Ace Hotels has launched onto the airwaves on its own radio station as it looks to expand its brand reach around the globe.
Ace Radio is a new library of ‘human-curated sets and sounds’ that are available to listen to directly from the hotel group’s website.
The options include international DJ sets who have played at various Ace Hotels across the world – from Carlton Livingston live at Ace Hotel Brooklyn to Shun145 delivering a set at Ace Hotel Kyoto.
Speaking on the launch of Ace Radio, CEO Chris Penn said that the Ace Hotel brand was built on the idea of providing a base for independent artists at a time when hotel options were souless or limited.
Posting on LinkedIn, he said: “Not everyone knows this, but the first Ace Hotel (Seattle, 1999) was built to solve a very specific problem. Seattle had a world-renowned music scene and artists were pouring into the city to play shows or record albums, but their options for where to stay were very limited: either a soulless chain hotel, or a friend’s couch.
“Ace Hotel Seattle became a clubhouse for some of the best independent artists of the era, and that set the stage for something that’s defined us ever since: Ace as a place where artists don’t just sleep, they create and perform. That practice is very much alive today. And now you can tune in: Ace Radio just launched, featuring sets from DJs at Ace locations around the world.”
In January 2025, Chris Penn announced a return to Ace Hotel, taking on the position of CEO.
Penn announced the news on LinkedIn, saying he was “incredibly proud” to be returning to the firm.
Penn acted as managing director of Ace Hotel London from its launch in September 2013, helping to put the hotel on the map.
He left the role in 2016 and went on to launch management company Performance Hotels, as well as the two-strong Birch Hotels brand, which ceased trading in 2023.
Later that year in September, Ace Group International, the parent company of Ace Hotel, was acquired by Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide (SPW), one of Japan’s leading hospitality operators.
SPW and Ace operates 94 hotels worldwide, with seven more in the pipeline.
The acquisition was completed through SPW’s newly-established U.S. subsidiary, Ace Hotels Worldwide Inc.
