The Daily Echo is given an exclusive tour of the new multi-million pound Hilton hotel at the Ageas Bowl, the home of Hampshire Cricket

The Daily Echo was given exclusive access to the luxury 171-bedroom Hilton hotel at the Ageas Bowl as work continues ahead of the anticipated opening in May – one year behind schedule.

Although the sporting season may have finished and the grounds are quiet, behind the scenes is a hive of activity as dozens of workmen in hard hats and fluorescent jackets go about their jobs.

This is a far cry from last October when the West End site was shut up for six months after Denizen, the contractors for the hotel, which is underpinned by Eastleigh Borough Council funds, went into administration.

Now, six months after work restarted, the majority of external structural work is complete and the first bedrooms will be fitted out early in the new year.

Around 165 workers are currently on site, but this will be ramped up to 220 in January with contractors expected to hand over in March. Hotel bosses say it is on track to open on May 1.

The hotel has six floors, two of which are beneath the level of the stadium concourse.

The lower ground floor consists of a glass-fronted reception, 50 metres away from what will be the putting green for the 18th hole of the golf course, which wraps around the hotel.

The board room

This leads round to a large 450-seater ballroom, which will be one of the largest in the region and has already sparked interest for Asian weddings.

A spa on the next floor will include eight treatment rooms, relaxation rooms, thermal treatment rooms, experience showers (with different music and fragrances), ice wells, a hydrotherapy pool, sauna and steam room.

A terrace with a Jacuzzi overlooks the golf course.

The spa also has an adjoining restaurant exclusively for its customers.

Other features are a sports bar, meeting rooms, a 170-seater Marco Pierre White restaurant that looks out directly onto the ground and a top-floor executive lounge with views over the Meon Valley.

The top three storeys comprise bedrooms and a media centre which sits in the centre of the building.

The idea is that all bedrooms will either have a view of the cricket ground or the golf course.

Cheapest rooms will start at £95 a night, with the Presidential Suite setting you back £450 a night.

For major matches many of the pitch-facing rooms will be converted to hospitality boxes.

Of the 70 boxes available, ten have already been taken for the upcoming one-day international against Australia in September next year (England vs New Zealand on Sunday, June 14 will be the Ageas Bowl’s first international following completion of the ground’s redevelopment).

Hotel general manager Dominic Osborne said the hotel decor is inspired by four key concepts that relate to its location – water, because of its proximity to the Solent, air, because of nearby Southampton Airport and historical links to the spitfire, the New Forest and, of course, sport.

He said the hotel would also reflect its setting in a stadium.

“I think it brings something different, something unique – there are not many four-star properties in a sporting stadium such as this – certainly not in the south and not many in the UK,” he said.

Local businesses are already being given tours of the venue, and Mr Osborne said there had been around 350 email enquiries about using the venue, with more than six months until opening.

When it opens the hotel should employ more than 200 full and part-time staff locally.

It is currently looking to recruit senior positions, and in January or February hopes to hold recruitment days.

Interest in jobs looks set to be fierce, with Mr Osborne having received more than 100 CVs already.

Mr Osborne said he was confident that the hotel could generate trade all year round and would meet projection targets for the first year and beyond. “Judging by the response from businesses, I think we’re in a strong trading position,” he added.

And Mr Osborne said he believes the hotel can get past its difficult start.

He had been in his job just four months when work ground to a halt at the site in October last year and admitted the delays had been frustrating.

Dealing with the fallout, alternative venues had to be found for provisional clients, who had booked the venue on the assumption it would be ready.

But Mr Osborne said he believed the way the situation had been handled had gone down well and people had understood it was the contractor, not the operator, that was responsible.

“From the business community there is an acceptance that these things do happen in business occasionally and we have had nothing but positive responses,” he added.

“It was a real shock to everybody, and certainly for people working on the project far longer than I had it was a blow, but we have absolutely come through that to the other side and there’s a real steely determination to make this project successful.

“It has been a long time in the making, there’s absolutely no question, but I think when people see the finished product and experience the service we’ll deliver, I think [the problems] will be forgotten about.”