The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is one of Las Vegas’ newest and most impressive casino hotel resorts. It features twin 61 story hotel towers, the Cosmopolitan Casino Spa Tower and the Cosmopolitan Casino Beach Tower, which are the sixth tallest structures in the city at over 600 feet each. It is located on the strip just south of another very impressive complex, the Bellagio.
The preference was to just call this place The Cosmopolitan, but a lawsuit by the Hearst Corporation, alleging trademark infringement of their popular women’s magazine Cosmopolitan, forced the owners of the not yet built hotel casino to change the name to Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, although few use the full name and refer to it as The Cosmopolitan or simply the Cosmo.
Hotel resort builders in Las Vegas tend to dream pretty big, and this was certainly the case with the Cosmopolitan, which took almost 6 years to build and cost an enormous $3.9 billion. This is big even by Vegas standards, and it currently stands as the most expensive building ever to be built in the United States, with One World Trade Center in New York having to settle for second place.
This cost a full billion dollars more to build than any other Las Vegas casino, so they certainly didn’t spare the money with this one, in a city where they really don’t anyway. Construction of a project this enormous often has its setbacks, and the Cosmopolitan had more than its share of that, including the company that was building it going bankrupt, and having to be bought out.
The Cosmopolitan was bought and sold twice during its construction phase. It finally opened in 2010, and was later sold in 2014 to the private equity firm The Blackstone Group for $1.73 billion, less than half what it cost to build the place.
This is what can happen when people dream a little too big, but when we’re left with a project that was ultimately too expensive to build but was built anyway, this can result in quite an impressive spectacle, and such is the case here.
It is built on the former parking lot of the Jockey Club, and being such a large structure, space was in short supply, and they are only the second hotel in Las Vegas, after the Palazzo, to have all of its parking located underground.
The 110,000 square feet of gaming space in the casino here is quite unremarkable, as there are many casinos this size or bigger in the city, and many more around the country. Its almost 3,000 hotel rooms is a little more impressive, although that’s only good enough for 14th place in this city.
So what does $3.9 billion buy then? In this case, it buys quality, and lots of it. The Cosmopolitan for instance was named the best hotel in the world, period, by Gogobot, and is at the very least one of the very best planet has to offer.
The Features of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Sure, they did spend way too much on this place, but the Cosmopolitan is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, both inside and out, especially if you like modern architecture.
If you’re looking for a simply gorgeous hotel packed with luxury, this is the place. Staying here is an event in itself, forget the casino, although they do have one.
The rooms here start at 460 square feet for a City Room, which is the smallest and least impressive but still beats the best of many of the city’s other hotel rooms. This is an exceptionally nice room with marble floors, and things just get better from here.
There’s also the larger studio rooms, with 620 square feet, including the Terrace Studio Fountain View which also has a 110 square foot private balcony overlooking the Bellagio fountains. From there you can select from a number of different suites, and some of these are truly unique, with increasing levels of opulence. The décor in all of them is ultra urban and ultra chic.
As nice as the rooms and suites are here, if anything, they are understated compared to the rest of this resort. This property truly has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
A stay at a hotel resort casino isn’t complete without a lot of good dining options, and there are 21 different restaurants here to experience and enjoy. The décor alone is worth the experience at many of these. They call it a restaurant collection here and they aren’t kidding.
Eggslut features all day breakfast, Wicked Spoon delivers innovative, multi cultural dishes, China Poblano combines Chinese and Mexican cuisines, and Beauty and Essex delivers the creations of acclaimed chef Chris Santos.
Jaleo features authentic Spanish flavors, STK is a steakhouse with a sexy atmosphere, Overlook Grill delivers casual dining, and Scarpetta brings out the Italian. The Juice Standard offers freshly pressed juices, D.O.C.G. is a rustic Italian restaurant, E. by Jose Andres is an avant-garde Spanish grill, and Holstein’s serves up elite burgers.
Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill delivers Japanese cuisine, Milk Bar offers award winning deserts, Momofuku dishes out acclaimed Asian food, and Rose Rabbit Lie is a modern supper club.
Estiantorio Milos serves up pristine Mediterranean seafood, The Henry boasts old school food and drinks, the soon to be opening Zuma features modern Japanese cuisine, and Starbucks and Va Benne Café specializes in coffee.
The 60,000 square foot Marquee Nightclub is the highest grossing nightclub in the United States, and may also be the best. Marquee also has a Dayclub with a vibrant beach scene. Dive In Movies features poolside movies on a huge screen.
There are also 6 dedicated bars here and these aren’t your usual bars, they really stand out as everything does at this resort. You’ll be wowed by the décor much more than you’d ever expect at a bar.
The Cosmopolitan also boasts a 3,200 seat theater, a 40,000 square foot spa facility, a fitness center with tennis courts, 14 shops, 3 separate swimming pools, and 150,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Casino at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
This isn’t the largest casino in town but is certainly among the city’s most beautiful, if not the most beautiful period.
Their Identity Membership Club offers the best rewards program on the strip, which they happily demonstrate to be the case when compared with other popular rewards programs at other locations. You earn points here on every dollar you spend at the resort, not just at the casino.
There are 1,300 slot and video poker machines on hand, which is not a lot, but they do have the very latest and best here including all of the hottest games, with stakes ranging from a penny to $500 a spin. This is a new casino, and all of their machines employ state of the art technology, including their exclusive FASTPAY, which even processes big jackpots without the need for an attendant.
There is a separate high limit slots lounge which offers an enhanced experience and level of comfort and luxury, in addition to being able to play for a whole lot more money. There are also regular slot tournaments which are open to players of all stake levels.
There are 8 different table games available here, where you can enjoy your favorite games in a setting which is rife with the interesting artwork that makes this casino truly one of a kind.
Games offered here include Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Fortune Pai Gow, Ultimate Texas Holdem, Casino War, and Three Card Poker. There’s also a separate High Limit Table Games Lounge with $100 minimums and the opportunity to play for some very big money in a refined gaming area that is unlike anything else Las Vegas has to offer.
They also have a Race and Sports Book which has been recently upgraded, doubling its previous size, and features the very latest in technology and is powered by CG Technology. This lounge is also delightful to the eye as everything is at this resort casino.
They did spend a couple of billion dollars more than they should have to build the Cosmopolitan, but we sure are glad they did, as this is quite a resort indeed, and really does need to be experienced first hand.
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