The Cosmopolitan will cater to clients who don’t care for Las Vegas

Leslie Navarro

14 years ago

If you want to truly get a sense of how different The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is, then why don't you join me outside on the terrace?

That's right. A terrace. In a town where virtually every other hotel room is sealed up tight and then air conditioned within an inch of its life, the 2995 rooms that will eventually come on line at this brand-new resort & casino will actually allow guests to step outside and then get some air. Not to mention enjoying a pretty spectacular view.

This – I know – is a very un-Vegas-like thing to do. But then again The Cosmopolitan (which officially welcomes its first customers tomorrow as this $3.9 billion property begins its soft-opening phase) is a very Un-Vegas-like resort & casino.

How so? Well, let's start in the lobby. Where – directly across from the check-in desk – you'll find these things called elevators. These will then take you straight upstairs to your room.

Okay. I know. This sort of set-up isn't really all that innovative. Most every hotel & resort in the world has elevators in close proximity to its check-in desk. But in Las Vegas, where it's almost mandatory that the guest has to drag their bags through a mile-and-a-half of casino before they're then allowed to reach their room, what The Cosmopolitan's design team has done here is downright refreshing.

In short, this is a resort & casino that hopes to cater to people who don't actually care for Las Vegas. People who may have visited Sin City a few years back during Vegas's ill-fated, family-centric theme park phase and then found this place wanting.

Because – when it comes to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas — there isn't a hint of theme park to be found in this place. Not a lot of glitz either. What with its two sleek 50-story towers jutting up between The Bellagio and CityCenter, the Cosmopolitan is genuinely a Next Generation urban entertainment center.

Oh, sure. What with this being Vegas and all, The Cosmopolitan does have this 65 foot-tall marquee that's located out on the Strip. And, given that there's a 100,000 square-foot casino down at street level, if you'd want to gamble while you're here in town, the opportunity is obviously there.

But long story short, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is an island of calm & quality amid all of the typical craziness. So, if you grow tired of all the lights & the noise, you can get rejuvenated by taking a dip in one of this hotel's three pools. Or – better get – go get a massage in The Cosmopolitan's 32-room Sahra Spa & Hammam.

The Cosmopolitan's ultimate goal is to take all of the stress and strain out of visiting Sin City. Take – for example – how this resort's restaurants are laid out. Rather than having them scattered around this 8.7 acre property, all of the eateries are conveniently located along a single corridor in a neighborhood-like setting. Here, you'll have your choice of dining at the STK steak house, the Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill, José Andrés' $6 million Chinese-Mexican restaurant, China Poblano, as well as the Strip's first-ever Greek restaurant, Estiatorio Milos. This restaurant will be owned & operated by Costas Spiliadis.

Mind you, if shopping's more your style, you can check out some of the funky boutiques located in The Cosmopolitan's lobby area. Or – better yet – take advantage of those two pedestrian overpasses that cut straight through this property's second level and then head next door to experience CityCenter's wide selection of stores.

And then – when you make your way back to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – be sure and scope out those huge video columns out in the lobby. Check it out, along with Yoko Ono and T.J. Wilcox's digital art installations. Not to mention those colorful displays of graffiti that were done by Shepard Fairey, Os Gemoes, Kenny Scharf and Shinique.

You see what I'm saying yet? The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is a very different sort of resort & casino. It's one that you're sure to be hearing a lot about in over the next two weeks. Especially after Jay-Z and Coldplay perform at the hotel's three-day-long, invitation-only New Year's Eve event.

So if you're grown tired of this town's enormous plastic castles & fake pyramids and want to experience … Well, something a bit more contemporary and sophisticated the next time you come to Las Vegas, why not consider staying at The Cosmopolitan? Which – what with that Sub-Zero refrigerator and Samsung plama TV which you'll find in every hotel room – really sets the standard when it comes to recasting Sin City as more of an urban & urbane vacation destination. Which is what really sets this property apart from everything else that you'll find in Las Vegas these days.

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