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Alex Calderwood (hotelier)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alex Calderwood (January 28, 1966 – November 14, 2013) was an American hotelier who founded the Ace Hotel.[1][2]

Biography

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Calderwood was born in Denver to a contractor and a newspaper columnist.[3][4] After forgoing college, he worked as a party promoter and operated a vintage clothing business in Seattle.[3]

In the early 1990s, Calderwood and a partner invested $12,000 to revitalize a traditional barbershop concept, creating Rudy's, a chain that eventually expanded to more than a dozen locations.[3][5] It led to lease of a 28-room flophouse in a neglected section of Seattle, which they converted into the first Ace Hotel.[3][5]

Over time, Ace Hotels opened in Portland, New York City, Palm Springs, and London, with additional locations planned for Panama City and Los Angeles at the time of Calderwood's death.[3] The hotels often included restaurants and cafes highlighting farm-to-table and nose-to-tail dining, as well as in-house DJs and, in some cases, guitars in the rooms.[1][3] Calderwood and his partners later separated due to disagreements.[3]

Known for his interest in graphic designers such as Lou Dorfsman and Milton Glaser, Calderwood often wore jeans, T-shirts, and Converse sneakers, and objected to the "hipster" label frequently applied to him and his hotels.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Gross, Matt (January 28, 2011). "The Man Behind the Ace Empire" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ "Behind Ace Hotel Founder Alex Calderwood's Creative Life And Untimely Death". June 16, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Somaiya, Ravi (November 16, 2013). "Alex Calderwood, Creator and Face of the Unconventional Ace Hotel Chain, Dies at 47" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ "Ace Hotel founder Alex Calderwood dies at 47". The Seattle Times. November 16, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Descant, Skip. "Ace founder Alex Calderwood dies". The Desert Sun.