Les Roches (hospitality management school)

Les Roches Marbella is the Spanish campus of the Swiss hotel management school Les Roches on the Costa del Sol. Students follow the same BSc in Global Hospitality Management as in Crans-Montana, but fees are in euros and living costs are lower than in Switzerland. Les Roches holds Swiss accreditation as a university of applied sciences institute and US accreditation from NECHE. The full compulsory bachelor’s budget for a 2027 start is $185,690 (€163,530), including housing and meals in the early semesters.

Good fit: applicants who want a Les Roches degree with a gentler budget and climate; Spanish speakers, since only Marbella offers a bilingual Spanish–English track; and anyone aiming for resort hotels, restaurants or events around the Mediterranean.

Think twice if living and interning in Switzerland is the goal: choosing Crans-Montana from the start is cheaper than transferring later. If you need a Spanish official degree (título oficial) for public-sector work or a Spanish public master’s, ask the school to confirm the degree’s status in Spain in writing.

The public swissuniversities list names the school as Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, a university of applied sciences institute. Alongside its Swiss status, Les Roches is accredited by the US New England Commission of Higher Education and states that this dual accreditation covers every programme, including those in Marbella.

In daily life the key difference is that you live and intern under Spanish residence rules, not Swiss ones. The Spanish consulate issues the student visa, and the Spanish police issue the TIE foreigner card after arrival.

Ranking. Les Roches reports 2nd place worldwide in the QS 2026 subject ranking for Hospitality & Leisure Management. The position applies to Les Roches as a whole rather than to the Marbella campus alone.

Practical training uses four teaching kitchens, a demonstration bar, a training front desk, a housekeeping office and a model hotel room. A 158-seat auditorium links live to Crans-Montana, and the library holds more than 6,000 print titles plus access to 135,000 e-books. Four restaurants on campus range from buffet to à la carte service.

Students use the tennis and padel courts at the Manolo Santana club, and the off-campus Bahia residence has a gym, yoga studio and study area. More than 80 nationalities study on campus.

Bachelor’s students can spend individual semesters in Crans-Montana, Abu Dhabi or London. In Year 3 they choose a specialisation, and in the final semester either a career launch (Launch your career) or an in-depth academic block on campus at extra cost.

1. Application and fee. A non-refundable €275 ($310) fee is paid with the application.
2. Offer and pre-payment. You have 15 days after the offer letter to pay €4,000 ($4,540). It is non-refundable, but if you postpone, it is carried forward to one of the next two intakes.
3. Room choice. After the pre-payment, room booking opens on the school’s platform; the invoice shows a double room by default.
4. Visa. Apply for the student visa through the BLS centre for your consular district with the admission letter, insurance and proof of funds.

• Admission letter from Les Roches Marbella with programme dates.
• Proof of funds of at least 100% IPREM, i.e. €600 ($680) for each month of stay.
• Spanish-standard health insurance.
• An apostilled police certificate and a medical certificate for stays longer than six months.
• Passport and national visa form.

Within a month of arrival you must apply for the TIE card. The full list, timelines and fees are in our guide to the Spanish student visa.

The Les Roches schedule separates compulsory academic fees from compulsory living expenses. Housing and full board are mandatory in the practical semester and the first two BSc semesters; later they are optional.

The first practical semester costs $42,590 (€37,510) with every compulsory line. Extras: a refundable €500 ($570) damage deposit, €495 ($560) of digital learning resources for direct-entry students, and €235 per semester for parking.

Master’s: the MSc in International Hotel Management has academic fees of $39,260 (€34,575) and compulsory half board of $4,800 (€4,230); a room for the whole course costs $8,400 (€7,400) in a double or $12,720 (€11,205) in a single.

Reductions. Scholarships are limited, assessed case by case and cannot be combined. Published options are 10% off tuition when the sponsor manages or owns a hospitality business, 5% for a second child from the same family, 5% for children of Glion or Les Roches alumni, and 10% for Sommet Education alumni returning for another programme.

Campus rooms have an en-suite bathroom, desk, air conditioning and a safe, and laundry of practical uniforms is free. Rooms are allocated on the booking platform in the order students choose. If campus rooms run out, the school offers managed shared apartments off campus with a weekday shuttle.

In the later BSc semesters school housing becomes optional, but students living independently still pay compulsory half board on campus.

Each of the two compulsory internships lasts 20 weeks: the first in the Experiential Year, the second in Year 2, usually in a more senior role in your target segment. Relationships built on the second placement often lead to the first job after graduation. Students search for placements with the Les Roches for Life careers team, which keeps supporting alumni after graduation.

Term-time work in Spain follows Spanish law; conditions and limits are summarised in our guide to working while studying in Spain. Internships outside Spain follow the rules of the host country.

Common miscalculations: comparing only the tuition line with other schools’ full budgets; forgetting compulsory board in the early semesters; expecting the €4,000 pre-payment back after withdrawing; choosing Sports Business Management without budgeting for the Swiss semester in francs.

Under an agreement with StudyU we compare Marbella with Crans-Montana, Glion and other schools on full budgets, check documents and English, and prepare the application and BLS visa file. Les Roches decides admission, the Spanish consulate decides the visa, the Spanish police issue the TIE card, and the school’s housing office confirms rooms. The first step is the form on our consultation page.

• Les Roches: tuition fees by campus
• Les Roches Marbella: fees and terms for Spring and Fall 2027 starts (PDF)
• Les Roches: BSc in Global Hospitality Management
• Les Roches: admission requirements
• Les Roches: scholarships and reductions
• Les Roches: Marbella campus
• Les Roches: accreditation (SAC and NECHE)
• swissuniversities: the Les Roches Global Hospitality Education entry
• BLS visa centre, Moscow: Spanish study visa

Dollar amounts use the ECB reference rate of 29 September 2026 (€1 = $1.1355), rounded to the nearest $10. Les Roches fees, requirements and terms were checked on 29 September 2026.