Wet pool party at Custom Hotel
This group of friends managed to secure one of the Custom Hotel’s comfy cabanas before the event for a fee. “We’ve been going to pool parties all summer,” said one of the partygoers, Randy Smith, left. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
24-year-old Julie Athanacio, left, and her friend “Bubblegirl” said it was their first “Wet” party. “We like it,” Athanacio said, “but we wish there were more girls!” (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
A lone hula-hooper dances to the beat of her own drummer as the crowd takes a moment to flirt poolside once clouds momentarily move in. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Yellow beads make the hoop spin faster. It’s simple science. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Video editor Robert McDaniels, 35, soaks up the sounds of house music near the Custom Hotel’s poolside bar. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Dancer Heather West, 27, was hired by Wet promoters to get the party started. “I made this outfit myself,” she said of her sequined suit. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Custom Hotel owner Avi Brosh surveys the scene. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Longtime friends Dylan Leong (left), 36, and Wet creator/promoter Sam Gaglani share a moment and think back to all the past Wet parties the two have enjoyed together, dating back to the late 1990s in San Francisco. “This takes me back to the glory days,” Leong joked. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Gillian Bigelson has a very important conversation via cellphone at the party. “I was actually talking to my Mom,” she said later of the call. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Enjoying the sun, with protection in the form of designer sunglasses. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Legendary San Francisco-based party promoter Nabiel Musleh (he threw some of the the first “raves” in San Francisco in the early 1990s that the movie “Groove” was based on) enjoys a bit of Los Angeles-style merrymaking Saturday afternoon. Musleh now owns a sucessful bar in San Francisco (Harlot) and will soon open his first restaurant, Bar Florence, with Food Network personality Tyler Florence. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
40-year-old Kaylin Cannon, left, and Edugie Asemota, 30, said the “vibe is great” at Wet. The Long Beach-based friends are both big fans of Julius Papp, one of the house DJs that played Saturday. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
The guy who makes the ladies laugh always seems to get the girl. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Brazilian-born Clarissa Costa experienced her first Wet pool party Saturday. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Good times near the cabana area and gas fire pit at the Custom Hotel. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Brentwood resident Brad Vizi, 24, made a new friend at Wet. “I just recently met her,” he said of 33-year-old Roma Viray, left, a fashion buyer for BeBe. “The crowd here is great...very eclectic,” Vizi said. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Bay Area-based DJ David Harness moves the crowd with smooth house tracks. This is his third Wet pool party enagagement, but his first Wet in L.A. (Harness previously played several parties in San Francisco where Wet started in the late 1990s). (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
This couple enjoyed the view of the pool from the Hopscotch Lounge (the official name for the poolside bar at the Custom Hotel). Stadium-style seating makes for good views of the action. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Alicia Bernal, 28, wore a Diane von Furstenberg dress to the pool party. “I was feelin’ the stripes today,” she said. Ram Degan (left), 29, approved of the fashion choice. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
A view of the bar on the second level above the pool at the Hopscotch Lounge. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
Playing foosball is difficult with distractions like this on the table. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
It wasn’t all dancing at the event. Lots of flirting and catching up with friends took place at the bar. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)
A view of the pool and early arrivals at the Custom. (Nancy Walters / For The Times)