Dezeen promotion: a cluster of luxurious tents in the Namibian desert and a hotel set amongst verdant gardens in Marrakech are some of the projects shortlisted in the Middle East and Africa heats of this year's AHEAD awards.
The AHEAD MEA awards give praise to outstanding hospitality projects that have launched, opened or reopened across the Middle East and Africa between January 2019 and February of this year.
Zannier Hotels Sonop, a group of guest tents in Namibia, is on the shortlist
Entries were initially organised into 15 categories, which acknowledge everything from a project's guest suites to its landscaping and outdoor spaces.
A shortlist was then composed by a judging panel of leading experts from the hotel industry. This year it includes figures such as Leila Abdul Rahim, design director of Hilton Worldwide, and Pallavi Dean, founder of studio Roar. Another project on the AHEAD MEA awards shortlist this year is Dubai's Opus hotel
Among the projects on the shortlist is Zannier Hotels Sonop, a group of 10 tents that perch over huge granite boulders in the Namibian desert.
Decadently designed to evoke old-world safari charm, inside the tents have been decorated with vintage maps, binoculars and telescopes.
Also on the shortlist is The Oberoi Marrakech, which is surrounded by lush gardens
Other projects on the shortlist include the Opus hotel in Dubai designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, which is set inside a cuboid glass building that's punctuated by an irregularly sha...