Ocean village hotel put on hold

All 225 bedrooms were due to have views of the Ocean Village marina

Work on a 13-storey hotel - due to be the centrepiece of a marina complex in Southampton - has been put on hold due to the global financial crisis.

The proposed four-star "deluxe" Millennium Ocean Village Hotel was due to be completed in the city's Ocean Village complex by 2010.

MDL Marinas, which operates the complex, had marketed it as the city's "first true waterfront hotel".

It said the move was a "direct result of the uncertain economic climate".

The Ocean Village complex features a 375-berth marina surrounded by flats, shops, restaurants, cinemas and the Royal Southampton Yacht Club.

In June, developers Wilson Bowden said they were reviewing plans to finish five blocks of flats at the complex. Only three blocks have been completed.

Marina views

Developers Ocean Village Resorts Ltd, part of MDL Marinas, said it remained committed to the completion of the hotel and the rest of the site.

It denied that the postponing of the hotel was due to financial backers pulling out but said it was "prudent" to put the project on hold in the current financial climate.

The hotel was due to have been built out into the marina with a landscaped piazza. All 225 bedrooms were due to have had marina views.

Tony Keeler, chief executive of Ocean Village Resorts, said: "We will continue to monitor and review this decision, and it is anticipated that at some point in the future we will be in a position to recommence works on the project."

He said Ocean Village remained a priority and work behind the scenes would continue.

The city council said it "will continue to do everything it can" to help Ocean Village Resorts complete the project.

"It has undertaken everything in its statutory and non-statutory role to make this development happen," a spokesman said.