 The Cosmopolitan was intended to have a lot of condos in it, until people stopped buying condos in Las Vegas. At that point, and with the economy tanking and City Center being stunningly lackluster next door, the owners decided to make it swankuluxe but a little less serious than the other high-end joints. It has some visual jokes, cool stuff to look at, some fantastic restaurants, and a sense of fun that's been missing from the other new places.
     
Room Quality: These are some swanky rooms, and larger than average, about as big as most of the other top-end hotels. The most appealing aspect is that most rooms have balconies with doors you can actually open, and area you can actually walk out onto. The colors are cool, blues, grays with a smattering of warmer tones. The smallest rooms are the City rooms at 460 s.f., followed by the Terrace Suites. They have the balconies and small kitchenettes. Bigger than those are the bedroom suites which also have all the fancy stuff. All rooms have marble bathrooms with huge showers (with windows on the bedroom). Larger rooms add a deep tub. Some closets have strange, artsy wallpaper. All rooms have swanky furnishings.
Service Quality: Very good for those with the moolah. The goal here is to be as nice as the other high-end joints in town. Everything is available to you, usually at a cost.
What You Get Bottles of in the Bathroom: The finest shampoo, condition and lotion, all in odd medicinal-looking bottles. Don't confuse it for medicine, though, or your gut will get a lathering.
Clientele: People in their early thirties up to sixties, mostly. This is supposed to have a mature feel, so it isn't going to be huge with the hipsters, but will appeal to the BMW/Lexus/Mercedes set.
How's the Pool? There are three pools, all of them small, up on the fourth floor overlooking the Strip. The first is the Boulevard pool, which is mostly very shallow but the biggest of the bunch and right on the Strip. The second is the Bamboo pool, which is smaller and designed to give its users some privacy. The last is the dayclub which is a hipster lounge pool by day and part of the nightclub by night. Plenty of daybeds and loungers are arranged on tiers about the pool, and there are swanky private cabanas tucked away for privacy. There are also pinball, foosball, ping pong and billiards tables arranged about the pools.
Table Games: The casino has all the usual suspects, including Casino War, the only game to be more boring than Baccarat with worse odds than roulette. Skip that and look for the craps, blackjack, mini-bac, roulette, pai gow and variants of 21. Craps is 3x4x5x odds, single-deck blackjack is 6:5. The casino is long and narrow, and maybe the most boring part of the property. It's really rather conventional and unappealing.
Bet Minimums: We saw some ten dollar tables the day after opening, so it appears that may be what to expect at slow times. By evening, those were bumped up considerably, but during the day, it's almost reasonable.
Machines: A huge inventory of video machines with many of the TV and movie theme machines. They have them from those infernal penny slots all the way up to several hundred bucks a pull. The video poker is Strip standard, meaning full-pay is very hard to find, but available at the dollar level.
Cocktails? While the casino is new, it's a little overwhelmed and service is slow. The drinks were coming in swanky looking lowballs and tall glasses, though.
Who Gets Comps? Their slot club is supposedly more than that. It is called Identity and it links everything together so it tracks all of your purchases and play and activity and comes up with rewards based on the sum. Is it any good? We don't know yet.
Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill: The blue ribbon in the name makes us think county fair, but this place is anything but. It's sushi, pure and simple. with a sushi bar and restaurant areas. It is casual in the front, maybe a little quieter toward the back. There is also steak and lobster on the menu.
China Poblano: The first word is pronounced "cheena" but it stands for the country and its fine food. This place truly serves both Chinese and Mexican in a casual sit-down restaurant and at two walk-up counters, one for Chinese and one or Mexican. Both sides look quite authentic, including beef tongue tacos. This is a Jose Andres joint. He has earned Michelin's three stars before. That's a big deal.
Comme Ca: A French restaurant with surprisingly decent prices for bouillabaise, duck confit, Scottish salmon and lamb, among other things. The rooms isn't particularly hoity-toity, but it's nice, and the wine selection appears to be wide.
D.O.C.G.: A casual little bistro beside Scarpetta's. It has a huge rack of wines, paper menus, and pizzas, cheeses and simple pastas. It's a noisy place, by design, and relatively quick for lunch or dinner.
Estiatorio Milos: This Greek joint might be the priciest restaurant in the Cosmopolitan, with pretty pricey beef and mediterranean seafood. You will also find lamb, steaks, lobster calamari and grilled peppers on the menu. This restaurant is one of the more secluded and swankier at Cosmo.
The Henry: Not really a coffee shop, but it's the closest thing the Cosmo has to one. The menu is traditional fare like burgers, pot pies and something called Millionaire's Deviled Eggs, which have truffles in them. They are open 24 hours a day with breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night menus. But even the late night meals are priced too high for drunks just looking for grub.
Holsteins: Burgers and shakes are what they promote here. But they also have pat� and spring rolls on the menu. This place competes with the other gourmet burger joints on the Strip in both type of sandwich and price, which means In 'n Out is still way cheaper and simpler.
Jaleo: Jose Andres is the big shot here at the authentic Spanish tapas restaurant. That means it is really tapas, not just appetizers called that. All from Spain, all quite interesting. There are also paellas on the menu and a real paella grill in the center of the restaurant. This may be your chance to taste one of the great chefs for a reasonable price.
Scarpetta: Easily the most secluded and quiet restaurants at the Cosmo. This Italian joint has a view overlooking the Bellagio fountains and a fancy Italian menu with spaghetti, veal, duck and cod. It is not easy to find since it's just a huge metal door next to D.O.C.G.
STK: A traditional steakhouse, a dark room with lots of leather and steaks that cost half a bill. There are a few twists on the menu, like Rice Krispies shrimp and foies gras French toast as appetizers, but the focus is mostly on the ribeyes, skirts, filets, etc.
Wicked Spoon Buffet: The buffet is mostly like other Strip extravaganzas with similar pricing, only smaller in space, and with bigger chandeliers and louder decor. They serve brunch and dinner. There is staff there to prepare food so it doesn't sit in a steam tray so long, and the portions often come on small plates. There are a few unique examples and some very good desserts.
For coffee, salads and pastries, you can check out Va Bene Caff�. Out by the pool, the Surfside Grill fills your belly after swimming. There is also a "secret" pizza place that is difficult to find but serves up very good pies ad slices. The tiny entrance is between Jaleo and Blue Ribbon on the third floor. Just look for the hall with old album covers on it.
Bond: This bar/lounge has high-tech LED lights dancing all over, and will feature live music. It also is at the front of the property with windows that let you look out and others look in at whatever is happening.
Book and Stage: This bar has a live music stage and in the back, a single sports book window. That's for people too lazy to walk up to the second floor for the real book. It's incredibly noisy in here and primarily just a bar.
Marquee: This massive space is a nightclub and hipster lounge. It's got tall walls and more floor space than 100 of our apartments. It's got pricey drinks and hipster deejays. It also has some interesting live acts, mostly of the national touring kind, not the cheesy lounge act kind.
Number of TVs: There are individual TVs at the seats, but the community tubes are a wall that, presumable, can be turned into one giant screen or into several smaller screens. In fact, that's what it mostly is; a lot of different screens.
Number of Seats: This is a fairly small book and there are only about 30 seats, each with its own TV.
How Many Betting Windows? About five windows are available to take your money and maybe even give some back.
Free Drinks? For the big bettors, anything is possible. For the rest of us, we'll have to sip on our dreams.
Snack Bar? Well, it's on the second floor, so you can go to the buffet.
Minimum Wager: They have horse and sports. Horse is typical parimutuel, sports is $10.
Other Notes: This is a small and ugly sportsbook for the Strip. Cosmo now offers the Cantor Gaming mobile device that you can carry around the resort with you and make sports bets while anywhere, or play the casino-style games. Because, you know, there's nothing like going to Vegas to play on a computer. The sportsbook is next to the Marquee Nightclub on the second floor.
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