Village Hotel Portsmouth – A Review

We received our stay at Village Hotel Portsmouth in return for an honest hotel review of our experiences.

The Village Hotel chain has 30 hotels around the UK. I had never previously stayed in one, so I was excited to see what they are like. I have since stayed in a number of the Village Hotels and would definitely say Village Portsmouth is typical of the brand and is definitely one of the better, more modern, stylish sites.

Their website is impressive and they are popular with families as well as business travellers (they offer a business club), so it was a perfect fit for us.

Initial impressions of Village Hotel Portsmouth

We got stuck in traffic on the way to the hotel, so we were rather tired and fed up when we arrived. That said, the reception was easy to find, the staff were friendly, and check-in was quick, which definitely helps when you have spent a long time in the car.

There is a huge car park, so we found a space easily, and the entrance was clear. All these things matter when you arrive tired after a long car journey.

In the check-in area, they have screens where you can book yourself in and allocate your key card easily. This avoids queuing if it is busy or if you have impatient children with you. Alternatively, you can speak to a member of staff and check in that way if you prefer.

An added extra was that because it was Friday, they had a basket of free Crunchie bars! Who doesn’t like a Crunchie?

The hotel has a clear bar/dining area, which has huge TVs showing sports, so it’s perfect for any sports fans visiting. There is also a Starbucks coffee shop in the hotel itself! It is a great addition, I must say.

If you haven’t tried their Frappuccinos yet, you really should. The strawberry doughnut one is amazing.

Stay at Village: The Rooms

Village Hotel Portsmouth has two types of rooms, the standard and the club room. Both have free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a rainfall shower, tea and coffee making facilities, a flat-screen TV, free parking and an extremely comfortable Sealy bed. Guest reviews are all good, so you know it isn’t just us saying that it was comfortable!

The clubrooms also have a full HD Sky package including movies and sports, and complimentary use of the Village health and fitness club, including the gym and swimming pool. If required, you can also use the shared V Works workspace and meeting and conference area.

We had a club room with an interconnected accessible standard room. Ben had never stayed in his own room previously when we stayed in hotels. This was a perfect in-between for him and for other youngsters who are almost ready for their own room but not quite.

His autism and other difficulties mean an accessible room is perfect for him, and the way it had an interconnecting door to our room was perfect.

We were all very impressed with the rooms at the Village Hotel Portsmouth. The accessible room was well laid out with plenty of space. Our room was more compact, of course, but lovely too. The service and facilities were perfect, and being able to watch the latest match on a Sky Sports channel whilst away was a hit with Stuart.

Both were decorated in a stylish and modern way. We had glass separating the shower room and bedroom, which at the click of a button could become misted for privacy.

Village Hotel Portsmouth has 153 rooms in total, of which 38 are of the club variety. They have 8 sets of interconnecting rooms, which is great for disabled travellers with carers or larger families, perhaps looking for a stay before a holiday from Portsmouth port?

These need to be booked directly with the hotel, so if this is what you need, just give them a call to discuss your needs. Remember to check for deals for Village Hotel Portsmouth on the website as there are lots of hotel offers available!

Village Pub and Grill: The food and drinks

There is a bar and restaurant area in the hotel, and they also have a Starbucks, which is part of the hotel but run separately.

We had breakfast on both days of our stay in the hotel, as well as our evening meals. Both of which were in the restaurant and bar area which has huge tv screens showing sports and ice cold beers if you want a drink. We also had an afternoon tea which was amazing!

The breakfast choices were good, with both continental choices and a cooked breakfast buffet. It contained all you would expect, and everything was cooked perfectly and kept full.

I was pleased to discover that vegetarian sausages were available on request too, which, as a vegetarian, I have found isn’t always common.

For evening meals, they have two menus in the pub grill. One is a set menu, and one is the standard menu. Both have some absolutely delicious choices, but the set menu is shorter with fewer choices.

If you book a hotel package where your stay includes an evening meal, you dine from the set menu. This has, however, since changed to instead of having a meal included, offering a voucher for dining, which I think is much better. There are often flexible rate packages to include dining or not, depending on your preferences and budget.

The meals were all tasty and of good quality. The set menu only has one vegetarian choice, but the staff were happy to arrange to swap that for another option from the standard menu.

Ben’s allergies were well catered for throughout our visit for every aspect of our dining. He has allergies to nuts, cinnamon and sesame.

Between his allergies and me being vegetarian, we can be a challenge dining out. However, the staff all managed well and were all knowledgeable about what was available.

Facilities at Village Hotel Portsmouth

Like all other Village Hotel sites, it has a swimming pool, sauna and steam room and a huge gym. These are open to memberships as well as hotel guests, and there is also an option to pay for one-day access if you wish. Of course, this is not needed if you have a club room, as the Village gym is included.

Health and Fitness Club

The pool is heated with two swimming lanes (20 metre pool) and also a family swim area. During our visit, we found it was mostly really quiet, and as one of the only hotels in Portsmouth with swimming pools, this surprised us.

The pool area also has a whirlpool spa, steam room and sauna. The gym is huge and really a state-of-the-art gym access, you will be impressed by.

There is a wide range of Les Mills group classes available at no extra cost, and a spin studio with 40 bikes and an amazing atmosphere.

The gym includes all the equipment you would expect, including the free weights area. Everything has clear, understandable instructions so you use them correctly, and there are always staff around you can ask too.

Children under 16 are not allowed to use the village gym and are limited to certain times in the pool. This is for safety reasons regarding the need for a lifeguard when children are in there. They are also not able to use the sauna, but this is often the case in hotels, so don’t let this put you off.

Shopping break to Gunwharf Quays

As you may have seen on my Instagram and Facebook, we went for a shopping trip to Gunwharf Quays whilst in Portsmouth. It is an amazing outlet shopping destination with so much to do. The Lindt store is my favourite choice for ice cream, so don’t forget to pop in there too! Gunwharf is easily accessible from the M27, the city centre of Portsmouth and the train station is very close by too. We found the Village Hotel a perfect location for Gunwharf when looking at places to stay, as whilst it isn’t next door, it was so easy to get to!

I treated myself to some perfume while we were there. Ben bought a new football shirt (he collects them!) and Stuart some new trainers. There are so many shops you are sure to find something to treat yourself to, as well as meals out in the restaurants available.

We could have spent much longer there, but luckily for the bank balance, we didn’t!

Village Hotel Portsmouth offers a shopping weekend package which includes a two-night stay, dinner on your first night, breakfast on both days and taxis to and from Gunwharf Quays!

Just to top it off, you also get a 10% off shopping voucher for many of the stores there! This break was from £140 for 2 at the time we visited.

Business Club, Meeting Rooms and facilities

Whilst in some ways it was a working weekend away for me, I didn’t make use of the business facilities, but I did take a look. There is a dedicated V Works workspace area with a bar with free tea and a coffee machine. If you need to arrange anything there, they have meeting rooms and hotel deals that include that for a number of delegates.

The area is quiet, and cool and has plenty of charging ports and sockets. Perfect for anyone working away from home. Obviously, Starbucks or the Village pub and grill would be alternative spaces to sit and work, though not as quiet.

Other events at Village Hotel Portsmouth

Whilst we were visiting, a few weddings were booked. As far as we could tell, everything ran really smoothly, and other than people coming or going, it did not affect us in any way.

The brides I saw looked beautiful, and I could imagine it being the perfect place to have your special day.

We have no intention of getting married and certainly not miles away in Portsmouth. I did enquire, though, out of interest, and prices are very comparable to other hotels in the Portsmouth area.

The hotel also offers a variety of other events like tribute nights, party nights throughout the year and Christmas parties, which all looked great. With everything under one roof, they would be a great place to have a work Christmas do and all be able to drink and stay over!

Location and Portsmouth Area

The hotel was really easy to find on the outskirts of Portsmouth, situated in the Lakeside North Harbour Business Park.

I wasn’t aware of any local public transport near the hotel; however, taxis were cheap enough and readily available if you didn’t want to drive to go out for the day. It would be easy to get a taxi to the ferry terminal, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard boasting the Mary Rose, HMS Victory and HMS Warrior, or even watch live sport locally at Portsmouth Football Club. Cosham train station isn’t too far away if you want to get the train elsewhere in Hampshire this may be worth considering.

Portsmouth is a city with such a history. We didn’t get to do much, but we are already planning to go back soon.

The Spinnaker Tower looks fantastic, but I am rubbish with height,s so no way was I going up there.

Southsea is the beach area of Portsmouth. It is a pebble-type beach, though, so don’t expect to be building sandcastles! We had a trip there before driving home on the Sunday of our weekend away, but wish we had made time to see more.

Another place that you may choose to visit is the Isle of Wight. Just a short ferry or hovercraft from Portsmouth and you could be taking in the views of the Isle of Wight!

The hotel is also perfect for an overnight stay if you’re travelling overseas. It’s just 19 miles from Southampton Airport.

How about visiting Stonehenge while you are in the area?

Stonehenge is a lovely place to visit, and if you are travelling to Portsmouth by car, you might choose to visit on the way, or whilst in Portsmouth on a day out. We loved it.

Our overall thoughts of our stay at Village Hotel Portsmouth

We absolutely loved the Village Hotel Portsmouth and will definitely be returning. It is great value for money with standard rooms for £31 room only and club rooms for £51, room only, at the time of our stay.

The facilities were second to none, and the whole hotel was clean and well-maintained throughout. Ben loved having his own room, and we were relaxed knowing it was interconnected and he was safe. The wi-fi was good and fast, the booking in process easy and in general it was a lovely stay.

If you are looking for a city break or for hotels in Portsmouth specifically, then I would definitely recommend the Village Hotel chain and particularly the Portsmouth hotel.

Have you visited the Village Hotel Portsmouth? Is it somewhere you would consider? What about any of the other Village Hotel Locations? We have visited a few now, including Village Hotel Liverpool, the Newcastle hotel and also the Southampton hotel! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you have any questions before booking and need me to do a frequently asked questions section.

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