"What's this place all about? The Ace Hotel is the coolest kid in town (as it is everywhere it pops up ), a magnet for the edgy, daring, hip, bohemian, and creatively inclined—sort of like if Wallpaper magazine had an affair with a really great hostel. Centrally positioned in downtown’s trendy West End neighborhood, the hotel has minimalist rooms that come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of privacy (some have bunk beds and shared baths). They're decorated with furniture made from repurposed military canvas, vintage record players, and murals by local artists. Not only does The Ace hold the main downtown outpost of iconic third-wave coffee roasters Stumptown , but it also has Clyde Common, a buzzy, boisterous restaurant that will capture your fun-loving heart and probably a significant percentage of your cocktail budget too. Who's checking in here? Young hip things, advertising executives, creative types, and Stumptown-sipping Instagram influencers getting that perfect lobby shot. The good stuff: Tell us about the rooms. There’s a room for every type of traveler here—from budget-friendly three-bunk shared triples with communal hallway bathrooms, to 500-square-foot king suites with wraparound couches and clawfoot tubs. A good compromise on size and privacy, Junior Deluxe Rooms have queen beds, private bathrooms, 32” flat screens, and hip touches like record players and original art (cat lovers, request Room 415, well known for its floor-to-ceiling mural of Portland illustrator Brent Wick’s cat, Larry). How about the little details? What should we know? Wi-Fi is free, dogs are welcome, and there are bikes for both borrowing (the regular ones) and renting (the custom-made ones by Jordan Hufnagel). What's the story with dining and drinking? No need to make coffee in your room unless you really really want to—as we said, one of Stumptown’s most popular (and most Instagrammed) locations is just off the lobby, and will brew you the perfect pour over. Morning meal-wise, head for the breakfast nook (formerly room 215), where $12 will get you a generous European-style breakfast of bread, cheese, dry-cured meats, housemade pickles, fresh jams, granola, and, of course, more Stumptown coffee. Dinner at the hotel's James Beard Award-nominated bar and restaurant, Clyde Common, is normally a boisterous affair, fueled by longtime bartender and industry icon Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s peerless craft cocktails and serious whiskey list, handwritten in meticulous script on the west wall by Morgenthaler, who majored in architecture before becoming a star on the spirits scene. These days, Clyde Common has been temporarily reimagined as Clyde Tavern and Common Market; the Tavern tackles happy hour and dinner Wednesday through Saturday, serving a curated list of Morgenthaler's greatest hits alongside chef Chris DiMinno's expert twists on comfort food classics—French fries buried in a rich lamb-pork sugo and three kinds of cheese, crispy-skinned roast chicken with creamy kale and local chanterelles, Calabrian chile-spiced Dungeness crab spaghettini, and the beloved house burger. And while you may not be able to sit at the bar and shoot the breeze with Morgenthaler all night over barrel-aged Negronis, you can end your meal with the undoubtedly soon-to-be-famous Morgenthaler’s Chocolate Chip Cookie. What else is in the neighborhood? Across the street from the Ace, Union Way, Portland’s answer to Diagon Alley, sits in plain sight. The beautiful skylight-illuminated, succulent-lined, blonde wood breezeway is still struggling to find its retail legs, but is just the spot for a bowl of Boxer Ramen’s shiitake shoyu followed by Wailua Shave Ice’s Lava Flow, drenched in fresh pineapple juice and capped with coconut foam and a strawberry puree drizzle. Continue through the brief passageway until you hit busy Burnside—just across the street lies Powell's City of Books, every bibliophiles’ one-million tome utopia. What's the bottom line? More than any other hotel in the city, this is where you’re living your most authentic Portland life—hipster lobby coffee hangouts, eclectic wall art, incredible cocktail slinging, vintage photo booth, and all." - Jen Stevenson
