Best Hotels Owned by Football Players
Hotels have become a natural next step for footballers building a life beyond the pitch. These projects combine lifestyle, travel, and personal branding in ways that reflect each player’s identity. From seaside resorts to city landmarks, these three hotels show how football influence can extend far beyond the game.
Lionel Messi — MiM Hotels
MiM positions itself as a true hospitality brand rather than a football novelty. Messi lends his name and vision, but the concept focuses on boutique, design-led stays in resort and leisure destinations built around comfort, wellness, and a relaxed Mediterranean pace. The brand works with experienced hotel operators instead of treating the project as a side venture, and it targets travellers seeking an upscale lifestyle experience rather than a fan attraction. It delivers calm, stylish spaces where service, location, and atmosphere matter more than memorabilia.
The key detail is the structure behind it. MiM formed through a partnership with Spain’s Majestic Hotel Group in 2017, which is why the hotels feel consistent across the portfolio. Similar tone, similar standards, and a clear “boutique resort” identity. The collection spans six properties across Spain and Andorra, including Sitges, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Baqueira Beret, Andorra la Vella, and Sotogrande.
What makes MiM interesting for a lifestyle reader is how it sells “escape” instead of “celebrity.” These are seaside, island, city-break, and mountain-ski addresses where the hotel itself is the main reason to stay. Spa and wellness facilities, rooftops and terraces in the warm-weather locations, and food-and-drink concepts meant to stand on their own.
In June of 2025, the Meliá Hotel Group integrated MiM Hotels into their luxury management hotel ownership. Visit their official website to find out more about this deal. Check out his MiM Hotel in Mallorca.
“Class of 92” — Hotel Football
Hotel Football is football culture turned into a stay you can actually feel. It sits right by Old Trafford and was created as a hospitality project by the Class of ’92. Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Nicky Butt, backed by investor Peter Lim. It opened in 2015 with 133 rooms, built to serve matchdays, events, and visitors who want to stay close to the stadium.
The concept is simple. Make the building feel like a clubhouse without turning it into a theme park. The hotel leans into football details with views, design cues, and social spaces, because that’s what guests are there for, especially on weekends when Manchester is full of travelling supporters. It was designed as a full venue business, with conference and event capacity that keeps the place active even when there isn’t a game.
The best detail is that it gives people something to do, not just somewhere to sleep. The rooftop “Heaven” pitch is the perfect example. A proper football moment inside a hospitality product, built for groups, brands, and experiences. That’s why Hotel Football makes sense as a lifestyle story. It blends sport, city tourism, and social energy into one clear idea, executed by owners who understand exactly what fans travel for.
Visit the official website to find more information on Hotel Football here.
Cristiano Ronaldo — Pestana CR7 Lifestyle Hotels
Pestana CR7 is a modern city-hotel brand and focuses on short stays strong locations and gym culture. It’s a joint hospitality duo with the Pestana group, which matters because it gives the project operational weight, standards, staffing, and the ability to scale beyond one flagship property. The hotel group is based on the idea of urban lifestyle. It’s a hotel you can use as a base for the city, with a sporty edge rather than a luxury-resort vibe.
The first opening was Funchal in July 2016, followed by Lisbon later that year. The brand then pushed into bigger global city territory, including Madrid and New York City, where the Times Square hotel opened in 2021.
The CR7 hotels win with its consistency. Rooftop energy in the warm locations, fitness built into the offer, and social spaces that make sense for groups and weekend traffic. Even the expansion story stays aligned with that, like Marrakech, where the group announced an opening with 174 rooms, plus a spa, gym, business facilities, and a rooftop pool and bar with Atlas Mountain views.
Visit the official website to find more information on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Hotels Pestana CR7 here.
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Check out this story about the best restaurants owned by football players, including one player that is also a hotel-owner.
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