Gorilla Forest Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary, Bwindi National Park, Uganda
Nestled within Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Gorilla Forest Lodge, an A&K sanctuary, took home the Lodges, Cabins & Tented Camps award at AHEAD MEA 2026.
Reimagined by Luxury Frontiers, the ten-room lodge replaces its former tented accommodation with thoughtfully crafted suites that draw inspiration from the surrounding rainforest and local building traditions. Papyrus-thatched roofs, thick earthen walls and natural materials create a strong connection to the landscape, while the work of Ugandan artisans brings depth and character to the interiors. More than 500 hand-carved timber handles, woven banana-fibre ceilings and intricate beadwork celebrate regional craftsmanship, with bespoke lighting installations incorporating over 120,000 beads. The result is a richly textured yet understated retreat that places its extraordinary natural setting at the centre of the guest experience.
The judges praised the lodge's “profound sense of place”, describing the experience as “immersive, deeply authentic and quietly moving”. Celebrating its sensitive approach to architecture, craftsmanship and conservation, they hailed the project as “a benchmark for how luxury and environmental responsibility can coexist in harmony”.
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RH Contract provides a business-to-business partnership like no other in the industry. With our multi-category product assortment, unparalleled product design and curation capabilities, uniquely integrated interior design approach, the benefits of RH’s purchasing power, and our global supply chain and logistics scale, RH Contract has proven to be a unique, valuable project partner.
Preciosa Lighting elevates the heritage of Bohemian crystal through contemporary lighting designs since 1724. The company is built on centuries of tradition and the unique art of master glassmakers from Crystal Valley. We honour this heritage and craftsmanship by creating innovative lighting products that stand the test of time.
Our lighting styles range from individual luxury lighting to dynamic and interactive installations. As a global company, Preciosa cooperates with designers worldwide to create exclusive lights that reflect our spirit. Our historic chandeliers and contemporary projects can be found in hotels, resorts, fine restaurants, luxury residences, cultural institutions and on board yachts and cruise ships in locations as varied as New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Moscow or London.
Preciosa Lighting can create unrivaled emotional experiences by combining the traditional art form of chandelier craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. This knowledge is what drives our intention to unveil the symbolic as well as the aesthetic power of decorative lighting. It led us to create Preciosa’s Signature Designs which are highlighted by countless customization possibilities to perfectly fit the owner’s desires.
Signature Designs are authentic, timeless, and celebrate design. We are inspired by the allure of crystal combined with light. Creative craftsmanship is evident through the versatility of each light; customizable for space and its uses. Preciosa’s advanced use of technology is seen in every element of the design. They present contemporary styles with a timeless quality.
KALDEWEI – your worldwide partner for iconic bathroom solutions shaped from superior steel enamel. KALDEWEI’s extensive range of bathtubs, shower surfaces, and washbasins are ideally suited to the demands of the hospitality industry delivering an increased level of health and wellbeing awareness for your hotel. The smooth, non-porous glass surface not only gives you security against germs and dirt but is also the material of the future. KALDEWEI steel enamel is made of 100% natural materials and is 100% recyclable, so it’s good for your guests and the planet too.
To learn more visit KALDEWEI.com
Founded in 1892 in Switzerland, LAUFEN has become one of the world's leading companies for sanitary ceramics. Today LAUFEN Bathrooms provided integrated bathroom concepts with high-quality products, ranging from sanitary ceramics to bathtubs and shower trays, furniture, faucets, and accessories.
Five Principles of Lutron
Over the years, our business has continued to grow dramatically, both domestically and internationally. We began with only two products and now provide over 15,000 products to our global customers. Lutron’s success is a result of the strong principles and philosophies, which guide our growth. Our founder, Joel Spira, developed five principles: These principles guide each of us in the business decisions we make each day.
Take care of the customer with superior goods and services.
Take care of the company.
Take care of the people.
Innovate with high quality products.
Deliver value to the customer.
Designing and manufacturing everything in bathrooms.
Roca began life as a family business manufacturing cast iron radiators at a factory in Gavà, near Barcelona in 1917. Over the years, the portfolio gradually expanded and by 1929, Roca entered the bathroom environment for the first time. With an attentive focus on social changes, Roca has since been pioneering when tackling issues surrounding sustainability, design, and technology, and remains at the forefront of these innovations today. Today, Roca reaches over 170 countries, supplied by 76 production plants with more than 20,000 employees worldwide. After one hundred years, Roca is still proud to call itself a family business.
Villeroy & Boch, formed in 1748, is a leading ceramics manufacturer steeped in European culture and history, and one of the biggest international premium brands in the areas of bathrooms and wellness.
Villeroy & Boch offers the finest and most innovative bathroom products and furnishing concepts for both private customers and property developers. The company is a pioneer in the realm of ceramic product design and innovation. Villeroy & Boch beautiful, high-quality products are hallmarks of French design flair and German engineering efficiency.
For 30 years Gessi has been designing and creating concepts to enhance the use and benefits of water with the commitment to realise the aspirations of style, personalisation, physical and mental wellbeing of individuals in the most private of living spaces. Creating a new sector, the Private Wellness sector, Gessi has transformed places that were previously utilitarian into environments capable of exciting and regenerating those who live in them on a daily basis.
Created in a zero impact green park, the company's creations bring a message of beauty, love of nature, attention and safety for the user into the homes of those who choose them. The serenity and passion with which they are made, engraved in each object, give a positive vibration to whoever uses and enjoys them.
A global reference for lifestyle, innovation, design and sustainability, the Gessi collections furnish the world's most beautiful hotels, public spaces, yachts and private homes.
With its brands hansgrohe and AXOR, the Hansgrohe Group, based in Germany, enjoys a reputation as a leader in innovation, design and quality within the bath and kitchen industry. The 120-year plus history of the company is marked by innovations, such as the first hand-held shower with multiple spray types, the first pull-out kitchen faucet, and the first wall bar to hold a hand-held shower. Hansgrohe stands for long-lasting quality products and for responsibility towards people and the environment. Hansgrohe is a reliable partner to its customers worldwide, where countless projects show how hansgrohe showers turn the hotel bathroom into an oasis of wellness or how AXOR bathroom collections created in collaboration with international designers, complete the furnishing of a luxurious hotel, villa or high-end residential home. AXOR brand inspires, constructs and produces taps, showerheads and accessories for luxurious bathrooms and kitchens to perfection. While hansgrohe brand offers premium assortments in showers, faucets, washbasins, furniture and accessories. The company, its brands and products have collectively won more than 600 awards since 1974. Hansgrohe will continue to develop ground-breaking solutions that not only shape the flow of water but also enhance user’s daily interaction with it.
Guided by clients’ vision, VISO harnesses the transformative power of light, metal and stone in design to engineer and manufacture exceptional products, service, and quality.
Their integrated design approach and innovative manufacturing methods, empowers their teams to collaborate closely with the Architecture & Design community. These partnerships enable them to turn their clients’ original design intent into a stunning reality. They are well positioned in Toronto, Lisbon, Miami, Riyadh and Dubai for their team of highly trained professionals and partners to ensure seamless project lifecycle for all stakeholders.
What makes the wheel spin is their thirst for collaboration. Collaboration is the cornerstone of VISO’s operations. They pride themselves on merging creativity with technical proficiency to achieve exceptional outcomes. By pushing the boundaries of innovation, they craft unique and visually captivating experiences that stand the test of time.
Founded 25 years ago, leaders Filipe Lisboa and Tzetzy Naydenova continue to drive the company forward fearlessly to solve complex, large-scale interior and exterior lighting, metal and stone installations, and artistic sculptures. With their dynamic leadership, nothing is impossible for VISO.
We’re the leading B2B media company in hospitality design
We create content and commercial solutions to connect communities developing exceptional hospitality experiences around the world. We’ve been publishing beautiful magazines, curating exceptional events and crafting online content since our launch in 1999.
TOPHOTELPROJECTS is the heart of a global community of suppliers and decision-makers which initiates and supports the communication relating to building, design, furnishing, and operation of hotels.
We are a German research firm covering global hotel constructions, that over a decade branched out into hospitality events, media, and hotel design.
No other company comes close in supporting the hotel industry by efficiently combining different business areas into one integrated solution.
Ever since the hotel industry veteran Rolf W. Schmidt founded the company in 2009, our core activity is building the world’s most comprehensive directory of:
We took the complex, ever-evolving global hospitality industry and introduced it to our German sense of efficiency and sheer hard work.
Our research team of some 25 experienced professionals spends 1,800 hours a month researching hotel projects around the world.
Our database has been 10 years in the making, during which we gathered information on over 24,000 hotel projects and 120,000 related companies. Currently, our database has information on more than 6,500 ongoing hotel projects worldwide – important details included.
TOPHOTELPROJECTS today represents an exhaustive, ever-growing network of professionals from all major sectors of the hospitality industry: owners, developers, investors, brands, operators, architects, designers, and suppliers.
In 2019, TOPHOTELPROJECTS and Sleeper Media signed a strategic partnership with mutual co-investment. This partnership combines digital expertise and in-depth data of TOPHOTELPROJECTS with Sleeper Media’s leading hospitality offerings. It is all about synergy and a win for all sectors of the industry.