Ace co-founder, Alex Calderwood, found dead in Shoreditch hotel room

Ace Hotel in Shoreditch High Street, photo Andrew Meredith (Image: Andrew Meredith 2007)

Alex Calderwood, 47, was found by staff last Thursday afternoon at Ace Hotel’s newest branch in Shoreditch High Street.

Paramedics rushed to the hotel but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem was due to take place at Poplar mortuary today.

The company confirmed the death on its website, saying he would be missed, and called Mr Calderwood “our teacher, mentor, guru and most importantly our dear friend”.

Mr Calderwood opened his latest in Shoreditch in September - which was billed as one of his most ambitious projects to date - saying it was “derived and driven by east London”.

The quirky brand, which is known for its eclectic style and A-list clients, installs vintage and repurposed furniture, street art and a record player in every room, and its hotels are thought of as some of the “hippest” in the world.

Owners of Hoi Polloi, a restaurant located inside Ace Shoreditch, Pablo Flack and David Waddington, said they had found a “talented and inspirational” friend in Mr Calderwood after working with him over the past year.

“What felt like us to be the start of our journey with Alex turned out to be the end,” they said in a statement, adding that it is “just so unbelievably sad”.

“Our thoughts are with everyone at Ace, especially those that worked so closely with Alex, some for many years,” they said.

Mr Calderwood opened a popular nightclub in his hometown in Seattle before becoming a hotelier, launching the first Ace Hotel there in 1999 with two friends, Doug Herrick and Wade Weigel.

Mr Weigel said he and Alex had been more like brothers than business partners, and called him a “creative genius who made more than a dent in the universe”.

He added: His legacy will live on through those he mentored and the friends he made along the way.”

A spokesman for the Met said they are not treating the death as suspicious.