AHEAD, the Awards for Hospitality Experience and Design, has revealed its winners in a ceremony at Andaz Singapore.
Celebrating the most ambitious and innovative hotels across Asia, winners include a Singaporean warehouse conversion, a Tokyo boutique instilled with Japanese craftsmanship, and an art-infused escape in Australian wine country.
In a colourful ceremony held at the newly opened, André Fu-designed Andaz Singapore, winners were announced to a room full of industry leaders, innovators and commentators.
The night was hosted by Sleeper’s Editor-at-Large Guy Dittrich, with Awards Director Matt Turner opening proceedings.
The projects were judged on the excellence of their aesthetics, guest experience and commercial viability by a panel of hoteliers, architects, interior designers and industry experts – chaired by Guy Heywood, Chief Operating Officer at Alila Hotels & Resorts.
The winners are:
Bar, Club or Lounge – Red Sugar at Kerry Hotel, Hong Kong, China
Event Spaces – Vommuli House Nature Discovery Center at St. Regis Maldives, Republic of Maldives
Guestrooms – The Warehouse Hotel, Singapore
Hotel Renovation & Restoration – Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, Singapore
Landscape & Outdoor Spaces – VUE Hotel Houhai Beijing, China
Lobby & Public Spaces – The Warehouse Hotel, Singapore
Resort Hotel – Alila Yangshuo, Guilin, China
Restaurant – Brasserie at Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto, Japan
Spa & Wellness – Spa Alila at Alila Yangshuo, Guilin, China
Suite – John Jacob Astor Estate at St. Regis Maldives, Republic of Maldives
Urban Hotel – Conversion – The Warehouse Hotel, Singapore
Urban Hotel – Newbuild – Kerry Hotel, Hong Kong, China
Outstanding Contribution – Priya Paul, The Park Hotels
Visual Identity of the Year – Jackalope, Victoria, Australia
New Concept of the Year – Trunk (Hotel), Tokyo, Japan
The AHEAD Asia Hotel of the Year – The Warehouse Hotel, Singapore
Winners took home bespoke trophies in hand-blown glass designed and manufactured by Lasvit, while headline sponsor Grohe – along with a host of other supporters – helped victors celebrate into the evening.
The four regional heats – Asia, Americas, MEA and Europe – will culminate in a Global Biennale 2019, which will see the winners compete head-to-head to decide a worldwide winner in each category.
