Together with education minister Claude Meisch, Luxembourg School of Hotel Management and Tourism director Michel Lenners gave a more detailed presentation of the project to establish the school within Gridx, a shopping centre and self-described “multi-experience destination.” The opening, scheduled for the start of the 2025-2026 academic year, marks the creation of a site in the south of the country for this establishment, which was initially based in Diekirch.
This location meets a dual objective: to facilitate access to EHTL training courses for students living in the south and centre of the country and to meet the growing demand for professionals in the HORECA sector. “The HORECA sector is in great need of qualified personnel,” said Meisch. “Our aim is to offer all our young people the same career opportunities and the same chances of success, regardless of where they live.”
Currently, 17% of pupils enrolled at Diekirch live in the south and 22% in the centre. So when the opportunity arose to occupy premises in Wickrange, the idea of opening a temporary branch in the south became a reality. “We launched a project in 2021 to renovate and transform Sanem Castle for the needs of the EHTL,” explained the minister. “But before this project was finalised by the Public Buildings Administration, we thought it would be appropriate to rent these premises [at Gridx] on a nine-year lease and develop a south campus there right away.”
Opening in two stages
As of the start of the next academic year, several courses will be offered in the first year and will be completed in the 2026-2027 academic year. To achieve this, the EHTL will occupy two levels in Gridx. On the third floor, in the part facing Grand Frais, there will be a reception area, classrooms, a documentation centre, a sensory analysis laboratory, a bistro with a fast-food service and areas for administration and teaching staff. For the start of the 2026-2027 academic year, these rooms will be complemented by spaces on the ground floor: learning kitchens, an application restaurant, a patisserie and more.
“Our reception will function like a hotel reception, for example. It will be training for our students who will have to welcome visitors, give them information, make them wait…” said Lenners.
The spaces, designed by TDO Consulting, are designed to be flexible and to meet the needs of this specific type of teaching as closely as possible. In addition to the classrooms, there will be areas for concentration, a display wall for internship or job offers, a documentation centre that can be used for more informal teaching and a wall showcasing the school’s products that will enable marketing issues to be addressed. As for the integration restaurant, it will be gastronomically oriented, which will also complement the offer already present at Gridx with the food court and the brasserie. “This site is also interesting because it allows direct interactions between our teaching and the needs linked to the operation of the site, which has a hotel, a food court and event spaces at the same time,” Lenners continued.
Until the development work is completed, at a cost of around €20m, students enrolled at the Wickrange site will still have to travel to Diekirch one or two days a week. To facilitate access to the Wickrange site, which is not yet easily accessible by public transport (a stop on the Luxembourg-Esch high-speed tram is under discussion), the EHTL will be organising shuttle buses for its students from Esch and/or Dudelange, depending on enrolment. A total of 200 students will be able to study on the south campus. For the 2024-2025 school year, EHTL has 384 enrolled students in 33 classes.
This article in French.