Aloft Buffalo Downtown

Aloft Buffalo Downtown opened in April 2019 inside 500 Pearl, a 12-story mixed-use tower built by Ellicott Development at the edge of downtown Buffalo's Theater District. The 110-room hotel occupies the building's top three floors above apartments, offices and parking, with an indoor pool, a rooftop bar and an eight-lane bowling alley shared with the rest of the tower.

The place

500 Pearl Street, at Franklin and Tupper streets on the northern edge of downtown Buffalo's Theater District — the hotel occupies the top three floors of the 12-story 500 Pearl tower, a short walk from the Buffalo-Niagara Convention Center.

The concept

500 Pearl combines a restored, century-old Buffalo Christian Center building with a new 12-story tower Ellicott Development built alongside it, mixing the Aloft hotel with 14 luxury apartments, roughly 55,000 square feet of office space and about 400 parking spaces. It was Ellicott Development's first hotel in the heart of downtown Buffalo, and the project also restored the site's grand ballroom and 300-seat Forbes Theater for events. The hotel opened for business in April 2019, with its rooftop bar and bowling alley following that same spring and summer.

Dining & wellness

WXYZ Bar and an adjoining restaurant anchor the ground floor, alongside a rooftop bar with downtown and Lake Erie views. An indoor heated pool, a fitness center and an eight-lane bowling alley round out the amenities — a mix aimed as much at Buffalo residents as at overnight guests.