Royal Flush

Words by Wilfred Brandt

As any seasoned traveller will tell you, there’s nothing exciting about waking up in ‘another room in another city’. You want to visit places that are full of character, and stay in hotels that reflect a city’s own unique personality and charm. One such city is Portland Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.A - and now, the ‘City of Roses’ has a hotel that is packed with local flavour.

Covering three floors and an entire city block in the former Clyde Hotel, the Ace Hotel Portland was designed to be more than just a great snapshot backdrop. “We want our guests to wake up in their rooms and feel immediately that they’re in Portland, and couldn’t be anywhere else”, says Alex Calderwood, who opened the hotel with Seattle friends Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick earlier this year. The trio have done a thorough job.

First, they hired local artists to help decorate the 79 unique rooms, and set up an exhibition and event space for locals on the ground floor, named The Cleaners, (after Peacock Drycleaners, the previous occupant). Next, they coaxed hip chefs from popular local eateries to open new digs herein (Ken Gordon and Nick Zutin from Ken’s Place, and Jason Barwikowski of Ripe and Simpatica). Numerous local businesses were enlisted, like 100-year-old Pendleton Woollen Mills (who manufactured bedspreads emblazoned with downtown Portland’s iconic Thompson Elk statue), and Schoolhouse Electric (providing handmade light fixtures for the hallway, a trade they’ve plied for over 150 years). And of course, no Pacific Northwest hotel would be complete without a coffee shop. So award-winning locals Stumptown Coffee Roasters are in the house (one of more than 100 independent coffee shops in Portland).

But the designers did more than just hire some local help. They captured the vibe of this strange city in the Cascade Mountains, a place caught between big city sophisticates and Twin Peaks eccentrics. Often overshadowed by nearby Seattle and Vancouver, Portland has a unique sensibility, a rich cultural history and a vibrant indie arts and music scene, fuelled by cheap rents and a bohemian atmosphere (Stephen Malkmus, Elliott Smith, Britt Daniels, Chuck Palahniuk, Gus Van Sant, The Shins and The Dandy Warhols have all called PDX home). Strong environmental beliefs are evidenced by the proliferation of bike lanes and vegan eateries. And beer-loving hoons rejoice. A thriving foodie culture and some relaxed free speech laws make Portland home to both the largest concentration in the U.S. of microbreweries AND strip clubs - 56 at last count. Awesome.

The Ace Portland doesn’t have strippers, but it does have that DIY, enviro-friendly, blue-collar rock-and-roll Portland ethic down pat. Designers utilized salvaged materials to reduce waste, making desks from recovered timber, stools from wooden apple boxes, laundry bags from U.S. mailbags, and covering the lobby’s lounges in vintage army canvas. Bedside tables are made from stacks of used books, and a giant, well-stocked bookshelf in the lobby make reference to Powell’s City of Books, a local institution and the world’s largest new and used bookstore (6300 square metres - just one block away from The Ace). The reception has bike repair kits, as well as stylish Jorg & Olif bikes for guests to scoot around town. But it’s the city’s music scene that’s really represented. As Portland is renowned for its record stores, fourteen of the suites come with turntables to listen to your day’s purchases. Plans are in the works for vending machines that sell guitar strings. And band rooms are available for touring acts, suitably wallpapered in flyers for past Portland rock shows. With bunk beds and a shared bath for $85 U.S. a night, even the most starving of artists can afford this. Even with all these new additions, much of The Clyde’s original character has remained intact, with original features like polished wood panelling, deep cast-iron roll-top baths, patterned mosaic-tiled flooring, and ceiling mouldings. For a glimpse of what it looked like back then, watch Gus Van Sant’s ‘Drugstore Cowboy’. Matt Dillon’s character stayed in room 428.

This one-of-a-kind hotel is actually the second in a series from Calderwood, Weigel, and Herrick. The 28-room Ace Seattle opened in 1999, and there are plans for San Francisco and Minneapolis. Yet each Ace is individually designed to emulate the local environment, and the trio hope to create a cultural exchange between visitors and locals. They also aim to make hotels where their friends would want to stay; designers, musos, artists, and architects, whether they’re flush with cash or flat broke. Hence they’re named after the ace card, which is either the highest or lowest in the deck. Posh patrons can sleep in the deluxe suite for $250 a night, while a rock band bunks downstairs for $85.

It’s easy to see why The New York Times called The Ace Portland, ‘The country’s most original new hotel’. It certainly offers more than just another room in another city, and if you’re looking for a hotel with character and charm, The Ace Portland has got both in spades.