Care. To deliver high quality care requires high quality service. This opportunity for our selected team members to experience and instil the exceptional standards of a five-star luxury hotel will allow us to elevate our offering to residents. We are incredibly grateful to the team at Cliveden House and the IOH for supporting us with this amazing innovative collaboration.
We look forward to collaborating once again in 2024.”
Commenting about the experience, Stephen Eshmade, Head of Hospitality at Oakland Care’s Elsyng House, said:
“It was great to be able to spend time at Cliveden House and work with like-minded people who are passionate about hospitality and outstanding service. Spending time at Cliveden House allowed me to get a clear understanding of a five-star setting and learn about hotel operations from the talent working within the hotel. I will now transfer the skills learnt to my role in the home.
“The staff were passionate about sharing experience and knowledge across both sectors of care and food and beverage, and wanted to learn more about what we also do within our homes and roles. It
was a great experience, with both the front and back of house team a pleasure to work alongside.”
Speaking about Oakland Care and the collaboration, Robert Richardson FIH MI, Chief Executive at the Institute of Hospitality, said:
“The definition of hospitality is “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers”. Whether that be five-star hotels, luxury care homes or high street restaurants, the ethos is the same, and from my own experience Oakland Care exemplifies the highest level of the hospitality mindset.
“Helping them provide an opportunity for their dedicated team to experience the world of work within the luxury hotel market, and how similar it is to their own, was a joy and a pleasure, and I hope the first of many such opportunities for these sectors of our hospitality family to come together.”
