Village Hotel Club to open its 35th UK site in Sheffield
A former DoubleTree by Hilton becomes Village's newest property, with the leisure club, bedrooms, spa and pool opening in stages through spring 2027.
Village Hotel Club will open its 35th UK property in Sheffield in January, taking over the former DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield Park for a phased launch of rooms, spa and pool through spring 2027.
The health and wellness club opens first in January, with the hotel's 131 bedrooms following in February and the spa and swimming pool completing the site in spring. The staggered rollout lets Village bring revenue-generating leisure membership online before the costlier spa and pool fit-out is finished.
Village built its business on what it calls an "everything under one roof" concept: gym, spa, pool, bar and restaurant bundled with the bedrooms rather than sold as a separate leisure membership. Sheffield becomes the chain's 35th UK property under chief executive Gary Davis.
A leisure club opens before a single bedroom does, which tells you what Village is really selling.
A team assembled before the doors open
Four appointments are already in place. Russell Smith takes the general manager role for new openings, Callum Holland moves across from Village Hotel Hyde to run the leisure club, and Rebecca Spencer joins as fitness manager. Helen Newton, already dual site director of sales for the group's Hull property, adds Sheffield to an expanded role covering both cities.
"Sheffield is one of the UK's most vibrant regional cities and a natural fit for our 'everything under one roof' concept," Davis said, adding that the response to the announcement had been positive and that the company was "looking forward to opening its doors."
A conversion, not a new build
Taking over a former DoubleTree rather than building fresh means Village inherits a hotel built for a different operator's model, and the three-stage opening suggests the leisure and food-and-beverage elements need more rework than the bedrooms themselves. The approach echoes a wider pattern of UK hotel groups reusing existing stock rather than commissioning new builds, at a time when UK hospitality insolvencies have been falling even as the sector stays cautious about large capital projects.
Village's bet is that a leisure-first model travels well to a city the size of Sheffield, where UK hospitality sales have been picking up after a difficult few years. Whether that holds will show in how quickly the health club fills a membership base before the hotel rooms even open.
