Ace Hotel
Ace Hotel is a chain of hotels originally founded in Seattle, Washington. It operates hotels in Seattle, Portland, New York and Palm Springs. Ace has been called “the country’s most original” hotel [1] by the New York Times, and a “mega-chain waiting to happen” [2] by Wallpaper (magazine).
History
The first Ace Hotel opened in 1999. Friends Alex Calderwood, Wade Weigel, and Doug Herrick purchased and transformed a Seattle halfway house into an affordable hotel that would appeal to the creative class. Calderwood and Weigel had previously founded Rudy's, a barbershop concept they started in Seattle that eventually expanded to more than a dozen West Coast locations, and a marketing and advertising company known as "Neverstop".
In 2007, Jack Barron joined the team, and a second hotel was opened in Portland, followed by properties in Palm Springs in 2009 [3] & New York in 2010.[4]
Operations
Properties
According to Calderwood, the style and furnishing of each Ace property is designed to reflect its location, with an eye towards re-imagining properties that are “challenged.” [5]
- Ace Hotel Seattle is a former Salvation Army halfway house located in the Belltown neighborhood.
- Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs, CA is a converted Howard Johnson motel, and King's Highway, the hotel's on-site diner, is a converted Denny's. There are two bars, the Amigo Room, and poolside, the Short Bus. The hotel was originally a Westward Ho prior to being a Howard Johnson. The remodel was a collaboration with L.A.-based design firm, Commune.
- Ace Hotel Portland occupies the former Clyde Hotel in downtown Portland. In its former incarnation, the hotel's lobby served as the setting for a scene from the film Drugstore Cowboy. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[6]
- Ace Hotel New York worked with Roman and Williams [7] to redesign the former Hotel Breslin, a 1904 building in Midtown Manhattan. This location features a Stumptown Coffee and Chef April Bloomfield's [8] Michelin-starred The Breslin [9] restaurant.
Growth
Calderwood has stated his goal is to open a new Ace Hotel every "one to two years." Ace Hotels have confirmed to build a hotel in Los Angeles.
In popular culture
The 2011 episode "Blunderbuss" of the sketch comedy series Portlandia had a sketch set at the "Deuce Hotel", where the obnoxiously hip staff hand out complimentary turntables and typewriters to all guests;[10] it was a parody specifically of the Portland Ace Hotel.[11]
References
- ^ "Portland's Retro Fit Hotel". travel.newyorktimes.com. 25 March 2007.
- ^ "Aceventure". www.acehotel.com/press. May June 1999.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Sunday CEO: Alex Calderwood, Ace Hotel & Swim Club". The Desert Sun. February 1, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) [dead link] - ^ McKeough, Tim (December 31, 2008). "Shopping With Alex Calderwood and Robin Standefer". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Torline, Monica. "Aces high on pop culture", The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, 1 October 2009.
- ^ "Ace's Sense of Place". Portland Tribune. May 29, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Style & Substance". Metropolis. 22 July 2009.
- ^ "The Breslin's Little Britain". VillageVoice.com. January 12, 2010.
- ^ "Diet Someplace Else". Nymag.com. January 24, 2010.
- ^ "Blunderbuss" review, The A.V. Club, February 18, 2011
- ^ Portlandia: Over | Flyer Wars | Deuce Hotel, Anne Adams, Portland Monthly Culturephile blog, March 1, 2011
External links
