Swiss Hospitality Management Schools Compared: EHL, Glion and Les Roches

How the three schools compare at a glance

EHL: the original hotel school

EHL, formally the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne, opened in 1893 as the first dedicated hotel management school in the world, and the name itself tells you where the main campus sits. Its BSc in International Hospitality Management builds the degree around hands-on learning, industry immersion and applied academic projects rather than lecture-only instruction. EHL publishes its current fee schedule as a downloadable document on its admissions and fees page , and the school states the figures are subject to change, so pull the current version rather than relying on a number from a past intake.

Glion: consistently top-3 ranked with a large industry network

Glion runs two degrees, a BSc in International Hospitality Business and a BSc in Luxury Business, across its Bulle and Montreux campuses in Switzerland. For 2026, QS ranks Glion third worldwide for Hospitality and Leisure Management. The school reports a 98% graduate employment rate, a 15 to 1 student to faculty ratio, students from more than 100 nationalities on campus, and more than 3,600 industry partners it draws on for internship placements.

Les Roches: dual accreditation and a built-in year of work experience

Les Roches positions its BSc in Global Hospitality Management as pairing classroom business knowledge with a full year of paid work experience built into the degree. For 2026, QS ranks the program second worldwide for Hospitality and Leisure Management with a 5-star QS Stars rating, and 94% of career-seeking graduates report at least one job offer on graduation day. The school holds accreditation from the Swiss Accreditation Council as a University of Applied Sciences Institute and from the US-based New England Commission of Higher Education, and it runs campuses in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Marbella, Spain, and Abu Dhabi, UAE, giving students a choice of location for parts of the program.

Admission requirements at all three

All three schools expect completion of secondary school to a level equivalent to a Canadian high school diploma, proof of English proficiency through a test such as IELTS or TOEFL where English is not your first language, and a completed application with academic transcripts. Most also run an admissions interview, either in person or by video call, as part of the process, and some programs ask for a personal statement outlining your interest in hospitality management. Exact score thresholds and application deadlines change by intake, so confirm current requirements directly with each admissions office rather than relying on a figure from a past cycle.

How each school structures the internship

Internship placement is where the three schools differ most in practice, even though all three build paid work experience into the degree. Les Roches frames its internship as a full year woven into the Global Hospitality Management structure, which gives you the longest single placement of the three. Glion draws on its network of more than 3,600 industry partners to place students, which widens the range of properties and regions available to you. EHL emphasizes applied academic projects alongside industry immersion throughout the program rather than concentrating work experience into one block. Ask each school for its current internship placement list and average time to placement before you decide, since this detail shapes your actual work experience more than the degree title does.

What is common across all three

Every one of these schools builds a paid internship directly into the degree rather than treating it as an optional add-on, which is standard practice across Swiss hospitality education and a reason employers recognize the credential. All three charge private, international tuition rather than a subsidized public university rate, and all expect proof of English proficiency plus, in most cases, an admissions interview alongside your academic transcript.

Choosing between them

Rank and reputation point toward Les Roches or Glion if a QS placement matters to you, while EHL's history and Lausanne location carry weight in its own right. Campus preference matters too: Les Roches offers a multi-country footprint across a single degree, while EHL and Glion keep you in Switzerland throughout. Request the current fee PDF and a full breakdown of what it includes, tuition, housing, and any mandatory fees, from each admissions office before you commit, since bundled and unbundled pricing looks very different at first glance.

Which fits which goal

If you want the strongest possible ranking signal on your resume, Les Roches and Glion currently sit ahead of the pack in the QS subject table. If you value the deepest institutional history and the original Lausanne campus setting, EHL carries that weight on its own regardless of a single ranking number in a given year. If a multi-country academic experience across Switzerland, Spain and the UAE appeals to you, Les Roches is the only one of the three offering that structure inside one degree.

Before you apply checklist

• Request the current fee schedule directly from each school's admissions office.

• Confirm English proficiency requirements and interview expectations for your intake.

• Compare internship structure, since paid placement length and location differ by school.

• Decide whether a single Swiss campus or a multi-country program fits your goals.

• Ask each school for its current graduate employment and destination data.