It’s once again time for Lodging Hospitality’s annual Design Awards competition. The Design Awards will run in the April 15 print issue and we need your help identifying the year’s best hotel and resort design.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 25. Design firms, brand companies, property owners and operators or their public relations representatives may submit nominations. If you are representing a brand or large portfolio, please pick out the one or two best projects and don’t send multiple nominations.

The contest is open to any hotel or resort in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean that completed construction or major renovation projects during the 2010 calendar year. We’ll consider all projects, big and small, as long as they are examples of innovative, impressive, effective and/or efficient design.

As a reminder, this is an informal contest, meant to showcase projects that caught our eyes during the year, or ones that should have. There are no fees to enter, or rewards for that matter, other than a feature in our magazine. The editorial staff determines the properties to be honored.

Nominations must include basic design and property details, including: name and location of the property and development or ownership group; date of completion, cost and scope of project; lead architect and lead design firm involved; description of the property (amount of rooms, other major features and highlights); a summary of the design theme, some examples of what makes it stand above the rest and any challenges overcome.

Nominations also must include five to eight images of the property, including at least one exterior shot, one lobby shot and one guestroom shot. Low-resolution images are acceptable, but award winners will ultimately need to provide high resolution versions for print publication. If press releases and media kits include all the above information, they are acceptable as a nomination. There is no formal nomination form, just make sure you include all the requested information and materials.

Please email nominations to LH Managing Editor Eric Stoessel at eric.stoessel@penton.com or mail them to The Penton Media Bldg, Lodging Hospitality, 1300 E. 9th St., Cleveland, OH 44114 by Friday, March 25. Images can be sent via email, CD or DVD, flash drive or through an online file sharing program.