A boutique hotel is relying heavily on the swinging Sixties to transform Brighton Marina into a 21st-century resort to rival the world's finest.

The Alias Hotel Seattle opens this weekend with staff promising to bring visitors and businesses flocking to the marina.

Two Elvis impersonators on stilts and a Marilyn Monroe lookalike helped launch the 71-room hotel on Friday.

Prints of Sixties icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and James Brown line the corridor walls.

The hotel's cocktail bar, named Black and White, is dedicated to the Beatles and decorated with original Sixties photos and gold discs.

The visitors being targeted are not only the young but the "young at heart", with memories of Brighton's Sixties heritage.

Quirky touches include mannequins in sailor outfits, a gleaming red Vespa, replicas of Edwardian yachts and Space Invaders-style wall decorations.

The Alias Hotel Seattle takes its name from the American city which hotel bosses feel is similar to Brighton in its trendy youth appeal and waterfront locations. But the aim is to give the marina a Mediterranean feel.

The hotel's restaurant, Cafe Paradiso, specialises in Mediterranean food including pizzas cooked by Neapolitan chef Tommasso Simeoli in wood-burning ovens.

Many of the rooms have sea views as do terraces in the downstairs saloon bar and a private dining room.

Marketing manager Rupert Kenyon said: "Brighton is the destination to be at in the UK at the moment.

"So many people have special feelings about the place and there is no reason the marina cannot be seen in the same way as places like Barcelona."

Chris Lacey, manager of the Black and White cocktail bar, promised to draw upon his knowledge of 200 cocktails and love of music.

He said he might reflect the Beatles theme by occasionally playing a few of the more obscure tracks from Revolver or The White Album.

General manager Melissa Love said the hotel was almost fully booked for its first week.

She said: "As a Brightonian myself, I am really pleased the company has selected the city for its vibrancy and pace of life."

Invited guests, including marina residents and local celebrities such as Brian Capron, who plays Coronation Street killer Richard Hillman, toured the hotel yesterday.

Dave Wooton, 52, who lives at the marina, said: "We have watched the hotel growing from its foundations and it now seems very impressive."

The public can tour the hotel today and tomorrow.

The Sixties theme will continue with the hotel offering to give this weekend's visitors a lift in one of ten Minis which can be flagged down from Brighton station and the city centre.