parties

Retro-Savvy Heights House Hotel Celebrates Opening with Lavish Luau

Retro-Savvy Heights House Hotel Celebrates Opening with Lavish Luau

THE ONLY BOUTIQUE hotel in the Heights celebrated its grand opening with a lavish luau last night. The Heights House Hotel, previously the Astro Inn, underwent a $3.5 million renovation and has been reborn as the vibrant, vintage-savvy 133-room property, complete with a tropical-themed bar (helmed by popular chef Lyle Bento) and hip pool scene.

The party took place poolside, where hula dancers and fire performers greeted colorfully clad guests, who received lei necklaces upon arrival. The night's soundtrack was courtesy of Drums of the Pacific — who kept the crowd grooving and also put on performances of traditional Hawaiian, Polynesian and Tahitian dances — and DJ MarcG.

Owners Jivar Foty and George Giannukos, who purchased the property in 2019 and took a full year to transform the run-down inn into a "quirky" destination, spoke to the crowd. Meanwhile, Bento prepared a whole-roasted kalua pig as his Space Cowboy bar served up creative cocktails and boozy snow cones, and the hotel's GM Marrissa Selby gave tours of the hotel and its artful touches. IV Bars also provided vitamin D infusion shots.

Scene in the crowd: Former Rockets player and NBA All-Star Steve Francis; Super Bowl champ Owen Daniels; TV journalists Chita Craft, Ruben Dominguez, Miya Shay and Ron Trevino; chef Ryan Lachaine; and Manready Mercantile's Travis Weaver.

Chita Craft, Hathrine Whaley

Codi & Christian Fuller

Nick Scurfield, Owen Daniels

Ron Travino

Annesa Maggi, Emily Brockman

Avery & Mitchel Schwarts

Poolside Fire Dancing

Shelly Wiesenthal, Michael Garfield

Robbie Beck, Owen Daniels, April Edwards, Adam Ross

From Your Site Articles
Parties
promoted

Fall Philanthropy Report: Children’s Assessment Center Touts ‘Healing’ for Child Abuse Victims

Fall Philanthropy Report: Children’s Assessment Center Touts ‘Healing’ for Child Abuse Victims

What is your mission? The Children’s Assessment Center (The CAC) provides healing services to over 6,300 child sexual abuse victims and their families each year. We offer forensic interviewing, family advocacy, mental health services, medical care, and court services at no cost. We facilitate community outreach and prevention training to raise awareness about child abuse in our community and how to keep children safe. Last year, we provided prevention training to over 35,000 community members, including 23,500 children in schools.

Keep Reading Show less
art

Five Fabulously Diverse Exhibits Are Arriving at Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Bill Viola’s ‘Ascension,’ on display as part of ‘Living with the Gods’ at MFAH

THE ARTIST WHO ushered in the expressionist movement in the early 20th century was not, in fact, Picasso or Matisse. It was Paul Gauguin, whose career spanned the decades just preceding the turn of the century. The French painter is the subject of the Museum of Fine Arts’ latest exhibit, Gauguin in the World, which was organized by Henri Loyrette (formerly of the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris). The show, just one of the museum’s diverse winter season shows, debuted in Australia in June and will be on display through Feb. 16, 2025, at the MFAH, the only U.S. venue for the survey.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment
art

Great Eight: Here Are Our Picks for Arts and Culture in the Holidays and New Year

Cirque du Soleil's 'Echo'


Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment