We have gotten A LOT of rain this week. Who are we kidding? We live in Pittsburgh. We ALWAYS get a lot of rain! In long stretches of a lot of precipitation, the last thing we tend to want to do is leave the house. It can also be challenging to come up with indoor date ideas with soooo many rainy days. But thanks to good friend of ours, we learned about Open Gym at Pittsburgh's Ace Hotel in East Liberty.
The Ace hotel is actually a former YMCA built in the early 1900s turned super trendy boutique hotel. It is modern and stylish and overflowing with history and character. Upon entering, there is a restaurant to your left, and a bar and a variety of seating in the lobby available to your right. Straight ahead is a 4500 square foot, 3 story high gymnasium that on a variety of days is open to the public and houses games and space galore.
Early on in our relationship, Nazari and I bonded over a mutual love for the game of ping pong. However, before we had a home that could house our very own ping pong table (a serious requirement we had for our basement when purchasing our first home) we would scour the city for places where we could play our favorite game and most often game up short. If only The Ace Hotel had been around back then!
We now have our own ping pong table just downstairs, yet it is more fun to play at the Ace Hotel! Not to mention, you can also play boardgames, indoor cornhole, or enjoy a drink while lounging in the ample seating. They even have analog photobooth (albeit feeling overpriced) is a super fun and quirky addition. Given that we the price tag of this date was a drink for each of us (A mojito for me, a coffee for Naz), I convinced Naz to splurge on the photobooth, just for the nostalgia of it. Unfortunately, we didn't read the directions closely, sat too high, and paid seven bucks for photos where our heads are cut off. Hey - you win some, you lose some!
Pros:
FREE games
Ping Pong
Full Service Bar AND a coffee bar!
Clean
Great location
Non-Smoking
They have an incredible restaurant on site: Whitfield
Amazing space to venture on the many fair weathered Pittsburgh days
Cons:
The photobooth is $7
Good to know:
You should definitely call ahead and confirm the gym is open and there is not an event.
The gym is open daily, so you can go during the day, or in the evening, as long as they are not hosting or prepping for an event.
If you use the photo booth - be sure to follow the directions for the level your head needs to be at ;)
Happy hour is daily from 430-630!
Be sure to go downstairs to use the bathroom.
Check out their website: Ace Hotel Pittsburgh or give them a call at: (412) 361-3300