Best Hotels in Europe: From Castles to Convents and Palace Stays

When you’re planning a holiday, finding a place to stay is one of the biggest decisions you make. Some places look better in pictures than in person, while others become a big part of the memories you take home. Europe is one such place, home to some of the world's most beautiful hotels.

Some of the best hotels in Europe are more than just a place to crash at the end of the day One is an 800-year-old castle beside a lake in Ireland. Another is a convent where nuns once baked pastries on a cliff above the Amalfi Coast. Others sit on the Riviera, in the Alps or on a Sardinian bay. This guide walks you through the places worth staying at, what makes them special and who they suit, so you can make sure your Europe adventure is one of a kind.

What Are the Best Hotels in Europe for Sleeping in a Castle or a Convent?

Old walls make for unforgettable nights. Here are three stays where the building itself is the main attraction. The table shows how they compare before we go deeper.

Ashford Castle, Ireland

The castle dates to 1228 and sits on the shores of Lough Corrib near the village of Cong. The Guinness family owned it for decades, and it opened as a hotel in 1939. Today you can walk the woodland estate, try falconry or take a lake cruise before dinner. Ashford Castle is one of Europe's best hotels for anyone who wants a proper castle holiday.

Parador de Granada, Spain

This former Franciscan convent was built after the Catholic Monarchs took Granada in 1492. It became a Parador hotel in 1945 and is the only hotel inside the Alhambra. You see the gardens in the quieter hours, before and after the crowds.

Tribe Travel Tip: You enter the Nasrid Palaces at a timed slot, so book your Alhambra ticket as soon as your dates are set.

Monastero Santa Rosa, Italy

Sister Rosa Pandolfi funded the convent in 1681, on a cliff between Positano and Amalfi. The nuns baked a shell-shaped pastry here that still carries the name, Santa Rosa. Small and quiet, it is one of the best hotels in Europe for a convent stay. Today it has 20 rooms and suites named after herbs from the old gardens, and every room has sea views. The vaulted ceilings of the old nuns' rooms remain.

Which Are the Best Luxury Hotels in Europe for a City Stay?

City hotels earn their name through service and location. These two have been doing both for well over a century, and both sit on streets you would want to walk anyway.

The Ritz Paris

César Ritz opened the hotel on 1 June 1898 with the chef Auguste Escoffier. It was one of the first hotels in Europe to give every room a private bathroom, a telephone and electricity. Few of Europe's best hotels can point to such practical firsts. The French government even lists its Suite Impériale as a national monument. That is why many travellers still rank it among the best luxury hotels in Europe for a first Paris stay.

The Gritti Palace, Venice

The palazzo dates to 1475, and in 1525 it became the home of Doge Andrea Gritti. It has been a hotel since 1895, and it sits on the Grand Canal a short walk from Piazza San Marco. Take a seat on the Gritti Terrace and the whole canal passes in front of you. It is easy to see why people count it among the best hotels in Europe for Venice.

Tribe Travel Tip: In Venice, a canal-facing room is where the hotel earns its price. Ask for one while you book.

What Does Five Star Mean at the Best 5 Star Hotels in Europe?

Star systems differ from country to country, so the label alone tells you very little. France even adds a level called Palace above five stars, and the Ritz Paris has not applied for it. This table puts the five-star stays from this guide side by side.

A few checks help you read any rating across the best hotels in Europe:

• Look up the rating system of the country you are visiting.
• Read recent guest reviews for service and room condition.
• Check what the hotel actually offers, from dining and spa facilities to room size and views.

Stars tell you about the basics. Reviews tell you what the stay feels like. You need both before you choose a hotel.

Ashford Castle and Gstaad Palace show how much one label can cover. Among the best 5-star hotels in Europe, one is a castle on a lake and the other a family-run landmark on an Alpine hill. Both carry five stars, yet the two stays feel nothing alike.

Which Are the Best Hotels in Europe for Couples?

Romance in Europe usually comes down to a view, a quiet corner and a place where nobody rushes you. These three deliver that in very different ways.

Pick the stay that matches your pace. Venice suits couples who love to walk and wander, while the Amalfi Coast suits those who want to slow down completely. The Riviera sits in between, with sea swims by day and dinner by the water, and it is home to some of the best hotels in Europe for couples who want a slow reset.

A few small choices make a couples holiday feel special:

• Ask for a room with a view of the water, not the street.
• Keep one evening free with no booking at all.
• Stay at least three nights, so you stop watching the clock.

Give your mornings room to run long, because that is when these hotels feel best.

Tribe Travel Tip: Ask for a late checkout on your last day so the holiday doesn't end at breakfast.

Which Are the Best Ski Hotels in Europe for a Winter Escape?

The Alps give you hotels that feel like a warm home after a day on the slopes. Two of Europe's best hotels for a ski holiday sit in Switzerland's best-known resorts.

Caspar Badrutt opened his palace in 1896, and its tower is still the landmark of St. Moritz. The hotel is not ski-in and ski-out, but it arranges transfers to the funicular that takes skiers up to Corviglia. In the evening, the lobby lounge is known locally as St. Moritz's living room.

Gstaad Palace opened in December 1913 on a hill above the village. The Scherz family has owned it since 1947, which makes it one of the last family-owned five-star hotels in Europe. Among the best hotels in Europe, that kind of continuity is rare.

When you compare ski hotels, look at the details that save your legs:

• How far the lift is, and whether the hotel runs a transfer.
• Whether ski storage is close to the slopes.
• A spa or pool for tired muscles after the last run.

Both palaces cover these basics well, which is why they rank among the best ski hotels in Europe. 

Tribe Travel Tip: Most Alpine ski seasons run from December to March, so keep your dates inside that window.

Which Are the Best Beach Hotels in Europe for a Summer Holiday?

The best seaside hotels are built around the water, not just near it. These two are among the best hotels in Europe for putting the sea at the centre of the stay.

The property at Cap d'Antibes dates back to 1870, and the Eden-Roc pavilion added its seawater pool in 1914. It sits at the tip of a wooded cape between Cannes and Nice, so every walk to the water goes through pine forest.

Jacques Couëlle designed Hotel Cala di Volpe in the 1960s to look like a small seaside village. A covered wooden bridge, a little harbour and a long pier give it the feel of a place that grew up beside the bay. Few of the best hotels in Europe feel so much like a village of their own.

On the Riviera you swim from rocks and pools, while in Sardinia you swim from a pier into clear bay water, so no two days at the best beach hotels in Europe look alike.

Tribe Travel Tip: Riviera and Sardinian hotels are busiest in July and August. June and September keep the sea warm and the crowds smaller.

Conclusion

The best hotels in Europe will make you feel like you’re in a fairytale; you could wake up in an Irish castle, have breakfast in a convent on the Amalfi coast, ski the Alps from a grand palace hotel or swim in a pool cut into a Riviera cliff.

If you want to live out your European dream, Holiday Tribe offers customised Europe travel packages  that cover your itineraries, stays, transfers and optional flight and visa assistance. Contact our holiday advisors to book your holiday today!