Nightlife

Homes for the Holidays

The Hot List: 2012 Holiday Parties

You’ve had those elves on retainer for 11 months now. So it’s about time you decided on a <em>venue</em> for your holiday party. Behold—the only five places worthy of your Festivus get-together... Or maybe you celebrate something different...

THE ROYAL TREATMENT

The Royal Tenenbaums’ House

You Require: Three floors of indie-film history.
You’ll Receive: The very same Wes Anderson–wallpapered mansion—now an art gallery—that actually inspired large parts of the classic movie. You’ve got bars on two floors (which somehow missed the final cut) and the priceless opportunity to search for the board-game closet.

THE DINNER COMMAND CENTER

Scott Conant’s SoHo Loft

You Require: A nice, quiet dinner with friends.
You’ll Receive: A tasting-menu feast for you and 35 of your closest friends in the loft of the man behind Scarpetta. (That loft: set up by an Emmy-winning production designer.) Also: a test kitchen and production studio, in case you want to show the world that pan jerk you’ve been honing.

THE CLASSIC NEW YORKER

The Puncheon Room at ‘21’ Club

You Require: Your own sizable swath of old Manhattan.
You’ll Receive: A gold-tinged museum wing of a reception space that could’ve housed a Vanderbilt party if it hadn’t just opened. Paintings of chanteuses of yore on the walls and a never-ending martini in your hand.

THE HOTEL SPOT

The Johnston Room at the NoMad

You Require: An atrium to look down upon.
You’ll Receive: Leo Robitschek’s mad cocktail genius and a Daniel Humm–catered affair with a fried-chicken station and a view of the main dining room. Which you’ll note does not have a fried-chicken station.

THE AMERICAN WAY

The Den and Mezzanine at Harding’s

You Require: An oaken back-room space for holiday dealmaking.
You’ll Receive: An oaken back-room space for holiday dealmaking filled with decanters of bourbon. And, for good measure, they’ll throw in the Victorian mezzanine and dining room for your trouble. Brook trout’s just better on a Victorian mezzanine.