At long last, as this paper reports today, Southampton’s long awaited new five-star hotel is set to rise.

Or should that be sail in?

For although the striking new hotel will not be a cruise ship – and it could be said we have a number of five-star floating hotels that are resident in the city – the new hotel will be modelled to look as if it is a huge super yacht.

Plans for the hotel were first mooted back in 2012 and have been on ice since then, the vacant plot at Ocean Village remaining just that.

Many might have feared the building would never rise.

Now residents and businesses on the site have been given warning that building work is about to start.

It is yet another example of how the city region is powering ahead.

And set against a backdrop of a General Election where prosperity plays a major role.

For Southampton it seems, the future, if not plain sailing, looks to be heading for bright horizons.