Les Roches began as a boarding school in a mountain village and became a hotel school when it switched to teaching in English in 1979. It is the one Swiss school that now teaches on three continents, and the one whose published employer links point most directly at the groups whose general managers fill my books. This page sets out what the school is, how its bachelor and the optional year before it are built, its accreditation and ranking and what those rest on, who recruits there, and what the hoteliers I interviewed say about school and the floor, since none of them attended this one.
What Les Roches is
The school was founded in 1954 as L’Ecole des Roches in Bluche, above Crans-Montana in the canton of Valais, by a founder the school’s own anniversary release names only as Mr Clivaz. Its 2019 press kit records that it “becomes a hotel and tourism school, with instruction in English” in 1979. The school’s seventieth anniversary release, published in September 2024, counts more than 16,000 alumni and marks the opening of the Abu Dhabi campus that year.
Three campuses carry the degree: the flagship in Crans-Montana, a Spanish campus in Marbella and the new one in Abu Dhabi, according to the school’s about page. The anniversary release also mentions a partner campus near New Delhi and a campus in China described as upcoming; the 2019 press kit listed a Shanghai campus run with Jin Jiang. Students can also take a study period in London through Glion, the school’s sister institution. Both schools belong to Sommet Education.
The about page states the accreditations: “Swiss Accreditation Council (SAC) status as a University of Applied Sciences Institute” and “New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) accreditation.” The Swiss status is a protected designation under the Swiss Higher Education Act, available only to institutions that have passed federal institutional accreditation. What that means against a quality label or a British partner degree is explained on the Swiss hotel schools page.
Programs and how they are taught
The main degree is the BSc in Global Hospitality Management: three years, six semesters, 180 ECTS credits, which the brochure describes as five academic semesters plus a 20 week internship. Year one is the Hospitality Excellence Year, with semesters on the foundations of hospitality and on the guest experience. Year two is the Hospitality Leadership Year; its first semester, semester three, is the 20 week internship, and its second is hospitality analytics. Year three is the Applied Management Year, with leadership, strategy and innovation and a specialization in semester five, and in semester six a choice the brochure calls “Professional Immersion OR Academic Deep Dive.”
Before the degree, students at Crans-Montana and Marbella can take the optional Preparatory Experiential Year: a first semester of practical arts on campus, which the school calls hospitality immersion, and a second semester that is a 20 week internship anywhere in the world. A student who takes it spends four years at Les Roches and completes two internships before graduating, which is close to the two six month placements the school described in its bachelor in 2019. A student who skips it completes one internship inside the degree, plus the professional immersion if chosen in the final semester.
The degree is offered at all three campuses. Marbella also runs a bilingual Spanish and English option for Spanish speakers, with a stated English entry level of IELTS 4.0 overall and progression requirements through the program. Beyond the bachelor, the school lists a BSc in Sports Business Management, master’s degrees in international hotel management, international hospitality management, marketing and management for luxury tourism, sports management and events, and entertainment and events management, an MBA and Executive MBA in Global Hospitality Management, and executive diplomas.
Who it is for and how to get in
Les Roches suits the student who wants Switzerland but not only Switzerland. The three campuses let a student begin in the Alps and move to the Mediterranean or the Gulf, and the Gulf matters: general managers in my books ran hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi campus puts a student inside that market from the first semester. It also suits the student who is not sure they want a hotel career at all, since the Preparatory Experiential Year is optional and the final semester can be academic rather than operational.
The school’s admission criteria for the bachelor are on a separate page that the brochure links to; the brochure itself states only the English level for the Marbella bilingual track. Applicants should take requirements, intake dates and fees from the school’s site directly, since all three change.
Alumni and outcomes
Two kinds of evidence exist. The first is reputation. Les Roches ranked second in the QS World University Rankings by Subject for Hospitality and Leisure Management in 2026, as it did in 2025, behind EHL and ahead of Glion. Sommet Education’s release gives the school an academic reputation score of 91.3 and an employer reputation score of 94.0. CEOWORLD magazine’s 2026 survey of hospitality schools, which omits EHL and Glion and is dominated by American departments, places Les Roches thirteenth. I read the QS table through a third party reproduction rather than on the QS site. Neither list measures teaching; both measure what surveyed recruiters and academics say.
The second is who hires. The school’s about page claims a 98 percent employment rate on graduation and 192 recruiting companies at its most recent career day, and the 2019 press kit put recruitment visits at about 300 a year across campuses. These are the school’s figures. What makes Les Roches distinctive among the Swiss schools is how often it names Four Seasons. The press kit quotes Rami Sayess, class of 1989 and a Four Seasons regional vice president and general manager, saying that “Les Roches graduates offer professionalism, multicultural awareness and practical knowledge,” and the about page quotes a Four Seasons executive saying the company’s hiring ratio from the school “has been always superior.” The press kit also names Hotel Arts Barcelona and Faena Miami Beach.
What the hoteliers in my books say
None of the thirty six general managers in A Wealth of Insight attended Les Roches, or at least none says so, and I will not pretend otherwise. Two honest connections exist. The first is that Dr. Dimitrios Diamantis, dean of graduate studies at Les Roches, read the hoteliers’ book and endorsed it.
“Both in thought and art, this volume details every aspect of a world-class guest experience. A Wealth of Insight is intelligently written and comprehensive in its reflection.” Dr. Dimitrios Diamantis, Dean of Graduate Studies, Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, on A Wealth of Insight (2017)
The second is Four Seasons itself. Tom Roelens was general manager of Four Seasons Resort Lanaʻi when I interviewed him, and his account of the start is the one a Les Roches applicant should read, because it says what a hotel school decision looks like from inside a family.
“When I first announced at a very young age that I wanted to go to hotel school, eyebrows raised, but once my parents saw my passion for hospitality and for being of service, they allowed me to flourish.” Tom Roelens, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
On what the school can and cannot give, the hoteliers who did attend one somewhere are consistent. Luc Delafosse, then managing director of Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, cooked in a Michelin starred kitchen while he studied hotel management, and still says the real education came later.
“To this day, I can say that I learned most of what I know on the job and through interactions with general managers, owners, investors, and other colleagues that I keenly observed and listened to.” Luc Delafosse, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
Krister Svensson, then general manager of The St. Regis Bangkok, started as a steward in Stockholm, and as a general manager he hires with that start in mind.
“When hiring, I look for a degree in hospitality, but by no means is this the only path to managerial responsibilities.” Krister Svensson, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
How to decide
Decide first whether you want the Preparatory Experiential Year, because with it Les Roches is a four year school with two internships and without it a three year school with one. Then decide which campus you would start on, and ask the school how many students actually move between them. Ask for last year’s destinations by campus, not for the global list. If you are choosing between this school and Glion, the comparison page sets them side by side. Then read the second chapter of The Luxury of Attention, The Apprenticeship, which is about the years after a school like this one.
“That is the curriculum the schools cannot deliver. It is delivered by the dishroom.” The Luxury of Attention (2026), Chapter 2
Sources
- Les Roches, About
- Les Roches brochure, BSc in Global Hospitality Management
- Les Roches press kit (2019)
- Hospitality Net, Les Roches celebrates 70 years (September 2024)
- Hospitality Net, Sommet Education release on the 2026 QS rankings
- Reproduction of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, Hospitality and Leisure Management
- CEOWORLD magazine, Best Hospitality and Hotel Management Schools in the World for 2026
Questions people also ask
What is Les Roches Global Hospitality Education?
Les Roches is a Swiss hospitality school founded in 1954 in Bluche, above Crans-Montana in the canton of Valais. It became an English language hotel school in 1979 and now teaches on three campuses: Crans-Montana, Marbella in Spain, and Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2024. It belongs to Sommet Education, which also owns Glion.
How is the Les Roches bachelor structured?
The BSc in Global Hospitality Management is three years and six semesters, worth 180 ECTS credits. Semester three is a 20 week internship, and the final semester is a choice between a professional immersion and an academic project. Students may add an optional Preparatory Experiential Year first, made up of a practical arts semester on campus and a second 20 week internship.
Is Les Roches accredited?
Yes. The school holds institutional accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education in the United States and status as a University of Applied Sciences Institute from the Swiss Accreditation Council, a federally protected designation under the Swiss Higher Education Act.
Where does Les Roches rank?
Second in the QS World University Rankings by Subject for Hospitality and Leisure Management in 2026, as in 2025, behind EHL. Sommet Education’s release on the results gives it an employer reputation score of 94.0 and an academic reputation score of 91.3. The ranking measures reputation and research citations, not teaching.
Which hotel groups recruit from Les Roches?
The school names Four Seasons most often: a Four Seasons regional vice president and general manager, Rami Sayess, is a 1989 graduate, and the school’s about page quotes a Four Seasons executive saying the company’s hiring ratio from Les Roches has always been superior. The school reports about 300 recruitment visits a year across its campuses and 192 companies at its most recent career day.
Did any hotelier in The Luxury of Attention go to Les Roches?
No. None of the thirty six general managers in A Wealth of Insight names Les Roches. The closest connection is that Dr. Dimitrios Diamantis, the school’s dean of graduate studies, endorsed that book, and that Four Seasons, the group the school names most, employed Tom Roelens, one of the hoteliers in it, as general manager of Four Seasons Resort Lanaʻi.