ACE HOTEL PORTLAND: Everything you need and nothing you don’t

During a trip to Portland, my husband and I stayed at the perpetually hip Ace Hotel in the Pearl District. It was too cool for school, but we enjoyed our stay. The Ace exists in it’s own category of boutique American hotels - a place where style, utility, sustainability and art coexist. The hotel aims to be a counterpoint to the slick, sterile, cookie cutter hotels with its comfortable minimalism and sense of humor.

The Ace Hotel attracts the creative types with tight wallets as well as the more affluent travelers willing to “step down” in exchange for

the hipness factor. Service is limited, meaning no room service and you’ll schlep your own bag. Some of the hotel’s amenities do include an interesting selection of "in room" snacks, free wifi and Macbooks available for use by the guests in the common area. A pair of Dutch made Jorg & Olif bikes are available to borrow in the lobby, allowing the opportunity to explore this bike friendly city more intimately, yet cover a significant amount of area.


Every room is designed by a different artist, going against the grain of uniformity common in most chain and boutique hotels. Standard rooms consist of beds made from 100% organic natural materials and covered with army colored Pendleton wool bedspreads. The army theme continues with reconditioned field desks serving as guest workspaces and housing old record players (borrow vinyl from the front desk). Stacks of second hand books are used for bedside tables, an old trunk for a coffee table and US mailbags have been repurposed as laundry bags. In keeping with a small ecological footprint, materials were salvaged from the formerly run-down building. Bathtubs, signs and doorknobs were restored and reused.


At any given time of day, the lounge area in the lobby is frequented by artists, designers, musicians and the like who are staying at the hotel or are just enjoying a Cup o’ Joe from Stumptown Coffee Roasters which flanks one side of the lobby. Clyde Common, a happening restaurant and bar, is accessed from the lobby as well. Powell’s, one of the greatest bookstores in the world, is less than a block away.

The Ace Hotel
1022 SW Stark St
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 228-2277
Locations also in Seattle, New York City and Palm Springs.