Pioneering Ace Hotel In Shoreditch Won’t Reopen As London Hotel Freeze Bites

The fashionable Ace Hotel in Shoreditch said last week that it is closing permanently, one of the highest profile closures brought about by the coronavirus.

“We're heartbroken to announce that our longtime home on High Street will no longer continue as Ace Hotel London Shoreditch,” an announcement on the hotel’s website said. “As our first hotel outside the U.S., it was built as an open satellite for the extraordinary energy ignited by the city itself.”

The property is managed by hotel property manager the Lore Group, which will now take over the operational management of the hotel from Ace Group, The Caterer said. 

“Given the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, the Ace Hotel and its outlets will remain closed so that we can invest in a significant renovation that will both refresh and enhance the guest experience,” Lore Chief Operating Officer David Taylor said in a statement.

“We are also taking over operational management of the hotel, consistent with the other premium hotels in our collection.”

Ace opened its 258-bedroom outpost on Shoreditch High Street, east London, in 2013. While Shoreditch was already a fashionable destination, Ace was one of the first international boutique hotel brands to open in east London.

Starwood Capital bought a former Crowne Plaza hotel building and worked with Ace on refurbishing the building. In 2015, Starwood sold the building to the current owner, Global Holdings Management Group, for £150M. The company is the real estate arm of the Ofer shipping family. 

London hotel occupancy was just 31% in August, according to data from STR, a 64% drop compared to August last year. 

Ace Hotels was founded in Seattle in 1999 and has 10 other hotels, eight in the U.S., one in Toronto and one in Kyoto, Japan.