Ace Hotel Pittsburgh

Rumors of a sort of urban renaissance in Pittsburgh have been circulating for some time. With the advent of the Ace Hotel Pittsburgh, however, it’s probably time to consider them confirmed. The local creative and artistic types don’t just patronize the Ace hotels, they take part in creating them. And in this monumental, century-old former YMCA building in the city’s East Liberty district, they’ve found a potent symbol of the one-time greatness to which Pittsburgh has lately returned.

The ornate architecture certainly provides some visual interest. Against that backdrop, the Ace’s rooms are simple, spare, bright and sunny — they feel comfortably lived-in and yet somehow crisply brand-new at the same time. Small rooms are more than large enough, medium rooms spread quite comfortably, and the suites are spacious indeed (and find room for turntables and Martin acoustic guitars). Safe to say it all feels cozier and more handmade than the typical Steel City clichés would have it.

Equally vital to the Ace equation is an inspired selection of public spaces. The lobby with its café is an inviting option for officeless nomads and all manner of socializing. And Whitfield is the Ace’s anchor, a neighborhood tavern by Brent Young of Brooklyn’s Meat Hook, serving a menu that’s locally inspired and locally sourced — not only are the executive chef and pastry chef natives, but the meat is from a single ranch in nearby Bedford, and is butchered in-house. Meanwhile the old gymnasium is now a multi-use events space with a capacity of four hundred guests, while the ballroom, fittingly, holds about two hundred in a slightly more formal setting.