It's not a new gimmick, but it still turns heads: Hunky guys wearing next-to-nothing still make some guests get all giggly.
That's how the W New York-Union Square managed to heat up its grand opening party. On a chilly January night in a dry period for celebrity wattage, the event needed something. Cindy Crawford showed up to toast husband Rande Gerber's bar within the hotel, Underbar, and Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Chris Meloni, Tina Louise, Alan Cumming and Cynthia Rowley stopped by. But most of the throngs of people crowding the hotel looked more like regular folks, happy to enjoy loads of free food: tables of shrimp and oysters, prosciutto and sausage, and various cheeses, all catered by the hotel.
Jake Spitz of Network PR and Mark Musters of Musters & Company organized the event, while Dan Klores Communications handled public relations for the event, which also introduced guests to the hotel's in-house restaurant, Olives.(Chef Todd English was also around to prepare food for guests lounging in the restaurant.)
As guests entered the hotel, event workers handed them key cards and invited them to check out the "indulgence suites" on the 18th floor. That's where guests found the muscle-bound models (lots of guys and just a few women) serving drinks, offering hors d'oeuvres and just posing. Each room on the floor featured a bar and more food; one had an ice bar. Musters brought in all the models, as well as the candles that lit the windows on the main floor.
On the second floor, DJ Max Glazer (booked through Stress Entertainment) played music in the hotel's not-so-large-but-beautiful grand ballroom. Although the dancing didn't start until later in the evening, exotic dancers--clad mostly in body paint--helped to get more people on the dance floor. And revelers found a souvenir to remember their experiences in the gift bag, which included glow-in-the-dark body paint.
--Chad Kaydo
More about the gift bag...
That's how the W New York-Union Square managed to heat up its grand opening party. On a chilly January night in a dry period for celebrity wattage, the event needed something. Cindy Crawford showed up to toast husband Rande Gerber's bar within the hotel, Underbar, and Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Chris Meloni, Tina Louise, Alan Cumming and Cynthia Rowley stopped by. But most of the throngs of people crowding the hotel looked more like regular folks, happy to enjoy loads of free food: tables of shrimp and oysters, prosciutto and sausage, and various cheeses, all catered by the hotel.
Jake Spitz of Network PR and Mark Musters of Musters & Company organized the event, while Dan Klores Communications handled public relations for the event, which also introduced guests to the hotel's in-house restaurant, Olives.(Chef Todd English was also around to prepare food for guests lounging in the restaurant.)
As guests entered the hotel, event workers handed them key cards and invited them to check out the "indulgence suites" on the 18th floor. That's where guests found the muscle-bound models (lots of guys and just a few women) serving drinks, offering hors d'oeuvres and just posing. Each room on the floor featured a bar and more food; one had an ice bar. Musters brought in all the models, as well as the candles that lit the windows on the main floor.
On the second floor, DJ Max Glazer (booked through Stress Entertainment) played music in the hotel's not-so-large-but-beautiful grand ballroom. Although the dancing didn't start until later in the evening, exotic dancers--clad mostly in body paint--helped to get more people on the dance floor. And revelers found a souvenir to remember their experiences in the gift bag, which included glow-in-the-dark body paint.
--Chad Kaydo
More about the gift bag...
Becca from Musters & Company put glitter makeup on near-naked models showing off the 18th floor of the new W hotel, including Jesse from Metropolitan Models.
An ice bar held champagne and vodka for guests.
At the hotel's in-house restaurant, Olives, chef Todd English moved between the overseeing the food production in the kitchen and mingling with guests.
Exotic dancers wearing little more than body paint entertained guests in the grand ballroom at the W hotel on Union Square. (Photo by Cyberpix. To see more images, click here.)
