Hotel of the Week

Hotel of the Week: Check in to Ace Hotel Seattle and check out cute guest Randy

For our “hotel of the week” feature, we chatted with Wanderlust reader Randy Kaufman, after he took a trip to lovely Seattle.

Why did you choose to stay at the Ace Hotel in Seattle?
Every one of their hotels is very special. When I found out I was going to Seattle, I didn’t think twice about where I wanted to stay.

Describe the sense of arrival at the hotel.


It’s in a brick warehouse-type building. Immediately you get a sense of “cool” there. The front desk was very simple, with a huge forest mural behind them. It’s kind of the modern embodiment of the 90’s ethos. I totally got the aesthetic.

And what is that aesthetic?
In a word: Hipster. Flannel, beards, being laid back. But they work very hard at the Ace. There’s a real vibe in the Pacific Northwest and it’s a lot of fun. You get this sense that Seattle is right between the mountains and the ocean.

 

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Describe your room.
Bright, minimal, very high ceilings, everything was very detail-oriented, communal bathroom in the hallway. It was very European.

Communal bathroom? You didn’t get your own bathroom?
They offer rooms with private bathrooms, but I stayed on a floor with really luxe bathrooms in the hallways. It kind of added to the whole traveler fantasy. You know, like your room is this great place to stay but not hang out in all day.

What was luxe about the bathroom? 
It was big. Huge showers. And it was always super clean.

Are the bath products worth stealing?
They were really good. They use Rudy’s Barbershop products in all their hotels. I definitely stole some shampoo. Everything at this hotel is like the kind of stuff that you want to bring home with you.

How’s the food?


They serve free breakfast every morning in a really cute breakfast room downstairs. Other than that, there were dozens and dozens of places to eat around there, and Pike Place Market was a few blocks away.

Nearby queer bar?

The Eagle Seattle in Capitol Hill is pretty close.

Queer Quotient? (Kinsey scale, from 0-6, straight to gay.) Where would you rate this hotel? Consider the crowd, the decor, and the vibe.
I’d say a 3. It’s like, when you are this cool, it’s hard to throw labels on it. But as a gay guy, I loved every aspect of it.

Photos courtesy of Randy Kaufman

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