THIS is the man in charge of Southampton's newest hotel.

The Jurys Doyle Hotel Group has appointed 29-year-old PJ Kenny as general manager of the £19m Jurys Inn Southampton, which is due to open in May. He will be in charge of up to 100 staff.

PJ, who comes from Kilkenny in Ireland, has hospitality in his blood, having been raised by parents who worked in the Irish pub and restaurant trade, before gaining a degree in hotel, catering and institutional management from Birmingham University.

He has worked for the Jurys Doyle group for six years, and since joining in 1998, has risen from his first role as assistant food and beverage manager, in Jurys Limerick Hotel, to his current position.

Jurys Inn Southampton will be the eighth Jurys hotel PJ has worked in, and the second, after Croydon, that he has opened as general manager.

He said: "I'm very excited about opening the hotel in May; it's a great product, in an excellent location, and I'm certain it is going to be highly successful."

The 12-storey, 270-bedroom hotel is a three-star, contemporary, budget-style hotel, built

at Charlotte Place in the

heart of Southampton.

Opening with an introductory rate of £59 per room per night it will offer facilities including the Innfusion restaurant, Inntro bar, Italian 'Il Barista' coffee bar and almost 9,000 square feet of dedicated meeting rooms.

PJ anticipates that 70 per cent of clientele will be business guests, compared to 30 per cent tourism.

The hotel will be in direct competition with Premier Travel Inn, a stone's throw away.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, the new general manager at the £49-a-night hotel is Richard Hobden.