WORK on a £50m luxury, five-star hotel in Southampton has begun.

Preliminary works on the Southampton Harbour Hotel and Spa complex have now commenced and it could now open within three years.

Plans for the new hotel at Ocean Village were first revealed in the Daily Echo, and it is hoped the development will create up to 1,300 jobs.

When complete the waterfront, super yacht-inspired hotel will boast 85 bedrooms, a spa and a rooftop restaurant and champagne bar, while it will be topped with 12 luxury duplex flats.

Owner the Nicolas James Group, which runs a string of Harbour Hotels along the south, also wants it to be the city’s first five-star hotel since the Grand Harbour Hotel was downgraded in 2009, and renowned Hampshire chef Alex Aitken has been lined up to take over its restaurant.

Initial work to prepare the site has now begun, with construction due to start over the summer.

That is expected to last between 18 and 24 months, meaning the new hotel could open its doors in 2017.

The Nicolas James Group says the hotel will create 300 new jobs but there could be up to 1,000 other roles created through employment linked to the new complex.

As well as the hotel the firm is building 100 luxury residential apartments at the site.

Daily Echo:

The site as it currently appears

Mike Warren, managing director of Harbour Hotels, said: “We are delighted that preliminary work is now under way for this exciting project. We are very confident that the hotel and its facilities will prove a fabulous addition to Southampton, boosting tourism and becoming a destination of choice for city-dwellers and visitors alike.”

City council chief executive Dawn Baxendale said: “It is fantastic news to hear that this exciting luxury development is now moving forward. It will further establish Southampton’s waterfront as a magnificent destination for visitors and residents alike.

“The project endorses our wider City Centre Master Plan aspirations for Southampton; creating jobs, leisure opportunities and homes, while extending the range of developments already taking place across the city that will support our future economic supremacy on the south coast.”

Dean Smith, operations and marketing director at MDL Marinas, which runs Ocean Village marina, said: We are delighted that construction work has begun on what promises to be an incredible new hotel. This exciting new luxury development is the city’s first luxury five star standard hotel and will generate considerable benefits for the area upon its completion.”

“Alongside our world-class marina and the new Admiral’s Quay development, the hotel will represent another major step towards establishing Ocean Village as Southampton’s premier waterfront destination.”