Hotels, lodging houses and villas form discrete zones both within the urban spa quarter and the wider therapeutic landscape. Some hotels are monumental in scale and architecture, while numerous villas display a wide range of international architectural styles. Their ubiquitous high quality, diversity of architectural style, sheer numbers and high rate of authentic preservation is a distinctive attribute of the Great Spa Towns of Europe.

From early times to the end of the 18th century, accommodation for visitors could be found in inns and lodgings, and a few very old hotels survive. By the middle of the 19th century, many visitors opted for long stays in the spa, or indefinitely in villas that surrounded the spa towns. Such villas became significant by providing fashionable accommodation for middle class visitors and the elite, who required privacy or solitude for the duration of their stay.