Joao Daniel Gets Up, Gets Down @ Hotel Gansevoort

Joao Daniel has moved on from Le Royale and is focusing his efforts on the coolest party for the hot summer, "Get Up, Get Down" at Hotel Gansevoort on Saturdays (12pm-8pm) and Sundays (12pm-4am). Here's the lowdown.

Tell me about the pool party at the Gansevoort.
We started two weeks ago. I’m the VIP host of the party. It actually consists of people in the nightlife business in New York City. We decided to do weekend outdoor parties because so many people are staying in the city this summer and bypassing the Hamptons. I loved the pool party scene and day parties by the pool. They’re just great. The first day of the party, we had over 1,200 people come through. We host brunch too, and the food is really really good. People usually come between 12pm and 4pm, have lunch, a little champagne. The brunch thing has taken over NYC. After four we start the pool, so everyone gets together, people start buying tables, and it’s just a great vibe. The weather has been great for the last two weeks as well. We also had a bunch of celebrities come in the first weekend.

People end up buying tables by the pool?
We do have a few tables by the pool, but that’s super VIP. We have to reserve space for guests of the hotel. We can’t kick them out. The super good-looking people always go to the pool. We have a lot of girls in bikinis, so we always make sure we take care of them. The guys who want to be by the pool usually have to buy a table; it’s more exclusive. And we have tables in different areas all over the place. If you come earlier, we have the back of the space where everyone is tanning. Later, in front of the bar, it goes insane and the area becomes like a big club in the daytime.

How’d you get this gig?
Matt Assante and Dustin Terry got the deal—they worked for Marquee for four years. The main person behind this idea was Tommy Fieldar. He put the team together.

What is the vibe—what are the people like?
We have a doorman there, so we’re very careful who we let in. The doorman is very classy and very respectful to everybody. We make sure that we only let the elegant people go inside. We want to make sure that the girls inside have flaming hot bodies and that they dress in bikinis. Because New York City never has pool parties, we actually have to teach people how to dress. We like telling people, “Avoid the black, come in white, be summery, we like the shorts, we like white sneakers ...”

It’s all about the look?
Yeah, it’s all about the look. One of the first weeks, this guy came with a scuba diving outfit, and we were like, “Who is this guy?” He was giving off “the summer is here; we want to be by the ocean” vibe. When people look fun, we definitely take care of them and make sure they get inside.

Do you think this will start a trend for pool parties all around the city?
Next year, I think there will be a new wave of parties for the summer in NYC. The only place that has a pool is the Soho House, but they’re private. This is a vibe that New York was missing. We have a great team with great DJs that play all house music. We try to track the Euro crowd and the Euro look, but of course, we have people from all different places that belong at the party. It’s a really good mixed crowd, and I think that next year a lot of people are going to be trying this. Instead of going to the Hamptons this weekend, people are just going to stay in the city and chill by the pool.