Backroads hotels are carefully selected to enhance each trip, not just provide a place to stay. From Luxury Hotels to boutique properties, every stay is chosen for how well it connects guests to the destination and complements the overall experience.
More Than a Place to Stay
At Backroads, hotels are more than a place to sleep. They’re where your mornings begin and your evenings settle. After a day on the trail or the bike, the right hotel doesn’t just offer comfort—it helps you feel connected to the place you’re exploring.
For decades, we’ve partnered with exceptional, often independent, hotels around the world. What they all share is one thing: they belong on the trip.
A Clearer Way to Describe the Experience
As our global portfolio has grown, so has the range of hotel experiences we offer. Today, Backroads works with more luxury and high-end independent hotels than any other active travel company. To help travelers better understand what to expect, we’re also refining the way we talk about our hotels, including renaming our Premiere hotel category as Luxury.
The new name is simple and familiar, better reflecting the extraordinary properties in this collection—hotels with iconic settings, elevated service and standout design. While the name is changing, the philosophy behind it is not. Our hotel categories aren’t about ranking one stay above another; they’re about pairing the right stays with the right adventures.
How We Choose Our Hotels
Every Backroads hotel is selected through a thoughtful process shaped by decades of experience. Our Regional Directors bring deep local knowledge to every decision, informed by firsthand visits, guest feedback and careful evaluation of a property’s setting, design, service, amenities and atmosphere. Independent assessments and value matter too—but never in isolation.
A hotel’s category is determined by how it performs on the trip. How it feels at the end of a full day. How well it connects you to the destination. How consistently guests enjoy being there. Whether it’s a celebrated luxury resort, a boutique inn or a charming local lodge, each property is hand-selected to enhance your journey and reflect the unique spirit of the place you’ve come to explore.
Different Styles. Same Standard.
The Backroads experience itself doesn’t change based on hotel category. You’ll still enjoy the same outstanding Trip Leaders, thoughtfully designed routes and seamless support across every itinerary. What’s different is the clarity around the style of stay and how it fits the adventure you’re on.
Our hotel categories are designed to make that easy to understand at a glance, so you can choose the trip that best matches your travel style. Because at Backroads, the best hotel isn’t simply the most luxurious one—it’s the one that belongs exactly where your adventure takes you.
Hotel Spotlights
From iconic luxury properties to guest-favorite boutique stays, every Backroads hotel has a story to tell. Explore a few of the places and discover what makes them so distinctive.
Indulge in pure Balinese bliss at this renowned Aman retreat with tiered infinity pools, a serene spa and a private black-sand beach.
A fully restored historical heritage site with breathtaking views of the Dordogne River and Michelin-starred dining.
This destination resort honors traditional Portuguese structures and the natural environment.
Alpine wellness perfected: UNESCO‑listed peaks, a vast four‑story spa and a magnesium-infused, heated saltwater lake.
Tucked in a valley of turquoise rivers and towering peaks, this castle-like hotel is pure Canadian magic.
