Ace Hotels takes a unique approach to the hotel experience. Their hotels combine local flavor, vintage aesthetics, and great service to provide guests with a simple, comfortable place to call home.
Our favorite part? The turntables and records in select rooms.
We had a chance to ask Alex Calderwood, owner and co-founder of Ace Hotels, just how turntables found their way to the guest rooms. Check out the full interview below to learn more.
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Tell us a bit about your first experience with records and turntables. What did you love about them?
I remember being very young + listening to an Alice Cooper album with my brother. My parents freaked out. Those were good times. There is something special about bringing home a record, unpacking it, taking in the art, reading the lyrics, listing to the album beginning to end...
Something about that process has gotten lost....
Do you collect records? Tell us a bit about your collection.
Yes. Very eclectic. I used to have a ritual where every Saturday, I'd have a lazy breakfast + go record shopping. Especially at Golden Oldies in Seattle. The woman who owned it had an encyclopedic knowledge of music and was great to talk to.
Where did the idea to have turntables in the rooms come from?
Portland is full of vinyl junkies and has great shopping. When we were building to hotel there, we envisioned some guests coming to town to record shop.
We thought, how great would it be to find some rare jewel in an obscure record shop, and being able to come back to the hotel and give it a listen?
I know you use the Music Hall MM42LE in your hotels. How did you select this model?
There is a small, independent audiophile store in Portland near the hotel. Wade and I saw the Music Hall there.
We loved the lo-fi aesthetic...The simplicity of it.
How has the response from customers been?
They love it. We gets tons of requests for these rooms. Recently, a Japanese furniture designer, whose work we've admired for years, checked in to the NY hotel. I went to his rooms to greet him. He had his feet up, smoking a cigarette, and was listening to a Rolling Stone's album.
It was greet to see him feeling so at home.
What kind of records are in the rooms and how many? How do you go about selecting these?
Around 3-5 records in each room. Eclectic mix. The Ace Atelier staff hand picks them. The idea is geared toward people who LOVE music, beyond the confines of genre.
Do you provide any unique services for guests who are into vinyl?
Yes, this is something we do. Recently, Sonic Youth + Ace teamed up to create a culture guide for Ace hotels. And we are in the process of creating a partnership with Other Music in NY....
Hopefully soon, there will be a selection of their "staff picks" for sale at the front desk.
To someone just getting into records, any words of wisdom?
Sit back, relax + enjoy.
To someone who has never experienced records, any words of wisdom?
Check it out. You won't be sorry.
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To Analog Apartment readers, Alex noted, "We have a great staff....They can guide you to all the best music spots. Music is a part of Ace on every level." That sounds exactly like our type of hotel.
Thanks again to Alex and the team over at Ace Hotels for sharing this story with Analog Apartment.
To learn more or to book your next visit to Portland, Seattle, New York, or Palm Springs at an Ace Hotel, stop by their website
here.
Love the design of these rooms? Check out the new MIRF designed rooms here.
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