Ace Hotel to open Shoreditch venue in autumn 2013

Ace Hotel, which currently operates five venues in the US, has acquired the Crowne Plaza hotel on Shoreditch High Street. The company confirmed the plans in an email sent to subscribers to its website:

"We're proud to announce the latest addition to the Ace family, Ace Hotel London Shoreditch, opening up later this year," the email read. "In one of the world's apogees of creative culture, and one of our favorite neighborhoods on Earth, this is a new chapter in the Ace adventure that has us incredibly inspired."

Bistrotheque​

According to the New York Times, Alex Calderwood, one of the co-founders of the chain, has signed up David Waddington and Pablo Flack, the co-founders of Bistrotheque and Shrimpy's, to take control of a restaurant, bar and event space in the hotel.

"We're elbows deep in plans and big ideas to offer Shoreditch — a hub in the global community of ideas and catalyst for art, design, cuisine, technology and culture — the kind of hub and meeting space this dynamic neighborhood and its visitors deserve," the Ace Hotel email added. 

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby of Universal Design Studio, who designed the London 2012 Olympic Torch, have reportedly designed the interiors of the new venue.

"Rather than rehabilitate a structure with a strong heritage that’s seen better days, bringing Ace Hotel London to fruition involves re-envisioning a contemporary space that was inherently aesthetically-challenged — built without a strong sense of what or where it is, or who the neighbors are — and reclaiming it for Shoreditch," Ace Hotel said.

Ace Hotel was founded in 1999 and now operates hotels in Seattle, Portland, Palm Springs, LA and New York. The New York venue is home to April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's Michelin-starred restaurant The Breslin.

Currently, the Ace Hotel website is accepting bookings for the London hotel from Tuesday 9 September.