Ace Hotel Portland | Atelier Ace

Ace Hotel Portland occupies a city block in the heart of an emerging neighborhood of Downtown Portland bordering the Pearl District once known as the Gay Triangle. The building has been a hotel since it was built in 1912 and was previously known as the Clyde Hotel. Many original details, like the deep cast-iron roll-top baths and capacious sinks, have been retained and refurbished. With its large windows and high ceilings, the 79-room hotel is characterized by ample proportions, luminous spaces and a reassuring sense of early twentieth century brawn.

Portland is something of a retro mecca — a haven for architects seeking reclaimed building materials, record collectors hunting down rare vinyl or stylists looking for inspiration from vintage clothing. Ace's team is informed by this Portland tradition and sources many quirky, vintage moments for guest rooms locally. Elegantly disheveled yet uncluttered, comfortable and bohemian, not one room in Ace Hotel is alike.

The result is that the rooms don't look like hotel rooms, but rather more like how you might want to have your own home. There's a home-like sense of comfort as well, felt in the choice of mattress to the roomy sofas. Accommodations offer a variety of options from huge, airy deluxe rooms to more affordable options — nicknamed ‘band rooms’ for the touring band on a budget — with bunk beds and shared baths.

Ace Hotel Portland also boasts a Stumptown Coffee Roasters, an in-house restaurant and bar, conference room, and a dedicated exhibition and event facility. The Cleaners — the hotel event space — boasts ceiling-high windows that flood the space with natural daylight. Previously occupied by Peacock Dry Cleaners, the space hosts a regular program of parties, pop-up shops, concerts, benefits and exhibitions by local and international artists and designers.

Room 101, our conference space, is outfitted with an oversized leather-bound table that seats up to fifteen, an HD projector and screen, WiFi, conference phone, water cooler and ample pin up boards and butcher paper for note-taking, and office supplies available for purchase. Catering by Stumptown and Clyde Common is available.

The sunny lobby is distinguished by lovingly restored original wood-paneling, patterned mosaic tile flooring and vaulted ceiling. The reception desk is casually arranged and partly hidden behind a floor-toceiling lacquered bookshelf so as not to dominate the space. The bookshelf offers a library of classic fiction as well as some of Ace Hotel’s curated retail offerings. The main lobby area features generously proportioned, comfortable sofas covered in vintage army canvas.

Replacing the standard hotel format of a bed with headboard in the middle of the room, the Ace team created special ‘softboards’ — covered in vintage olive green canvas culled from recycled army ponchos.

They offer a comfortable surface on which to lounge or recline, while allowing a more creative use of the space. The army surplus theme continues with the use of reconditioned field-desks in some of the rooms.

The mattresses were sourced from organic bedding makers Suite Sleep, using their environmentallyfriendly Green Sleep range. They are constructed of 100% organic natural rubber latex which has excellent durability, elasticity and stability as well as heat and moisture regulation.

In larger rooms, roomy sofas (which also function as day beds) are covered in the same vintage canvas as the softboards.

Vintage elements in rooms include salvaged wooden apple boxes (a classic photo studio prop) and stacks of second-hand books as bedside tables, while US domestic mailbags with their distinctive printed graphics have been requisitioned as laundry bags.

Bathrooms feature the original cast-iron roll-top baths and sinks, restored and reconditioned, which date back to the hotel’s 1912 origins. Floor-to-ceiling shower curtains make a feature of the hotel’s high ceilings.

Rooms at Ace Hotel Portland feature work by locally and internationally recognized artists as well as work generated by Ace Hotel’s in-house graphic team. Kenzo Minami and Brent Wick are examples of artists with work in rooms at Ace Hotel Portland.

Kenzo Minami, originally from Kobe, Japan, currently resides in New York City. His distinctive style has resulted in collaborations with Raf Simons, Nike, Flaunt, Visionaire Gallery, Colette, Compost Records, XLR8R and and Ernest Sewn among many others. His original work can be found in room 428.

Brent Wick is a local emerging street artist and skateboarder who has worked with Adrenalin Skateboards, Foundation and Slap Magazine and exhibited at Anti-Social in Vancouver BC and Auto Gallery in Oakland. Brent is on a mission to make his cat, Larry, famous. Larry is featured in murals in room 415 and 228.