Gild complex: Trump breaks in ballroom

Sunday, January 2, 2005

The New Year's Eve bash at Mar-a-Lago felt like it could have been thrown by King Louis XIV.

Granted, the master of the palace, The Apprentice's Donald Trump, looks nothing like a short French king with bad hygiene. But his new Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom, on the grounds of the Palm Beach property, glitters like a mini-Versailles.

Seven hundred guests toasted the new year inside the $35 million ballroom, which was being used for the first time in a preview of Trump's Jan. 22 wedding there.

"I'm very happy about the way this building turned out," Trump told Page Two between bites of stone crab. "The exterior was designed to keep up with the vision of Mrs. (Marjorie Merriweather) Post, but the inside is more me. It's got the feel and look of Louis XIV, and that's my favorite style."

The building, one of the few additions to the 1926 property built by the cereal heiress, is breathtaking in its attention to detail and luxury. Since the groundbreaking on Thanksgiving 2003, workers have hand-applied sheets of 24-karat gold to the hundreds of yards of wall and ceiling moldings. The Donald says that the gold alone cost him $7 mill, a couple of million short of what he spent to buy the entire property in 1985.

Each of the 17 crystal chandeliers that hung over the New Year revelers, who were serenaded by gorgeous Vanessa Williams, set him back $250,000. There are also mahogany doors; a state-of-the-art sound system that will be used by the likes of Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross and Tony Bennett during the next few weeks; and rare apple-green onyx on the bathroom floors. The bathroom basins are gold, and The Donald insisted that their piping be as well.

One topic of party conversation was the 58-year-old businessman's nuptials to 30-year-old pillow-lipped model Melania Knauss, just three weeks away. It'll be marriage No. 3 for Trump, whose first wife, author and jet-setter Ivana Trump, was celebrating the new year in her mansion a few blocks north.

"I feel just fine about getting married again," The Donald said. "I'm not nervous about these things anymore."

Said his and Ivana's daughter, 23-year-old model Ivanka Trump: "I'm excited for my dad. I don't know if my mom will be here, but I'm happy for him."

Elsewhere on The Island and throughout SoFla, partyers jam-packed clubs and restaurants to bid farewell to 2004.

Our Leslie Gray Streeter stopped by The Colony in Palm Beach, where the carnation-wearing Coconuts were celebrating New Year's Eve, as the group has for 80-something years. This time around, party (and fashion) designer Steven Stolman had a new curtain, outfitted with thousands of fiber-optic lights, go off at midnight like fireworks. Then came the traditional early-morning pancake breakfast.

At Ta-Boo, older folks behaved like club kids, with women dancing under a disco ball with glow sticks intertwined with their blings. Down the street at Amici, socialites boogied while screaming "Play that funky music, white boy!"

Across the lake in WPB, Tsunami in CityPlace was the place. Inside, fake snow fell at midnight as the AC was turned down to Northeast winter levels. Nearby, Resort was hopping despite the $95 cover charge. Throngs of younger revelers also descended on downtown.

New Year's morning action in Miami shifted to the Star Island home of rapper, fashion designer and party planner Sean Combs, aka P. Diddy. Sources say his party got kicking at 6 a.m. Saturday with many celebs, including: Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Dark Angel's Jessica Alba, That '70s Show's Wilmer Valderrama and Desperate Housewives'Eva Longoria (who, I'm told, paired up with 'N Sync-er J.C. Chasez).

The soiree obviously was worth skipping some shut-eye. A spywitness saw starlet Lindsay Lohan, a mere age 18, stumbling into her room at Miami Beach's Shore Club by the last stroke of 7 a.m.

Thom Smith's Party People

Friday, February 11, 2005

Dinner AND A SHOW: ONLY $1,000

When Donald Trump opened the Mar-a-Lago Club, he promised first-class entertainment, and he's made good. Over the years, he's brought in the likes of Celine Dion, The Temptations, Lionel Ritchie. Don Rickles worked 'em over a few weeks ago. Diana Ross returns in a couple of weeks from now.

Last weekend's show by Gloria Estefan (at right) was special for a couple of reasons. Gloria and her husband, Emilio, can cut deals as well as the big dealmaker himself. As part of the contract, Gloria claimed 100 tickets to do with as she pleased. Then she pitched a deal to her friends: Dinner and a show at the legendary Mar-a Lago, which many had never seen, for $1,000 each.

A $100,000 haul. But stifle any accusations of crass opportunism: All the money went to her charity fund for tsunami aid. Several club members also chipped in sizable amounts. All in all, a really great deal.

ROCK 'N' ROLL 'N' SPORTS 'N' HOME SAFE

"Let's get one thing straight. No one gets into rock 'n' roll to do good. We get into rock 'n' roll to meet girls. We get into rock 'n' roll because we don't want to work for a living. We get into rock 'n' roll to become famous . . . and it helps us meet girls again.

"So where did I go wrong? I was in Asbury Park making $150 a night. I joined Springsteen and threw it all away."

That's Little Steven Van Zandt, guitar player extraordinaire with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, host of the Underground Garage Radio Show and perhaps best-known as Sylvio Dante on The Sopranos. He was in Delray two Sundays ago to accept the "Golden Drumsticks" award from Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres at The Classic, Torres' fund-raising dinner and golf and tennis outing.

The sticks award, also presented to former Yankees star Paul O'Neill, recognized their service to children's programs. The event raised more than $250,000 for The Childrens Place at Home Safe.

The golf at Boca Lago Country Club attracted the likes of football greats Lawrence Taylor and Jim McMahon. Sports stars also packed the dinner at the Delray Beach Marriott, but the theme was definitely rock 'n' roll, with Torres summoning several special friends: Van Zandt, golf nut Alice Cooper, Boca boy and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and guitarist Bobby Dahl from Poison.

Seizing the opportunity, organizers proposed a deal: If the audience could raise $20,000, the rockers would jam. The money was easy. The musicians needed a little time to organize before ripping an enthusiastic if not totally artistic Gloria.

"I'm very, very happy to be here to support Home Safe," Van Zandt said. "We in the arts do what we can do, but it's still the people on the front lines who really get the job done, and I want to applaud them. They're amazing."

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