Gallery: McKittrick Hotel's Big, Queer Masquerade Ball

We're nearly a full week into 2018, but guests of The King's Winter Masquerade, a grand gala held on New Year's Eve at Manhattan's McKittrick Hotel, are still reeling from the night's lush festivities. Unfolding in the ballroom, lounges, hallways, and hideaways that usually house the immersive theater production Sleep No More, the masked ball was a dance party-cum-upscale soiree that, depending on the size of your purse, offered an array of pleasures from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. If you couldn't afford the King's Feast and the Sleep No More show itself, you could still show up for the subsequent bash that featured lasers, confetti, multiple open bars, sultry male and female dancers draped in decadent costumes, and mystery galore, all set against the McKittrick's baroque backdrop. (A high-flying act set to Lady Gaga's “Bad Romance” was a huge highlight.) And if you couldn't make it close to the main stage as the clock neared midnight, there were plenty of private spots to lock lips with your date—or a handsome stranger—and welcome the new year.

Photography: Loren Wohl