People with missing children. Children without parents. People without food or water. There are many who are destroyed by not knowing what the future holds. For those of us more fortunate, the beauty of uncertainty is that it motivates us to seek certainty.
- Hobo #5 - the beauty of uncertainty
It was no surprise to see a copy of Hobo Magazine as I walked into a former Denny’s that has become the Ace Hotel Lobby and the Kings Highway Dinner. At first while I was struck by the fact that the Ace Hotel Palm Springs is a true hipster paradise, the vibe in the place was fantastic. All at once this hotel seems friendly to singles, couples and families. OK well only certain types of families; this is not a place for the Jon & Kate Plus 8 set. Yet there is a certain air that can be found in the Rudy’s Barbershop qualities that make this the kind of the places that young Hollywood finds to escape and hang low. Got it? This is not your average hotel or resort.
Getting away from the construction at my house in Seattle and embracing the need to do some Super Secret Brainstorming, I was there to think about brand, customer acquisition and relax by the pool. This kind of setting could not be complete with out the right friends and partners-in-crime. In fact if you choose to visit an Ace Hotel, leave your lame friends at home. This hotel has a sense of place that is unique even to the strange desert culture that worships aliens and embraces all manner of absurdity. I travel a lot. In my travels, I sleep on floors, couches and the occasional “corporate housing” that passes for a hotel and most of the time the culture of the Hotel is trying far to hard to appeal to your corporate travel policy than to execute well and leaving you with a good experience. (I am looking at you W Silicon Valley.) The truth is you can’t be everything to everyone as a brand.
I don’t sleep
Needless to say, the execution of most hotels, actually make it tough for me to do any of the things I came there to do, I tend not to sleep well. The Ace on the other hand had a laid-back hipster vibe and unique decor that made the whole place feel like my house. Records and books were everywhere in my room and the cork flooring and rugs reminded me of the natural look also created by the 3rd grade maple and wool rugs in my real home. This is the kind of place you go to on short notice for an adventure.
This was definitely a welcome change and made me feel less like a guest at a hotel and more like a resident. I had read online that the customer service left something to be desired, but I found that the execution of every element seemed like it was orchestrated. I tried very hard, but kept missing the opportunity to take a picture of the maitre d’ at the Kings Highway restaurant. With her gold, coaster sized glasses and eighties style blazers, she seemed like she had come with the place when the Ace Hotel Chain bought the former Howard Johnson hotel.
The hotel’s history is not lost on you when you walk in. The area that was once drive up parking is now a pool and hot tub area with one of the largest and hotest hot tubs I have ever seen. The prospect-refuge principle is applied liberally with corners to hide in and open spaces to see the mountains that box in Palm Springs. There are Yurts in the corner still slated for some future use and a Bar called the “short bus”. Like a lot of modern hotels there is music coming from speakers that you can’t see anywhere. This music played 24/7 and was audible in my room, but never bothered me.
In Room:
Being there on the weekend the skinny jean 20 somethings were checking in and weekdaying skinny jean 30 somethings were checking out. Although, a wedding party thrown in the commons area between buildings threw off the weekend mix a bit. The rooms themselves were modern and full of natural materials: cork, wood, ceramic tile, Canvas and recycled fixtures and hardware. There are so many reference designers that seemed to be a part of or actually leveraged in the design of the hotel, but it all comes together in a really cool way.
Outside of my room and the pool, the King’s Highway Restaurant and the Amigo Room (a lounge that was apparently an old rancher hangout). King’s Highway, keeps its Howard Johnsons/Denny’s appeal and is something of an oddity. The food is great especially the Breakfast and the Coffee. Although the Ace adds another touch of home with my favorite Stumptown coffee.
Where it is going…
Ok so now that you know I was hiding in this hipster paradise, lets talk about what I learned while I was there. Sure if you were following mine, @NOTCOT or @finderic’s tweet streams you could have triangulated our location. Twitter is hard to let go of when there is so much inspiring stuff to talk about and look at. On Sunday we got the opportunity to get a real tour of the place from the Ace Hotel’s Jason Harler, who has the best title: Cultural Engineer.
Jason let us look inside the unfinished Yurts and also discussed how creating the experience around and in the hotels started with the types of people they hire and ended with the execution of various elements of the product. Even though this hotel is new you can tell that Jason is working hard to evolve the place. The spa which takes its cue from most spas is moving from the passé new age music meets 90’s office lobby to a place where one can still have fun while relaxing.
The Ace is really doing a lot here. It is clear that there is a curation of the experience going on. Every detail down to the button on the fireplace; “make fire”. I think that a lot of companies could look to this model. The curation process has set the ball rolling in a direction and the optimal outcome is that business will look more like the goal every day, not less. Often that is the struggle of many companies to keep moving in the direction of the essence of the brand. Very few do it well. Often it is left to a hero or set of heroes in a company who can push the brand in the right direction. The Ace is achieving this in Palm Springs and I can’t wait to check out other locations to see how this cultural curation project continues.
One parting thought… If they recommend visiting the integretron; save your pennies for the “short bus”.
More Pictures Below:
Update: Jean Aw pointed me to a pic on Lou Mora’s blog of the hostess at the Kings Highway. Enjoy and check out Lou Mora’s work.
