A NEW luxury-hotel has confirmed it will be opening its doors in Southampton in “time for Christmas”.

The Moxy Hotel which will open this December will be the first of its type on the south coast.

Creating 20 jobs, Belvar, the management group operating the hotel, has appointed Charlotte O’Connell as the general manager or “captain” of the property.

Charlotte will launch Marriott’s eighth Moxy in the UK and brings more than ten years of experience working in the hospitality sector.

The 32-year-old who also helped to launch the Moxy London Excel said: “I am proud to be opening this hotel in such a great city location. There are a lot of traditional hotels here and nothing is quite as vibrant as Moxy which will give us something different to offer the marketplace.”

Hotel giant Marriott is behind the eight-storey, 208-bedroom building, near Westquay which has been developed on land behind the Premier Inn hotel, off Harbour Parade.

Described as a “boutique” hotel, it is estimated to cost £12 million.

The new hotel will reflect the history of Southampton with a nautical interior theme including an anchor sculpture and a wall of shipping containers and graffiti art depicting ships will dominate the communal areas.

Moxy director of operations, Donovan Sumner said: “This is our fifth hotel opening in England in the last two-years and is hot on the heels of Moxy York opening in July. We have also recently opened Moxy Edinburgh Airport and will soon be opening Moxy Paris CDG Airport in November 2020. Recognition of the brand is growing and we are gaining a great reputation in the hotel arena for providing a fresh and contemporary experience thanks to our lively and dynamic social scene. We like to push boundaries and Moxy Southampton will be no different. Charlotte did a great job opening Moxy London Excel and we know she will do the same again. We look forward to throwing open the doors to Moxy Southampton in time for Christmas.”