Hiddn in Addo Receives Five Star Award at African Property Awards
On 22 October 2026, Hiddn in Addo received a Five Star Award and was named Best Hotel Development South Africa at the 2026-2027 African Property Awards in London.
Bruce McNicol, Co-founder and Development Director of Terra Nova Create, accepted the award at the Royal Lancaster Hotel.
The result also confirms Hiddn as a nominee in the Hotel Development Africa category, taking the project forward to continental-level judging.
Recognition of the work beneath the finished lodge
An award is a moment of recognition. A successful hotel development is the result of years of decisions made before that moment arrives.
A lodge can be visually striking and still be difficult to build, challenging to operate, disconnected from its landscape or unable to perform as an enduring hospitality asset. The Hotel Development category considers the complete proposition: the land, planning, infrastructure, delivery and commercial logic behind the finished experience.
At Hiddn, that work began with understanding the land, the opportunities, the challenges and everything in between.
Before architecture could be resolved, the team had to establish what the site would allow; how access, infrastructure and construction logistics could be managed; and how the lodge could operate responsibly and reliably once open. Each decision shaped the next.
This continuity was central to Terra Nova Create’s role: carrying a single development vision from land scouting and feasibility through design oversight, delivery and operational readiness.
A project made by many hands
Bruce received the award in London, but the result belongs to a far wider group of people.
Our thanks go to Hiddn Group; Millennia Architects; Rennasance Construction; Synergy Property Solutions; MI Designs / Maurette Interiors; Bara Consulting; CA DuToit; Warren Lange and Hort Couture; MEWA; CEN Environmental Management Unit; and the many specialist consultants, suppliers, craftspeople and local teams whose expertise shaped Hiddn at every stage.
A project of this complexity is never created by one discipline alone. It depends on people who can solve difficult problems, challenge assumptions and remain committed to the shared outcome.
From South Africa to the Africa round
The Five Star Award is the country-level result. Hiddn now progresses as a nominee in the Hotel Development Africa category, where Five Star winners are rejudged to determine the continental winner.
It is an encouraging next chapter for the project. More importantly, it is an independent indication that the early decisions have held: a hospitality asset shaped by its landscape, built for its setting and designed to perform for the long term.
Hiddn remains a working example of Terra Nova Create’s development approach: land intelligence, infrastructure, design and delivery held together as one discipline.
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