10/10 Exceptional
The Ace Hotel went above and beyond- I had to let people know- A great place but not for everyone, I'll explain below, but for most, it's wonderful.
I stayed for a night with my fiance, for her birthday. I'm pretty poor- I'm a small scale furniture maker and my fiance works at a nursery. I made a few good sales and had some money due to Christmas- I really wanted to make this weekend work out. We live in Portland but like many people who live in East Portland we hardly hang around on the west side, so I figured this would be interesting- a night at a cool hotel then I would bring her shopping for some much needed new clothes. It worked out- well, mainly because of the Ace and their lovely staff. I became better acquainted with my city's other side.
A few guests are calling this a "glorified hostel" or finishing with "I should have stayed at the Hilton". If you prefer no surprises, nothing interesting, just comfortable monotony, then I agree, go to the Hilton. The Hilton is really nice and I too prefer the Hilton, but not when places like the Ace are nearby. If you're in Portland for business and you wish you weren't in Portland for business because you are so so tired of all of the "hipsters" (a word that square folks use as often as the "hipsters" fling around "yuppie" with no actual understanding of individual people... Don't let everyone's weird vitriol concerning "hipsters" shy you away. Portland's amorphous group of "hipsters" are people from every walk of life, and they're the people that give Portland a unique feel, they don't make everything happen, far from it- there are people of all types in Portland. However, much in the same way that the hippies made an already wonderful San Francisco even more lovely, and a little less like every other city, Portland's hipsters are doing the same. Portland has a feel, some consider it pretentious or contrived, but this is only until you scratch that surface and get to know the people a little better.) maybe this isn't for you.
Some rooms share bathrooms- these rooms are very reasonably priced. If you're the type of person that says "Glorified hostel.... I'd rather stay at the Hilton" you should probably spring for a room with a bathroom, they have many of these (bathroom status is clearly marked on the website for reference while booking). It isn't like you are showering with strangers or there are two of you going number two together... the bathrooms are fine, you still have privacy and they're really clean.
The rooms can be a touch loud, mostly outside city noise, this is normal in interesting older hotels (they weren't as soundproofed) also you're DIRECTLY in the middle of the West Side of Portland- A perfect location. From one window you can see Powell's Books,a window on the other side of the hotel you can see a baffling number of food carts- literally over a city block full of food carts from . Oh, and while thinking of food, I did get a really pricey burger from Clyde Common, which is in the same building, and no hyperbole, this may have been THE BEST burger I've had, and I eat many burgers. The man who brought my food was very helpful, EVERYONE in this hotel seemed to care if I was enjoying my stay, I felt like some kind of VIP (I am definitely not). The staff at the front desk was very accommodating.
The Ace is the old Clyde Hotel building, still retaining some of the old hotel's charm. Some like the IDEA of being in an old hotel but really want a brand new room shoehorned into an old building. This isn't the Ace with its antique mosaic tile (so cool looking), original woodwork and brass. You cant truly have both old and new, but the Ace hits the mix about as perfectly as you could. If you want some reclaimed wood screwed here and there, go elsewhere, this is the real deal- this is the kind of place that is being torn apart and reclaimed for those other places, the kind of place we need to keep.
The Ace is really cool. It is hip, and that is great. Thanks Ace.