A HOTEL once dubbed ‘like something out of Star Wars’ is set to rise from the ground.

Building work has started on a four-star hotel at Milton Gate near Milton Park, in South Oxfordshire.

The luxury hotel is now being led by the Marriott chain rather than the La Tour group, which was initially signed up to pursue the project.

The Marriott Courtyard hotel will have 170 beds, a lounge bar, restaurant with outdoor space, conference facilities and a gym.

Phillip Campbell, commercial director of MEPC Ltd, which runs Milton Park, said: “We are delighted that the Marriott brand is coming to Milton Gate.

“The new hotel will help meet the needs of Milton Park’s occupiers by providing superb overnight accommodation and conference facilities.

“It will also be beneficial to the local community and visitors to the Oxfordshire region.”

When initial drawings were released for the hotel in 2015, then-Didcot town councillor Margaret Davies described it as a ‘stunning building’, which ‘ looks like something out of Star Wars’.

In 2014, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils released a report, which highlighted ‘need for a significant increase in hotel supply in the Science Vale area through new hotel openings and the expansion of existing hotels’.

The hotel scheme was granted planning permission under Milton Park’s Local Development Order, which allows development to be fast-tracked.

Piers Slater, chief executive of Reef Estates, which owns the site, said: “The hotel will provide a unique local experience for the business traveller, and a new destination for Didcot Garden Town.”

Building work on the hotel is expected to be completed in Autumn 2018.