UAE-based MMAC Design Associates has recently been appointed as interior designer on two new Marriott properties – a five-star hotel and serviced apartment in Uganda and a four-star hotel in Senegal. Other African projects of the award-winning design team at MMAC include the acclaimed Hyatt Taghazout, Morocco and the French-colonial inspired luxury retreat for Kempinski on Mahe Island, Seychelles.

MMAC has a number of hotels under design and construction in the region, Christian Merieau, Managing Director/ Partner at MMAC Design, tells Gulf Construction.

These include the four-star Embassy by Hilton and the five-star Kempinski hotel as well as serviced apartments in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and partial refurbishment of the five-star Rotana in Al Ain, UAE,  which are under design.  It is also responsible for the design of a number of hotels which are under construction, namely the four-star Barcello – The Palm, the four-star Millennium Mirdif Hills, the three-star Hotel Rove at La Mer and at City Walk, in Dubai, and the partial refurbishment of the four-star Rotana in Fujairah, all in the UAE. 

The rooftop bar at the Marriott Hotel and Executive Apartments.

Turning to the African projects, he says the five-star Marriott Hotel and Executive Apartments is located in Nsambya, an upscale hillside neighbourhood of Kampala, the capital and largest city in Uganda.

This 258-key, double-tower complex draws guests across a transition from old to new Uganda. The urban buzz and vibrant colours of local fashionistas mixes with African heritage in a lobby design that brings the Ugandan hut into an oversized contemporary great room. The native Mutuba tree provides inspiration for the lobby design and its sustainable bark cloth will find its place in the hotel furnishings. 

“This century’s old traditional practice is one of the first known methods of making fabric. An eco-certified process makes bark cloth an exceptional material rooted both in the past and in the future,” says Merieau.

Food and beverage (F&B) outlets are the main attraction at this exquisite new Marriott destination and include a ground floor African grill restaurant, a lobby lounge, café and juice bar, a dedicated sports bar, and a casual lounge pool bar.

“The upscale spa and health club with sophisticated, minimal and clean lines will offer an invigorating yet sensual experience.

Meanwhile in Senegal, the Four Points by Sheraton – located in the new city of Diamandio, 30 km outside the capital, Dakar, is a new development to revitalise the local economy.

The hotel with its 175 keys, elegant lobby and lounge bar, spacious 115-seat restaurant with show kitchen and shaded terrace, four large meeting rooms, wellness centre and outdoor pool is expected be a new landmark in the upcoming Diamadio Sports City.

“The hotel will provide uncomplicated and comfortable interiors where timeless classicism is intertwined with subtitle African details. The natural beauty of Senegal shines through the property with the use of sustainably sourced materials such as driftwood, rattan and natural rope,” he says.