Five-star stays don’t come around often.
When it comes to booking hotels, most travelers focus on basic amenities like location, room features, and affordability. And they usually have dozens of options—especially in popular cities, from Milan to Miami.
That being said, no lodging experience compares to a five-star hotel stay.
Five-star hotels offer the uppermost echelon of service, experience, and atmosphere. Though many travelers associate them with luxury—and rightfully so—a memorable five-star stay usually goes above and beyond to curate its design.
Technically speaking, hotel brands can achieve a five-star rating by adding all the necessary amenities. From pools to spas to the square footage of its rooms, five-star metrics are lengthy and complex.
But the crème of the crop does a lot more than tick off a checklist. So, what do leading five-star hotels actually look like in practice?
I’m taking you on a tour of some of the best five-star hotels in Europe, Africa, and South America. First up: Switzerland’s Tschuggen Grand Hotel.
Top five-star hotels around the world
Tschuggen Grand Hotel
Arosa, Switzerland
When picturing extravagance in Switzerland, places like St. Moritz come to mind first. (No surprise there—St. Mortiz is a legacy destination.)
But one of the country’s most memorable and re-bookable five-star stays is located a little further off the beaten path in a town called Arosa.
Arosa is home to some of the country’s best skiing slopes and hiking trails. It’s also home to the Tschuggen Grand Hotel, which takes winter and summer vacations to new heights.
I mean that literally—the hotel has its own private railway, the Tschuggen Express, that ferries guests up and down the mountain. For skiers, that equates to total access to the slopes at this ski-in, ski-out mountain resort.
Skiers can even glide back down the mountain straight to the hotel… and then store their gear in handy lockers near the lifts. If that’s not enough, the hotel actually rents out the best slopes in the area for its ‘Private Mountain’ skiing event.
If direct ski access and private railways aren’t enough, the Tschuggen also excels in its range of on-site restaurants, which includes the Michelin Star La Brezza and a themed fondu lodge.
Guests also raved about its curated design—I’m talking about bespoke Swarovski crystal chandeliers and similar menageries from the chic-eclectic world of Carlo Rampazzi.
Other notable five-star features:
- Moving Mountains sustainability initiative
- Plastic-free kids club
- World-class Bergoase spa
- Apart-hotel rentals for families looking to lodge for longer
La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco
If you’ve researched five-star stays before, you might have read about La Mamounia.
The storied hotel dates back to 1929 when renowned French architects transformed a former royal garden into an Art Deco dream—one that blends modern design with the timeless grace of the Moroccan dynasty.
The stately grounds differentiate this five-star stay from others. In fact, La Mamounia has hosted some of the world’s most famous thinkers and artists for nearly a century, from Winston Churchill to Yves Saint Laurent to Paul McCartney.
Think of La Mamounia as a respite for our world’s most important public figures, fit with all the standard five-star features.
And that’s really enough for some visitors to wait years for a room.
That’s the five-star magic here: La Mamounia is a visual masterpiece with a sense of gravitas. It can’t be found elsewhere because it exists on the grounds of an ancient dynastic garden, designed by two influential and iconic architects from the 20th century.
Its pools and courtyards are poetically staged amid horseshoe arches, while its staff are dressed to the nines in traditional Moroccan garb. Combined together, La Mamounia offers an almost otherworldly step into luxury.
Other notable five-star features:
- Traditional hammam
- Hair and beauty salon
Hotel Das Cataratas
Iguazú National Park, Brazil
Five-star stays should offer a sense of exclusivity. At the Tschuggen, that’s a top-tier ski-in and ski-out experience, along with its Private Mountain event. At the La Mamounia, it’s staying in regal and larger-than-life grounds.
At Hotel Das Cataratas, that exclusivity is access to the largest waterfalls in the Amazon.
The colonial Portuguese mansion that dates back to 1958 isn’t too shabby either. The pink-walled estate is visually iconic and decked out with all the necessary five-star amenities, including three world-class eateries and an Amazonian-centric spa.
But let’s circle back to the falls. Das Cataratas offers guests truly novel ways to experience the wonders of Iguazu National Park and Iguassu Falls.
From private helicopter tours to curated full moon events that showcase a lunar rainbow, guests are in for treats they won’t find elsewhere.
Looking for next-gen wellness services? They also offer those, including treatments like bioenergetic therapies and access to one of the Amazon’s coolest bird parks.
Other notable five-star features:
- Exclusive views of Iguassu Waterfalls
- Holistic spa treatments
- Immersion in nature, including sightings of tapirs, deer, and more