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    AHEAD hospitality awards “means more now than it ever did” say its global winners

    The winners of the AHEAD Global hospitality awards describe how the programme has brought the industry together during the coronavirus pandemic in this video produced by Dezeen for AHEAD.The AHEAD Global awards, which celebrate striking hospitality projects from around the world, announced its winners in a livestream that was broadcast on Dezeen in December.
    The event was the culmination of a two-year programme of events split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.

    Dexamenes Seaside Hotel by K-studio, winner of the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade

    Throughout last year, the physical ceremonies that AHEAD usually hosts to announce the winners were replaced by a series of live-streamed versions broadcast on Dezeen in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
    “There’s a massive wealth of diversity within the hospitality industry across the globe,” says AHEAD’s Amy Wright in the video.
    “AHEAD global brings together the winners of all the regions from across two years to compete to be the best of the best,” she said.

    AHEAD Global ultimate winner offers “meaningful luxury” in a converted wine factory

    According to the winners, the awards programme has offered hoteliers and hotel designers a sense of community while the hospitality industry struggled in the face of the global travel restrictions put in place to combat the spread of Covid-19.
    “Ahead awards brings the industry together,” said Amar Lalvani, CEO of Standard International, whose Standard Hotel in London won the Social Scene Award.
    “In the year of the pandemic when people are so far apart, to bring industry people together and recognise the hard work that our teams do to bring projects to life means more now than it ever did,” he continued.

    The Standard Hotel in London won the Social Scene Award
    Dexamenes Seaside Hotel in Greece took home the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade, the most significant award of the event.
    The project is a conversion of an abandoned wine factory on the Peloponnese coastline by Athens-based practice K-studio, and makes use of the industrial character of the site.
    “Dexamenes is a wonderful example of the creative reuse and regeneration of a derelict building,” said Wright. “It’s a perfect example of what hoteliers can and should be doing more.”

    Dexamenes Seaside Hotel by K-studio, winner of the AHEAD Global Ultimate Accolade
    Amongst the other projects commended at the event was Amanyangyun, a resort hotel in Shanghai designed by Kerry Hill Architects and winner of the Regeneration Award.
    Amanyangyun incorporates 10,000 Camphor trees as well as 50 historic buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties that were transported 600 kilometres from a site where they were under threat from the construction of a new dam.
    “The ambition and foresight is special,” said Tanuj Goenka, director of Kerry Hill Architects. “This doesn’t happen very often.”

    Amanyangyun, a resort hotel in Shanghai designed by Kerry Hill Architects, won the Regeneration Award
    The Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Sri Lanka won The Gamechanger Award, an accolade given to a project that challenges established norms in the hospitality industry.
    Its dome-like dwellings were designed to mimic rocky outcrops scattered across the local landscape.
    “It celebrates the flora and fauna and culture of the area with minimal intrusion in the natural landscape,” said Olav Bruin, creative director at Nomadic Resorts.

    The Wild Coast Tented Lodge in Sri Lanka won The Gamechanger Award
    Omaanda, a boutique lodge in Namibia constructed using local building methods, took home the Rural Retreat Award.
    “We have chosen to go with the concept of rounded huts with thatched roofs the way the local Owambo tribe has been building their houses for years and years” explained Arnaud Zannier, founder of Zannier Hotels.

    The Omaanga lodge in Namibia by Zannier Hotels won the Rural Retreat Award
    Kelly Wearstler’s design for Santa Monica Proper Hotel in the USA won the project the People’s Choice Award.
    The 271-room boutique hotel makes use of natural materials, neutral colours and vintage furniture to create a sensory experience that references Santa Monica’s beachside identity.
    “Santa Monica Proper was really meant to introduce a looser kind of luxury to the city,” said Patrick Pahlke, commercial vice president of Proper Hospitality.
    “Using Santa Monica as a muse, our designer Kelly Wearstler took most of her cues from classic Santa Monica history with a design-forward sense of luxury.”

    The People’s Choice Award went to Kelly Wearstler’s Santa Monica Proper Hotel
    The Urban Award was given to Rosewood Bangkok, a 159-room, 30-floor tower with an angular form based on the Thai custom of pressing one’s hands together in greeting.
    “The atmosphere is very contemporary – timeless, I would say,” stated Michael Kaesemann, executive assistant manager of rooms at the hotel.

    Rosewood Bangkok in Thailand won the Urban Award
    The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland, a spa resort embedded amongst blue geothermal pools and moss-covered lava fields, won the Sanctuary Award.
    The hotel’s designers brought the features of its otherworldly natural surroundings into the building, using lava as a building material and prioritising views of the landscape throughout.
    “The key characteristic of The Retreat at Blue Lagoon is this relationship between the man-made, the building, the interior and exterior, the nature,” said Design Group Italia chief design officer Sigurdur Thorsteinsson.
    “The whole project evolved around how to get the feeling of nature flowing into the building.”

    The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland won the Sanctuary Award
    The Beachfront Beauty Award went to Asbury Ocean Club, a seaside hotel located 70 minutes’ drive from New York on the Jersey Shore.
    The hotel occupies the fourth floor of a residential tower, with rooms that look out over a garden sculpted to resemble sand dunes.
    “Though it is on the fourth floor of a building, we manage to make believe that this whole place is hidden in the dunes next to the ocean,” explained its designer Anda Andrei.

    Anda Andrei’s Asbury Ocean Club won the Beachfront Beauty Award
    In March last year, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Asia 2020 awards, after the physical event was called off following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
    The winners of the AHEAD Americas 2020 awards were streamed in June 2020 as part of Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival. In November, Dezeen broadcast ceremonies announcing winners of the MEA and Europe legs of the competition.
    This video was produced by Dezeen for AHEAD as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here. Images courtesy of AHEAD.

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    AHEAD Europe 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

    [embedded content]

    AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in Europe today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.

    The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 6:00pm UK time and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
    The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

    AHEAD Middle East and Africa 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

    The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia and the Americas.
    The 2020 Europe leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between June 2019 and May this year.
    Last week, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD MEA awards 2020.
    Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival in June this year.
    [embedded content]

    AHEAD Europe 2020 – part one6:00pm UK time
    In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Guestrooms, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation & Restoration, Conversion, Resort, Spa & Wellness and Lobby & Public Spaces.
    [embedded content]

    AHEAD Europe 2020 – part two7:00pm UK time
    The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Newbuild,  Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps, Restaurant, Suite, Visual Identity  and New Concept categories, and the AHEAD Europe Hotel of the Year will be revealed.

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    AHEAD Middle East and Africa 2020 awards winners announced in video ceremony on Dezeen

    AHEAD is announcing the best new hotel designs in the Middle East and Africa region today, in a video ceremony broadcast by Dezeen for the hospitality awards programme.The ceremony will be broadcast in two parts from 2:00pm Dubai time, which is 12:00pm South Africa time and 10:00am UK time, and can be viewed in order below. The most recent part of the ceremony is also included at the top of this story.
    The event is hosted by Sleeper Magazine’s editor-at-large Guy Dittrich, and will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

    The AHEAD awards celebrate striking hospitality projects from across the world and is split into four different regions: Middle East and Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
    The 2020 Middle East and Africa leg of the competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the continent between January 2019 and February of this year.
    In June this year, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards winners 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival.
    Dezeen also broadcast a ceremony in March announcing the winners of the Asia leg of the competition.
    [embedded content]

    AHEAD MEA 2020 – part one2:00pm Dubai time / 12:00pm South Africa time / 10:00am UK time
    In the first part of the ceremony, the winners will be announced for categories including Bar, Club or Lounge, Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces, Renovation, Restoration & Conversion, Spa & Wellness, Guestrooms, Lobby & Public Spaces, Hotel Newbuild and Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps.
    [embedded content]

    AHEAD MEA 2020 – part two3:00pm Dubai time / 1:00pm South Africa time / 11:00am UK time
    The second part of the ceremony will see the winners of the Resort, Suite, Restaurant, New Concept and Visual Identity categories, and the AHEAD MEA Hotel of the Year will be revealed.

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    AHEAD Middle East and Africa hospitality awards winners to be announced in virtual ceremony

    The winners of the AHEAD Middle East and Africa awards will be announced on Monday in a virtual ceremony broadcast on Dezeen.The ceremony will take place from 2:00pm Dubai time, which is 12:00pm South Africa time and 10am UK time, and will be broadcast on Dezeen as well as on our YouTube channel.
    The event will feature exclusive video content from the AHEAD Middle East and Africa (MEA) nominees, as well as from the judges and sponsors of the awards programme.

    You can add the event to your calendar by clicking on this link.
    The ceremony is taking place digitally rather than at a real-world event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
    Championing standout hospitality projects from around the world, the AHEAD awards focuses on four different regions: MEA, the Americas, Asia and Europe.
    The 2020 AHEAD MEA competition will review projects that have opened, reopened or launched in the region between January 2019 and February of this year.
    In June, Dezeen broadcast a ceremony announcing the winners of the AHEAD Americas awards 2020 as part of Virtual Design Festival.
    See the full shortlist below:
    Bar, Club or Lounge
    Archer Bar & Eatery at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaTwenty Three Rooftop Bar at Grand Plaza Mövenpick Media City, Dubai, UAESiddharta Lounge by Buddha Bar at W Muscat, OmanSt. Trop at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE
    Guestrooms
    Four Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLekkerwater Beach Lodge, De Hoop Nature Reserve, South AfricaThe Farmstead at Royal Malewane, Hoedspruit, South AfricaThe Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAE
    Hotel Newbuild
    Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaME Dubai at Opus, UAEThe Museum Hotel Antakya, TurkeyThe Social House Nairobi, Kenya
    Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces
    Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoThe Farmstead at Royal Malewane, Hoedspruit, South AfricaThe Oberoi Marrakech, Morocco
    Lobby & Public Spaces
    Le Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoMarriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaME Dubai at Opus, UAEVida Hotel Emirates Hills, Dubai, UAE
    Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps
    Abelana River Lodge, Phalaborwa, South AfricaandBeyond Ngala Treehouse, Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South AfricaHabitas NamibiaKing’s Pool, Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, BotswanaLepogo Lodges’ Noka Camp, South AfricaPuku Ridge, South Luangwa National Park, ZambiaZannier Hotels Sonop, Namibia
    Renovation, Restoration & Conversion
    andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, Namibrand Nature Reserve, NamibiaFour Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoLong Lee Manor, Shamwari Private Game Reserve, South Africa
    Resort
    Al Wathba, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi, UAEAnantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaThe Oberoi Marrakech, MoroccoW Muscat, Oman
    Restaurant
    Bull & Bear at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAEKeystone at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaMina’s Kitchen at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAENammos Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai, UAE
    Restaurant
    Bull & Bear at Waldorf Astoria Dubai International Financial Centre, UAEKeystone at Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South AfricaMina’s Kitchen at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, UAENammos Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai, UAE
    Suite
    Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas, TunisiaFour Seasons Hotel Doha, QatarLe Palais Ronsard, Marrakech, MoroccoMarriott Hotel Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa

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  • Shortlist unveiled for AHEAD Europe 2020 hospitality awards

    Dezeen promotion: a guest villa in rural Mallorca and a log-clad hotel near the Arctic circle are some of the hospitality projects to be shortlisted in this year’s AHEAD Europe awards.The AHEAD Europe awards celebrate outstanding hospitality projects that have launched, opened or reopened across the continent between June 2019 and May of this year.

    Top image: The exterior of The Standard in London, which is on the awards shortlist. Above: one of The Standard’s colourful guest rooms
    Submissions were first arranged into 15 categories, which recognise everything from a project’s guest rooms to its lobby and public spaces.
    A shortlist was then put together by a judging panel made up of hotel industry experts. As well as assessing a project’s aesthetic appeal, they also consider factors like use of budget, how well it has met the client brief and whether it captures the “theatre of hotel life”.
    Among the panel this year is Signe Bindslev Heniksen, co-founder of studio Space Copenhagen, and Ana Ortega-Miranda, director of interior design for Marriott International.

    A freezing river surrounds Arctic Bath, another one of the projects on the awards shortlist

    One of the projects to have made it to the shortlist is The Standard in London, which occupies a brutalist building opposite one of the city’s major train stations, King’s Cross.
    Guest rooms and communal areas throughout the hotel are decked out with bold colours like cherry red and cobalt blue, playfully contrasting the hotel’s heavy concrete facade.
    Also on the shortlist is a log-clad spa hotel called Arctic Bath, which floats on the icy waters of a Swedish river just 50 kilometres south of the Arctic circle.

    La Maison d’Estournel in France has also made the shortlist
    Some of the projects on the shortlist are situated in much warmer climes.
    This includes La Maison d’Estournel, a centuries-old boutique hotel in France that’s set amongst a 12-acre vineyard, and Casa Palerm, a guest villa in Mallorca that has cinematic views of the Spanish countryside.

    Casa Palerm in rural Mallorca is also competing for an award
    Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the last round of judging was executed over a series of video calls between 14 and 15 October.
    Winners will be announced on 16 November via a digital ceremony that will be broadcast on both AHEAD and Dezeen’s websites.
    See the full shortlist below:
    Bar, Club or Lounge
    40 Elephants at Great Scotland Yard Hotel, London, EnglandDouble Standard at The Standard, London, EnglandSibin at Great Scotland Yard Hotel, London, EnglandThe Lobby Bar at One Aldwych, London, EnglandThe Malt Lounge at The Prince Akatoki, London, England
    Guestrooms
    Apfelhotel, Saltusio, ItalyBirch, Cheshunt, EnglandBoho Club, Marbella, SpainDomes Zeen Chania, GreeceHotel Arlberg Lech, Austria
    Hotel Conversion
    AMERON Frankfurt Neckarvillen Boutique, GermanyCasa Popeea, Brăila, RomaniaGreat Scotland Yard Hotel, London, EnglandStock Exchange Hotel, Manchester, EnglandThe Standard, London, England
    Hotel Newbuild
    Dakota Manchester, EnglandHart Shoreditch Hotel, London, EnglandLindley Lindenberg, Frankfurt, GermanyMarket Street Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotlandnhow Amsterdam RAI, The Netherlands
    Hotel Restoration & Renovation
    Boho Club, Marbella, SpainChâteau de Vignée, Villers-sur-Lesse, BelgiumLa Maison d’Estournel, Saint-Estèphe, FranceTreehouse Hotel London, EnglandVilla Arnica, Lana, Italy
    Landscaping & Outdoor Spaces
    Apfelhotel, Saltusio, ItalyArua Private Spa Villas, Merano, ItalyDomes Zeen Chania, GreeceEkies All Senses Resort, Vourvourou, GreeceThe Newt in Somerset, England
    Lobby & Public Spaces
    Cretan Malia Park, Crete, GreeceLocke at Broken Wharf, London, EnglandParīlio, Naousa, GreeceRooms Hotel Kokhta, Bakuriani, GeorgiaThe Lobby Lounge at The Standard, London, England
    Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps
    57 Nord, Ardelve, ScotlandArctic Bath, Harads, SwedenCamp Hox, Oxfordshire, EnglandCasa Palerm, MallorcaTreehouses at Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham, England
    Resort
    Cretan Malia Park, Crete, GreeceDomes Zeen Chania, GreeceLefay Resort and Spa, Dolomites, ItalyParīlio, Naousa, GreeceQuinta da Comporta, Portugal
    Restaurant
    Decimo at The Standard, London, EnglandHélène Darroze at The Connaught, London, EnglandHelios at Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, GreeceMemories Sven Wassmer at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, SwitzerlandMouries at Cretan Malia Park, Crete, Greece
    Spa & Wellness
    Apfelhotel, Saltusio, ItalyArctic Bath, Harads, SwedenHotel Arlberg Lech, AustriaLefay Resort and Spa, Dolomites, ItalyThe Newt in Somerset, England
    Suite
    Arua Private Spa Villas, Merano, ItalyEkies All Senses Resort, Vourvourou, GreeceLincoln House at Rosewood London, EnglandNobel Suite at Grand Hotel Oslo, NorwayNobu Hotel Barcelona, Spain
    Visual Identity
    Birch, Cheshunt, EnglandBoho Club, Marbella, SpainChâteau de Vignée, Villers-sur-Lesse, BelgiumHotel Arlberg Lech, AustriaVilla Arnica, Lana, Italy

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