Nightlife + Dining
Alexa Erickson Gage
Inside Darren Dzienciol’s Haunted Hotel: Vanessa Hudgens, MGK, Zack Bia, Alix Earle & More Checked In for Halloween
Presented by 1WIN, the annual Halloween affair brought together Vanessa Hudgens, Alix Earle and LA’s nightlife crowd for a surprise MGK performance, Zack Bia’s DJ set and a spooky night powered by Caliwater and LALO Tequila.
- By: Ani Gutierrez | Photos: Vivien (GETTY) & Lizeth Ramirez
Halloween in LA is basically a competitive sport. Between the endless costume parties, celebrity-hosted affairs and everyone trying to make it onto a guest list, finding a party that actually feels worth leaving the house for can be its own challenge. Darren Dzienciol’s annual Haunted Hotel party, however, has become a Halloween tradition of its own. Presented by 1WIN and powered by Caliwater and LALO Tequila, this year’s check-in came with Vanessa Hudgens, a surprise Machine Gun Kelly performance, a set by Zack Bia and a room full of familiar faces.
Hosted by Vanessa alongside Caliwater co-founder Oliver Trevena, the Saturday night affair drew a celebrity-packed crowd spanning LA’s entertainment, nightlife and influencer circles. Vanessa arrived with husband Cole Tucker, while Alix Earle, Ashtin Earle, Alex Consani, Landon Barker, Anastasia Karanikolaou, Josie Canseco, Dixie D’Amelio, David Dobrik, Ross Butler, Corey Gamble and King Bach were among some the faces spotted throughout the night.
For anyone keeping tabs on where LA’s usual suspects spent Halloween, Haunted Hotel was one check-in worth knowing about.
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The party’s 1940s-inspired hotel entrance set the tone before guests even made it inside. Candlelit florals, spiderwebs, rusty luggage carts and creepy bellmen made the arrival feel like checking into a hotel where the room service just might come with a side of horror. Inside, bloody mirrors and skulls carried the theme through, giving the evening its own distinctly theatrical atmosphere amid LA’s packed Halloweekend calendar.
Of course, the drinks were part of the experience. With Caliwater flowing alongside LALO Tequila cocktails and Tito’s Vodka, the night had its own beverage lineup to make sure all the angels, devils, and black cats weren’t empty-handed between DJ sets.
Caliwater, the cactus water brand Vanessa co-founded with Oliver Trevena, felt particularly at home in the mix, bringing a refreshing counterpoint to the tequila cocktails and late-night champagne. For a party that seemed all about keeping the energy high, it was a fitting addition to the drink rotation.
The night’s soundtrack was in good hands, with Jack Henry kicking things off before Zack Bia took over the decks and DJ Cruz brought the night to a close. Then, a bit after the clock struck midnight, MGK made a surprise appearance, giving the dance floor a performance that was decidedly more than your average Halloween party playlist.
Even the food came with a little Haunted Hotel theatrics. Burgers and fries from Butter Bun made their way around the party, delivered by gothic French maids in full room-service fashion. Meanwhile, the 1WIN casino gave guests another reason to linger between the dance floor and their next drink.
By the time Halloween officially came to a close, Haunted Hotel had delivered exactly what the night called for: a celebrity-packed guest list, a surprise performance and enough late-night spectacle to make the annual affair feel like its own LA tradition. In a city that spends Halloween hopping from one party to the next, sometimes the best move is knowing where to check in and staying awhile.
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