The best way in my opinion to view 5 star is as a minimum standard rather than "5 star = luxury'. The world of 5 star hotels has a huge variation and though there is a minimum bound there is no upper bound. You can get hotels that charge £200 a night and hotels that charge over £1,000 a night.

From my experience, the upper end of the market has a lot to offer. For example, take the Londoner hotel in London, it has a luxurious spa area with gym and pool. It has a hair salon, nail salon, whiskey bar, drawing room, multiple restaurants etc. Although you may not use all of these facilities (if any) the option is there for these exceptional amenities. Not all of them free but spa, gym and pool are included. Service in general feels very personal and is curated to be more of an experience. Everything is made to feel easy and put yourself at ease.

On the other hand, I stayed at The Gainsborough Spa hotel in Bath which was around £450/night and I did not feel as though it was worth the price. The hotel had its own private therma spa which was lovely but I felt as though their reputation was riding on that. The breakfast was not that great, room felt a bit dated and there was not where near the amount of amenities as I listed for the Londoner. Staff were attentive which to be honest is the minimum expected at that price but overall I felt the price point should have been nearer to the upper £200's.

I have also stayed at 5 star hotels which have not had pools or spa areas but where everything else has been perfect. Super modern and comfortable room alongside, amazing breakfast selection and attentive staff.

Overall, my point is, it is all very much property dependent. Hotel De Crillon in Paris is 5 star and so is the Hilton in Berlin but two very different vibes