Review: the new Radisson Blu hotel, Sheffield

This is our review of the new Radisson Blu hotel which recently opened in Sheffield.

For one night on a grey weekend in November we were in Sheffield for a family celebration. Over the years we have stayed in a number of hotels in the city centre but, frankly, none of them left a lasting impression.

We finally lost patience with the Crowne Plaza (ex Holiday Inn, and still one to all intents and purposes). Most recently we have been using the Mercure St Paul’s which is a decent hotel, especially the junior suites at the front, and is attached to the Winter Garden.

In July, a brand new Radisson Blu opened opposite Mercure St Paul’s, facing the Peace Gardens. The location is central and convenient for the train station so we decided to give it a go.

I have stayed many times at the Radisson Blu at Hamburg Airport so was interested to see what I would find here. I appreciate the chain for short stays when I only need a place to sleep and don’t need fine dining or lots of facilities.

We paid cash for our stay and the hotel didn’t know I would review it.

Where is Radisson Blu Sheffield?

The location of the hotel is excellent, joining the Novotel and Mercure in a small cluster right in the city centre.

We arrived by train and walked slightly uphill for around 10 minutes to the hotel. First impressions were a bit underwhelming with little curb appeal, although the Victorian facade from the first floor upwards looks attractive.

The lobby

When entering the hotel we were met with a very long queue from the check-in desk which wound around to the entrance – in the picture below it had already reduced by half. It was around 4pm on a Saturday and many guests had arrived with clothes on hangers, presumably to attend an event.

We waited roughly 20 minutes for our turn but when passing the reception later it was empty. It might have been just bad timing on our part.

However, the hotel could have done better. The Radisson app allows mobile check-in but after doing so you are told to collect your key from a kiosk in reception. Despite this being a brand new hotel, no kiosk has been installed so we had to queue simply to pick up our key. Unlike many chains, Radisson does not appear to have Bluetooth smartphone-operated door opening.

On both sides of the entrance are attractive seating areas with stylish furniture. One side, image below, had a large hot desking table in the window. I’m not sure if this makes much sense or if more comfortable seating for guests to hang out would be better.

This other side was slightly more useful in my opinion:

At the back of the hotel on the next floor up is a second entrance. You will use this entrance if you arrive by taxi or car. The lobby here is large but totally empty and unmanned, at least on a Saturday. Guests can only use this entrance by ringing a bell.

The whole hotel layout is a little odd. For a start, the entrance opposite the Peace Gardens is classed as being on Floor -1. Our rooms were on Floor 0 which is street level at the back (the second entrance faces the closed John Lewis store) but, at the front, is actually the first floor!

Our room at Radisson Blu Sheffield

I have VIP status in Radisson Rewards thanks to the recent status match for elite members of SAS EuroBonus.

The key benefits here are an upgrade to the best available non-suite room at check-in and free breakfast. The hotel delivered on this, although there isn’t actually much variety in the rooms available.

Premium Room – City Garden View

The hotel is new and everything is fresh and clean. With 154 rooms it is also quite big.

We had booked Superior Rooms, one level above a Standard, and were upgraded to a Premium Room – City Garden View on the first floor (Floor 0 to them!)

This is the second-highest room category on offer and the highest ‘non suite’ category. There are also junior suites available although they were sold out for our date – I don’t know if I would have been upgraded to one otherwise.

Premium Rooms are effectively the same size as the other rooms, bar a couple of square metres. However, as you can see from the top photograph, the first floor Premium Rooms have the highest ceilings and the largest windows.

Our room had a view to the square. What is worth pointing out is that the windows were totally sound proof. As the Sheffield Christmas market was in full swing directly beneath our window this was very much appreciated.

The room was spacious and decorated in grey tones. Although more functional than beautiful, the room was very comfortable with all the necessary mod-cons.

We had two bathrobes, although as there is no pool or spa these were of limited use. It would have been more beneficial for me to have large bottles of water provided instead of the mini ones supplied.

There is a tea and coffee (Nespresso) station with an iron and ironing board cleverly hung up next to it. There was no shortage of coffee capsules or milk sachets.

The bathroom was very compact with amenities from Radisson’s own brand. The shower is a good size but everything else is tight.

A detail worth mentioning is an anti-fog section in the middle of the mirror, pictured below. This proved to be extremely useful as the small room steamed up quickly.

The toilet is tucked in behind the door with no space to spare as you can see below. If you are not travelling alone, be careful that your room mate doesn’t accidentally fold you in half ….

This was our rainy November view of Sheffield’s Christmas market:

Breakfast

Breakfast is served on the top floor in the Governor Gupta Indian restaurant. It is a large welcoming space which thankfully deviates from the otherwise grey interior of the hotel and injects some colour. In the middle of the room is a bar.

We didn’t eat in the hotel in the evening due to the event we were attending. If Indian cuisine isn’t your thing there are various other restaurants in close proximity of the hotel near the Winter Garden.

Given that the hotel was clearly pretty full based on the queue at check-in I was surprised that there were plenty of tables available when we arrived for breakfast at 9am on Sunday.

I suspect that not many guests are prepared to pay for breakfast and would rather eat outside. The hotel is relatively cheap and adding two breakfasts would inflate your total bill by at least 25%.

Some larger tables with bench seating add some variety to the interior.

The breakfast is buffet only and offered a good selection. At the kitchen counter (in the back of the picture) I saw poached eggs being made to order although there was no menu or other indication of what was possible.

The buffet was kept well filled with a particularly good pastry selection.

Below are some warm dishes:

Here is the continental section:

I would say that the breakfast here was the best I have had in any Sheffield hotel, although that is not a particularly high bar.

The windows of the bar/restaurant are set back leaving space for a narrow roof terrace. This offers views to the Town Hall and the Peace Gardens and is as good as it gets in low-rise Sheffield.

I have been told by relatives that the terrace was very popular last summer and is a more sophisticated space to have a drink in the evening than the (many) local alternatives.

Other facilities

…. are few. There is a small well-equipped gym:

…. and a surprisingly large number of meeting rooms at the back of the ground floor for corporate events.

Conclusion

The Radisson Blu Sheffield hotel is brand new and everything is fresh, clean and functional. I definitely prefer this hotel over any other we have used in Sheffield, although the Mercure across the road has more public space.

There is attention to detail (anti-fog mirror!) and our rooms were very comfortable, although not huge. The location is great for rail travellers or guests who need to be in the city centre.

We paid £125 all-in, which was great value, thanks to my Radisson Rewards VIP status:

• we used ‘Discount Booster’ to get an additional cash discount on our rate at the expense of earning a lower rate of (fairly worthless) Radisson Rewards points (Premium and VIP elite members can access this)

• we were upgraded, as promised for VIP members, to the ‘best available non-suite room’

• we received free breakfast

If you had no status in Radisson Rewards and wanted a Premium Room with breakfast you would be paying around £225. Our VIP status effectively got us £100 of extra value.

Club Avolta, the old ‘Red By Dufry’ duty free loyalty scheme, is teasing an upcoming status match to Radisson Rewards VIP status on its website. Anyone reader who matched their British Airways status to Red By Dufry earlier in the year – and Rob says that 1,800 readers did – may have a surprise coming. Our full review of the Radisson Rewards programme is here.

You can find out more about Radisson Blu Sheffield, and book, here.

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How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Radisson Rewards does not have a dedicated UK credit card. However, you can earn Radisson Rewards points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 60,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 150,000 Radisson Rewards points

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:3 into Radisson Rewards points which is a very attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 3 Radisson Rewards points.

Even better, holders of The Platinum Card receive free Radisson Rewards Premium status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here. You can apply here.

Got a small business?

You can get free top-tier Radisson Rewards VIP status with the new Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card for small business. Clck here to apply.