New Cosmopolitan Review

I just posted Doc's review of the Cosmopolitan. This is one the longest reviews on the site and I think sets a new record for the most pictures.

Doc did an outstanding job and I think deserves a round of applause.

Nice selfie at the end, Wiz!

The boxing ring brings back memories. My father claimed that in the 50s many schools had boxing rings so, that if boys fought, the PE coach would have them put on gloves and box. I doubt this is true and was probably an excuse to teach me how to box. I wish he taught me advanced math instead.

Very enjoyable review but very jealous of your offer, Doc. My girlfriend and I played $5 9/6 jacks here quite a bit during the rebate promo and have not even gotten a "welcome to the club" mailer. We are probably not hip enough.

Quote: RogerKint

The boxing ring brings back memories. My father claimed that in the 50s many schools had boxing rings so, that if boys fought, the PE coach would have them put on gloves and box.

This is getting off topic already, and I'll split it off it it goes too far, but in an episode of The Office, as well as the movie Charlie's Angels, anybody could evidently put on big inflatable sumo wrestler outfits and then try to knock each other down/out of the ring. It looked like great fun. Has anyone ever seen this in real life?

Reading the review right now (and only part way through)...

I feel like it should be mentioned that there's a 25$ resort fee per night that isn't waived, even with a fully comp'd room. Ordinarily I wouldn't say it should be stated, but that suddenly feels relevant to me after reading "What I do know is that I got it for two nights for less than I frequently pay for one night in a standard room at a Comfort Inn."

Quote: Wizard

This is getting off topic already, and I'll split it off it it goes too far, but in an episode of The Office, as well as the movie Charlie's Angels, anybody could evidently put on big inflatable sumo wrestler outfits and then try to knock each other down/out of the ring. It looked like great fun. Has anyone ever seen this in real life?

Yes, we did that at an event when I was in high school. I wasn't actually there but I saw pictures and heard that it was a lot of fun. So I guess technically I haven't seen it in real life, but I can confirm that it does exist in real life, and not just in fiction. Unless everyone in my high school was playing a big trick on me :).

Quote: Venthus

I feel like it should be mentioned that there's a 25$ resort fee per night that isn't waived, even with a fully comp'd room.

It's comped for some people. I've seen reports on other message boards that they booked a generic 2 night offer and didn't even have to pay the resort fee at the Cosmo.

Quote: Venthus

I feel like it should be mentioned that there's a 25$ resort fee per night that isn't waived, even with a fully comp'd room.

My final statement from the Cosmopolitan has four entries. The first one says "Resort Fee Inclusions" and has no charge associated with it. The next two (two-night stay) are listed as "Rooms $50 upgrade ($56 w/tax)." The last one says "Front Desk AMEX" and lists a credit (my payment) of $112, with a zero balance shown at the bottom.

All I can say is that it appears that any resort fee was completely waived as part of my original offer and that I paid for nothing except the nightly $50 + tax for the upgrade to the suite. And yes, $112 for two nights is less than I frequently pay for a single night at a Comfort Inn, even in some Podunk towns.

Of course, since this was my first stay at the Cosmopolitan, I have no idea when they waive resort fees and when they don't. I just know that I only paid a total of $112, with no charge described as a resort fee.

Quote: RogerKint

... very jealous of your offer, Doc.

Wish I had some clue as to how to negotiate/beg for a similar offer when we are back out there for this year's WoVCon in April. I kinda doubt that they offer much in return for favorable reviews posted on web sites.

That's one of the things I find frustrating about Vegas. Sometimes I'll go somewhere and it'll be everything waived and then next time not with no rhyme or reason for why. I only wish there was a hotel on the strip or downtown that didn't have the resort fee at all and I would give them my business. To me the resort fee is called "The Price". Put everything you need me to pay in there and move on.

Huh. I've stayed at the Cosmo once and just booked a few days ago (both comp'd) and asked about resort fees... both times, they told me that they always charge resort fees, regardless if the room was comp'd or not.

Sorry about that!

Edit: As a point of reference for how much action I showed... I first received 2 weekday nights after running through my loss rebate with what I'd estimate to be 600$ coin-in. On the trip I used those two free nights, I took an absolute beating flat betting 25$ and ran through 500$ in about half an hour. (At this point, I said screw it to the Cosmo, went to 4Queens and won it back over the span of four hours on High Card Flush.) I'm currently getting weekend tournament invites and 2 anytime nights with 50$ in promo chips.

Just got 4 anytime nights comped with 50$ promo chips from the Cosmo. It was an invitation sent to me. This is the First time I got an invite in the mail with 4 nights. usually I call my host. Did anyone mention the Talon Club High limit small casino on the 2nd floor? If so sorry..

Are any of you Las Vegas locals getting any offers from Cosmo? I really have never given them any play and just wondered if I should get on their radar?

Quote: mds

Did anyone mention the Talon Club High limit small casino on the 2nd floor?

Didn't mention it because I didn't know what it was. Of course I did mention that I'm a low-roller and didn't even go into the standard high-limit room on the first floor. The Talon Club does show up on the property map, sorta hidden behind a couple of places I showed in some of those photos near the end of the review (before the Wizard's old photos). Not a place I am likely ever to visit.

Doc, did you eat at many of their restaurants? If so, what were your impressions.

This was shortly after they opened, but I stayed comped there twice and I'm about 90% sure I didn't have a pay a resort fee either time.

Quote: DRich

Doc, did you eat at many of their restaurants? If so, what were your impressions.

We certainly didn't visit enough to review them seriously. We had dinner one night at Holsteins, the specialty burger place that appears twice in the photos near the end of the review. Food was very good (for a specialty burger anyway) and service was reasonably good. We also ate at the Burger Brasserie at ParisLV on this trip, as we have several times before, and I would rate Holsteins at least as good on food and service. However, a restaurant with a DJ running a sound system isn't really my kind of place, and the general sound/noise level was higher than I like for dining. We made our preferences known up front, so they put us in the rear room, which seemed quite a bit better (sound wise) than out by the bar, but I still would have preferred it quieter. (Note: this goes along with why I'm not into nightclubs.)

One of the other photos near the end shows Va Bene, a coffee shop/deli/patisserie on Level 2 -- it's actually quite close to the Talon Club. We did not eat there, but they have what I guess is an annex on Level 1 near the hotel lobby. I got take-out down there that we had as our breakfast on the balcony one morning. Just can't beat hot tea with a danish while gazing at that kind of view.

I don't think we went into any of the other restaurants or bars in the whole place. I suppose I coulda shoulda woulda if I had really known that I would be writing a review after coming home, but that idea only came to me as I started taking photos of everything. Since we were only at the Cosmopolitan for two nights, I couldn't really have checked out very many of the restaurants in detail anyway.

Great stuff Doc!

My g/f and I really like Cosmo, but we definitely stick out like sore thumbs there.

Doc,

Outstanding review. In fact, so good, I'm looking at staying there in April. What a lovely, eclectic (exactly the right word) place. And yes, I already booked my flight, so I'm showing up. :)

EDIT: something's wrong with the cosmo's website link at the bottom of the review; it's giving an dnssearch error. might be the http:// is missing?

Quote: beachbumbabs

...something's wrong with the cosmo's website link at the bottom of the review; it's giving an dnssearch error. might be the http:// is missing?

Give it another try; I already pointed out the problem to the Wizard, and he has fixed it. The link supposedly went to www.www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com, which didn't work because of the extra www.

Glad to hear you will definitely be there. And yes, we would be at the Cosmopolitan again in April if I had any reasonable expectation of getting a similar deal. Sometimes, though, the fantasies just don't seem reasonable....

Quote: Doc

Give it another try; I already pointed out the problem to the Wizard, and he has fixed it. The link supposedly went to www.www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com, which didn't work because of the extra www.

Glad to hear you will definitely be there. And yes, we would be at the Cosmopolitan again in April if I had any reasonable expectation of getting a similar deal. Sometimes, though, the fantasies just don't seem reasonable....

That did it; link fixed, thanks. The best deal I've found for them so far is 3 days for 15% off. Your suite is 500/night. Yikes! But I can get into a studio for 200/night avg, and may well book that. Would love to start a relationship with such a cool place, and my play should be healthy enough to get them to write it off.

deleted

I just figured out something that I didn't have straight when I wrote the review -- it was a little item I had seen and commented on but noted, "I didn't check it out, and I just don't know." It relates to some extreme-high-end accommodations at the Cosmopolitan.

I wrote a clarification paragraph, and the Wizard kindly fit it in right at the end of the discussion of the pool areas and before discussion of the Fitness Center. If you're interested in seeing it without re-reading the whole thing, that's right about the middle of the full review, so just drag the scroll bar down to there.