Parties You Will Never Get Into

With the opening of a W Hotel nearby, The White House has effectively extended its corridors of power—suites. Its new neighbor, reckoning with the world’s most powerful environs, in turn mounted a party of presidential proportions.

W Hotel officially opened its Washington DC branch Oct. 8 with an extravagant fete unseen since the Barack Obama inaugural balls. Over 500 invitees, including a few White House staffers, partied in the American capital’s hottest new hotel.

Locals surely could not miss where party central was that night. Awash in purple lights, the hotel glaringly stood out at its address in 515 15th Street.

Outside the building, a carpet of the same color rolled out for the stellar guests. Presidential speechwriter Cody Keenen walked the purple carpet, along with Obama Presidential Aide Reggie Love; Associate Social Secretary Samantha Tubman; POTUS Secretary Katie Johnson; and Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass.

Also in the District of Columbia that night were Hollywood actors Emmy Rossum, Tatyana Ali and Anthony Mackie. They breathed the same air as ambassadors (Stuart Holliday, Gilles Noghès), lobbyists (Jack Quinn, Lyndon Boozer) and many other politicos.

One serious time warp ushered guests inside. Men and women, dressed in 18th century costumes, were paid to traipse around the party.

For his part, W Hotel’s resident restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten cloyed attendees with bite-sized burgers, spring rolls, mini chicken samosas, oysters on half shells, and crab fritters. From the open bar, guests could guzzle mojitos, Circoc vodka cocktails, and other tippler’s delights.

So many sports deities came to savor these treats. Wizards DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood were spotted at the party, and so were Capitol’s Jose Theodore, Brooks Laich, and Nicklas Backstrom. Blue Mercury founders Barry Jon Beck and Marla Malcolm Beck also came to party.

Grammy-winning artist John Legend served as the musical guest. In a rare feat for a party entertainer, the “Ordinary People” singer managed to play for nearly an hour.