Alex Calderwood- Ace Hotel Group Founder

The founder of the Ace Hotel chain, Alex Calderwood has suddenly died at the age of 47. His hotels influenced the industry and became the backdrop for countless Instagram pictures. He was a pioneer and his style became widely imitated.

Calderwood was found dead in a hotel room he owned in London, England. His passing has caused speculation since he was in drug rehab a couple years ago, a popular hypothesis on social networks is a potential overdose. While others believe it could be an accident — or even foul play.

While details of his death have not been released, the Daily Beast did find out that Calderwood passed away in a hotel room at the just-opened Ace London Shoreditch last Thursday afternoon.

Recent reports say an ambulance, preceded by a paramedic on a bike, arrived at the hotel at 2:30pm on Thursday afternoon, shortly after the body of Calderwood was discovered, he was pronounced dead on the scene. Calderwood also came forward publicly mentioning his struggles with alcoholism.

Alex who was a businessman by nature has been described as an extraordinary talent who went too soon.

His full name is Alexander Thomas Calderwood, he is the son of Thomas 73, and Kathleen Calderwood of Seattle, and had two sisters, Donna Roberts and Tahnee Ferry; and a brother, Tim Calderwood.

Alex an an aficionado of graphic designers such as Lou Dorfsman and Milton Glaser, was often photographed in a lay back attire consisting of jeans, T-shirts and Converse sneakers, he was born in Denver on Jan. 28, 1966, and grew up around Seattle.

Ace Hotels have been silent on Facebook and Twitter since his death but the company’s director of PR and marketing, Ryan Bukstein, did give this statement to the AP on Sunday:

“His humility, spirit of collaboration and tireless work ethic has influenced our family at Atelier Ace and creatives across the globe. We all plan to continue moving forward with the ideals Alex championed so naturally.

There is also a statement on the company’s Tumblr, that reads

“Alex was our teacher, mentor, guru, and most importantly our dear friend.”

We are not sure if Alex was married or if he was in any kind of romantic relationship or if he fathered any children. But his legacy will proceed him regardless, that’s a fact,

The hotelier became the image that attracted a growing clientele and was a man who skipped college to become a party promoter. His resume includes reinventing the classic barbershop in the early 1990’s and after it expanded to a chain of more than a dozen in the late 1990s, and as he described in an interview followed his gut instinct to accomplished what today is Ace Hotels.

His latest and most ambitious hotel in Shoreditch opened just six weeks ago and followed his signature boho style, fusing street art, vintage furniture and design. He called himself a “cultural engineer,” described his design style as spare with an element of “well-edited, carefully chosen clutter” in an interview with the Cut in 2010.

R.I.P Mr. Calderwood.