On Tuesday night, we checked out the Preview Party at the Beatrice Inn for The Chelsea Atlantic City which is still on schedule for a mid-July opening.
Our favorite Philadelphia Restaurateur (and soon to be Hotelier) Stephen Starr was there along with Curtis Bashaw and his sister Colleen Bashaw who designed the interior of the Chelsea, as well as a number of Curtis' other hotel projects in Cape May.
While we were a little disappointed that there were no pictures of the interior, or a presentation about the hotel, drinks were free, hors d'Oeuvres were excellent and the opportunity to actually get into the Beatrice Inn without having to pay off a bouncer made up for it.
And yes, we sat on the couch where Lindsey Lohan probably made out with 684,384 guys (in one night) last week and felt a little bit of the celeb vibe.
We were on hand the other night for the "Mix, Match and Splash" cocktail challenge hosted by the Muse Hotel in Times Square to benefit the Dress for Success charity.
The winning team of the cocktail challenge would have their drink served at the silverleaf tavern at 70 Park Avenue for the month of April as well as be treated to a private cocktail party for up to 10.
Despite the best efforts of an SFO*Media team (Juliana, Sedona and JetSetCD) who were helped along by a few others, the winning team was The Dream Girls with their "Dream" cocktail.
The cocktail is two parts light rum, with one parts orange juice, cranberry juice and pineapple juice mixed in with a splash of pink grapefruit and club soda served in a martini glass and garnished with a lemon peel.
Although the competition was fierce, the party was not all about the cocktails. The event also held a raffle and an auction where party-goers could bid on trips like a roundtrip on American Airlines for 2 people, and 5 nights at any Kimpton hotel, redeemable until April 2009. We think we heard the winning bid was at $1,200.
One-hundred percent of the event proceeds and auction items were donated to Dress for Success and all proceeds of the Dream cocktail will go to the non-profit as well. It's the drink that keeps on giving.
Photo of the winning team and their drink after the jump.
The Aqua Hotel Cancun is the newest hotel to open on Cancun but instead of waiting for guests to check the place out, Aqua brought the hotel to the guests in New York City on Feb. 6th.
The hotel's celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein cooked up haute cuisine from her new restaurant MB. Steve Olson, a wine and spirits guru (what, is mixologist so last year?) created signature cocktails from his resort lounge, AKA Wine & Mezcal Bar; and DJs Sky Nellor and Gotardo spun some tunes.
Also on hand were some VIP celeb guests like Kim Cattrall along with Neil Patrick Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Alan Cumming, fellow SATC-er Mario Cantone and some Top Chef alums like Sam Talbot, Dave Martin and Lee Anne Wong.
We're not sure if it was the allure of the open bar, the proximity to the tents at Fashion Week or the fact that the Gucci party effectively shut out any non-celebs, but last night, every self-styled fashionista, editorial intern and PR girl was trying to talk her way into the Tibi and Women's Wear Daily after party.
Even those with invitations got the velvet rope run-around out front of The Bryant
Park Hotel, but with some fancy footwork, we managed to sneak past the various levels of clipboard security and hustle downstairs to the Cellar Bar.
Once again we have our Miami Beach insider/party animal Gregg to thank for this inside scoop on the newly opened Florida Room inside The Delano Hotel. The lounge is the first official nightclub from musician Lenny Kravitz and was host to the Agent Provacateur Art Basel party last week. Enjoy.
I got to the side entrance of Delano Hotel (on 17th Street) at 10 pm and had to wait 15 minutes until they were ready to open and let people in. Security was real tight. But it was a pleasure waiting because Granville the doorman (imported from NYC) is super nice and polite. He will kill you with kindness no matter how rude you are to him.
The Florida Room is very 1950's Cuban-style lounge. Lenny Kravitz's design firm did a really nice job. The uniforms are old school. The bartenders wear green jackets and the cocktail waitress's wear a white blouse (showing cleavage) and a black high waisted skirt. They also had girls dressed in Agent Provocateur corsets with 1950's hairdos and make-up greeting you into The Florida Room's entrance.
As promised, the Black Eyed Peas opened up the Hard Rock San Diego last night. The group performed all their hits from Monkey Business and Elephunk but the crowd was also treated to Will.I.Am's hit "I Got it From My Mama" and four songs from Fergie's solo album--"Clumsy," "Glamorous", "Fergalicious" and "Big Girls Don't Cry."
The crowd probably went the most crazy for the last song from Fergie and indeed it felt like we were at a sorority rush with all the girls around us singing their hearts out. However, most of the crowd was not in college. If anything the average age was at least 35+. And since last night's party was for the owners, the investors and the condo-hotel unit owners, that makes sense.
Anyways, The Peas were watched from above by the owners in suites and by guests who had hotel rooms throughout. We even caught one couple in the window jumping on the bed to the Black Eyed Peas.
More on the Hard Rock San Diego Opening will come later but for now, check out more pictures from the concert.
Kimora Lee Simmons hosted a launch party last night of her new line KLS which will be sold at the Scoop boutique inside The Shore Club.
We told you about this the other day but thanks to tipster Gregg we have this shot of her posing with some fans. Dayum, girl is tall. Interestingly, she didn't stay at the Shore Club. Instead she headed over to a suite at the Ritz-Carlton. And she told the Miami Herald that she liked the Setai spa. Whoops.
Got any Art Basel party dispatches and pictures you want us to see? Send 'em our way.
Last Thursday, we rocked over to The Muse Hotel for its charity drag party, and we have to say: Not too shabby. The hotel originally planned a big-time event, but when Broadway theaters reopened the same night, things took a more tranquil turn.
That's not to say that Kimpton didn't put on a nice event. There was plenty of champagne, and the hotel's restaurant, District, provided the grub. A silent auction for stays at Kimpton properties was underway as Broadway crooners belted out what we assumed to be Broadway classics. (Just because we were at a drag party doesn't mean we're show tunes experts!)
The event, which was just a couple days before World AIDS Day, brought in a few thousand dollars for Bailey House, which offers assistance to people suffering from the disease.
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