Ace Hotel

Last week I met my friend at the Ace Hotel for coffee.  Totally curious to check out. 

I walked inside the hotel and Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Love was blasting in the lobby.  Not sure that is my first choice for lobby music but that's ok as the next song moved into the indie world. 

The location is not as strange as it used to be.  Located on 29th between Broadway and Fifth Avenue.  Although located in the area of wholesale shlock there are new restaurants popping up on Fifth Avenue, the large Eataly that Joe Bastianich is bringing to 23rd Street, a variety of renovated buildings to live in and centrally located near many subways.  The neighborhood will certainly be a very different place a few years from now.

Ace Hotels come out of Portland, Oregon and there is definitely the feeling of Northwest paired down hip like Williamsburg in Brooklyn.  Not really high end like the Mercer Hotel but there is an air of hipster mixed with an antique look that doesn't cost a lot.  I didn't get a chance to check out the rooms but that is the feeling in the lobby.

Stumptown, the first outpost in NYC, from Portland, is the local coffee joint.  I had a coffee.  Good but not 9th Avenue Expresso.  What is going to be more interesting is when the restaurant open up.  Peter Cho will be the chef overseeing the restaurant which is an extension of the April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman partnership from the Spotted Pig.  

The place was certainly buzzing.