Saturday night all roads led to Uptown’s pioneering ZaZa boutique hotel, which threw a 10th anniversary bash for more than 1,200 of its nearest and dearest. Oilman Allan McBee, for example, was camped out in the lobby waiting for his wife, Lynn, who would arrive from a Joffrey Ballet performance at the Winspear, and a friend, who would come from the Stars game at the AAC. Benji Homsey, president of Z Resorts Management and Development, said the big shindig was a “thank you” to its supporters from the company, which also has a boutique hotel in Houston and will break ground on a third in Austin later this year. The Dallas property’s performing well, he added, with consistent annual occupancy rates in the mid-to-high 70s.
Saturday’s event was quite a thank-you gesture. The 154-room luxury hotel was decked out with oversized tents, flaming sparklers, booze and gourmet grub, two deejays–one specializing in ’80s disco–a contortionist and a tarot-card reader. “Oh my god. It’s like the Blues Brothers meets modern cheese,” one 40ish businessman said, fighting his way through the crowd. “If we can’t score here …” Meantime, well-known socialite Kate Rose Marquez was getting her cards read by Valentina Burton, “the fortune teller of Dallas.” Anything positive? “She told me 2013 will be a year of fun, and that good things are coming my way,” said Marquez, at left in photo with Burton. “She also said I’m finally going to get something that I’ve been waiting for for a long time.” The party didn’t end ’til 2.
