Dezeen promotion: A grain store-turned-hotel and an open-air lodge located on a wildlife reserve are among the projects to be shortlisted in this year's AHEAD MEA awards.
The AHEAD MEA awards celebrate hotels and hospitality projects from across the Middle East and Africa that were launched between January 2017 and February 2018.
Entries have been split into 12 categories: Bar, Club or Lounge; Event Spaces; Guestrooms; Hotel Renovation and Restoration; Landscaping and Outdoor Spaces; Lobby and Public Spaces; Resort Hotel; Restaurant; Spa and Wellness; Suite; Urban Hotel; and Lodges and Tented camps – which is a unique category to the Middle East and Africa edition of the awards.
Cape Town's The Silo is one of the projects to be shortlisted, which sits inside the former elevator quarters of a 20th-century grain store. Designed by Heatherwick Studios, the guest accommodation features a gridded concrete frame punctuated by pillowed glass windows.
Other shortlisted projects include Fairmont The Palm's Little Miss India restaurant in Dubai, which has ceilings lined with greenery-filled hanging baskets and a brightly patterned truck bursting through one of its walls.
Botswana's Qorokwe Lodge, which is surrounded by woodland and floodplains that are home to herds of giraffe, zebra and elephants, is also in the running.
The awards are judged by an expert team of hoteliers, architects, interior designers and industry commentators. Each submission is assessed on the quality of their aesthetics, the experience they offer to guests, and their commercial viability.
The winner will be announced in an awards ceremony at The Meydan Hotel in Dubai, on 14 November 2018.
The Middle East and Africa is one of four regions covered by AHEAD, which also awards hospitality projects from the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
In 2019 winners from each region will attend a Global Biennale to compete head-to-head for worldwide titles.
To register your interest for tickets to the AHEAD MEA awards, visit their website.
See below for the full AHEAD MEA 2018 shortlist:
Bar, Club, or Lounge
Flair No.5 at The Ritz-Carlton, DIFC, United Arab Emirates
NOÉPE at Park Hyatt Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Seventy Seventy at Park Hyatt Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Willaston Bar at The Silo, Cape Town, South Africa
Event Spaces
Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait Burj Alshaya, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Mondrian Doha, Qatar
Nest Co-Working Space at TRYP by Wyndham Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Bulgari Resort Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Guestrooms
Al Bandar Rotana, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
FORM Hotel Dubai, United Arab Emirates
One&Only Le Saint Géran, Mauritius
The Renaissance Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Hotel Renovation & Restoration
Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
One&Only Le Saint Géran, Mauritius
Sealine Beach, A Murwab Resort, Mesaieed, Qatar
The Silo, Cape Town, South Africa
Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces
FIVE Palm Jumeirah Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Amman, Jordan
Intercontinental Fujairah, United Arab Emirates
Kempinski Hotel Muscat, Oman
Lobby & Public Spaces
FIVE Palm Jumeirah Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait Burj Alshaya, Kuwait City, Kuwait
The Renaissance Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Silo, Cape Town, South Africa
Lodges & Tented Camps
Bisate Eco Lodge, Ruhengeri, Rwanda
Duba Plains Camp & Duba Plains Suite, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Little Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Qorokwe Lodge, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Resort Hotel
FIVE Palm Jumeirah Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Kempinski Hotel Muscat, Oman
The Bulgari Resort Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert Hotel, United Arab Emirates
Restaurant
Brasserie du Park at Park Hyatt Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Little Miss India at Fairmont The Palm, United Arab Emirates
Roots Kitchen by Parlour at FORM Hotel Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Salt & Pepper at Al Bandar Rotana, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Spa & Wellness
Bulgari Spa at The Bulgari Resort Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Silo Spa at The Silo, Cape Town, South Africa
The Spa at FIVE Palm Jumeirah Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Willow Stream Spa at Fairmont Amman, Jordan
Suite
Al Naseem Tented Beach Pool Villa at The Ritz-Carlton, Ras Al Khaimah, Al Hamra Beach, United Arab Emirates
Bulgari Suite at The Bulgari Resort Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Presidential Suite at The Renaissance Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Penthouse at The Silo, Cape Town, South Africa
Urban Hotel
FORM Hotel Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport, Kenya
Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait Burj Alshaya, Kuwait City, Kuwait
The Renaissance Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates