Halloween in Los Angeles is never short on invitations, but few are quite as special as getting a room key to Darren Dzienciol's Haunted Hotel.
On Saturday night, the nightlife impresario opened the doors for his annual Halloween affair, presented by 1WIN and powered by Caliwater and LALO, with Vanessa Hudgens and Caliwater cofounder Oliver Trevena as hosts for the evening.
Guests arrived through a 1940s hotel lobby lit low by candlelight, the front desk draped in cobwebs and heavy with florals in deep red tones, and walked past bellmen and luggage carts that lined the arrivals path. Beyond the lobby, the hotel gave itself over to the Halloween spirit entirely.
The venue filled quickly with the A-list crowd Dzienciol always draws. Hudgens arrived early with her husband, Cole Tucker, and before long the room counted Alix Earle, Ashtin Earle, Landon Barker, Ross Butler, Josie Canseco, Anastasia Karanikolaou, Dixie D'Amelio, David Dobrik, Dylan Minnette, Will Peltz and Kenya Jones Peltz, Corey Gamble, SlimXX, Carter Gregory, Mike Majlak, Frankie Stark, King Bach, Laila Hasanovic and Yasmin Wijnaldum, to name just a few in a crowd whose costumes were no last-minute choices.
The bar had guests choosing from a menu of Halloween cocktails made with LALO Tequila or Tito's Vodka and paired with Caliwater cactus water (LALO's build-out of a tequila shot bar, served with a bump of caviar no less, was a standout moment too).
Jack Henry opened on the decks, handing over to Zack Bia before DJ Cruz, and around 1 a.m., Machine Gun Kelly took the stage for a surprise performance.
Hospitality stayed in character down to the last detail, with room service gothic French maids making their rounds serving vegan burgers from Butter Bun, and the 1WIN Casino kept guests at the tables, with prizes in play well into the early hours.
Dzienciol has built a global reputation on rooms like this one, where a theme is a commitment, and the Haunted Hotel kept its word down to the last cobweb. And thanks to daylight saving time, even checkout gave the guests an extra hour of the night.