SHE is the girl from the Welsh valleys who became a major Hollywood star.

Now Catherine Zeta-Jones CBE will be dropping into Hampshire to open a brand new hotel at the heart of county cricket.

The Hilton at the Ageas Bowl hotel opened its doors back in May, but will welcome the award-winning actress for its official opening.

Daily Echo:

This visit came about as she is a family friend of Rod Bransgrove, the chairman of Hampshire Cricket Club.

Zeta-Jones will mark the occasion by unveiling a plaque and join guests in celebrations to mark the hotel's opening and its partnership with the Ageas Bowl ground on Monday .

Daily Echo:

The 171-bed hotel, off Botley Road, in West End, is attached to the Ageas Bowl stadium and many of its rooms look out onto the cricket pitch.

Born in Swansea to a sweet factory owner and seamstress, Zeta-Jones first rose to fame in the UK with her role in the ITV series the Darling Buds of May, which also starred David Jason.

But the 45-year-old found international success in 1998 with a breakthrough role in The Mask of Zorro also starring Antonio Banderas.

She soon went on to star in Entrapment opposite Sean Connery and The Haunting alongside Liam Neeson.

Zeta-Jones received critical acclaim for her role in Traffic, which also starred her future husband, and then starred in Chicago as Velma Kelly for which she won an Oscar and Bafta for Best Supporting Actress in 2002.

In 2000 she married into Hollywood royalty with her union to actor and producer Michael Douglas, 70, the son of Spartacus actor Kirk Douglas and winner of two Oscars himself.

They will celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary later this year and have two children.

Zeta-Jones recently supported her husband in his much-publicised fight against throat cancer.

The Ageas Bowl hotel, which currently employs more than 200 staff, has proved controversial.

The hotel, underpinned by council funding, also opened a year later than scheduled after work was previously halted for six months back in 2013 when contractors Denizen went into administration back in 2013.

Work re-started under new Hampshire-based contractors Powells Group Ltd.

Its main restaurant is Beefy's, England cricketer Ian Botham’s first venture into the restaurant industry.

Other features include a large ballroom, a gym, a spa with hydrotherapy pool and Jacuzzi on the terrace and a Lakeside Bar with an outdoor terrace.

The golf course's first nine holes should be complete by May next year and the last nine by autumn.

Eastleigh Borough Council has bought the hotel for £27.4million.