The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is a new hotel situated adjacent to the Bellagio (airport side). It opened in late 2010, and is now part of the Marriott Autograph Collection, and a Ritz-Carlton affiliate.
It comprises two towers, the East Tower which is nearest the Strip and has a square floorplan, and the West Tower which is long and thin.
Booking
Initially I booked using Quidco on marriott.com, but found a better deal at
www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com at 4 nights for the price of 3 (which worked out at 25% off, even though I was staying 5 nights). Average nightly rate was $220 incl tax for a Terrace Suite incl tax, the second down from the top level Wraparound Suite.
This was an uncancellable, pay in advance rate (although that wasn't made clear at the time of booking, and they have since made that more clear on the booking page).
I called ahead to log my Platinum Marriott number; similar to Palazzo the links seem to be highly manual.
Check In
Arrived by car and valeted as had accumulated a silly amount of luggage.
Check in area was very busy (Sunday early afternoon) I assume with people checking out. A terrific space filled with HiDef floor to ceiling screens with artworks and moving images (think water droplets and flowers opening) which actually was classier than it sounds!
There are two desks reserved for Marriott Elites on the left of the check in area, but both were busy so I marched through the doors marked VIP By Invitation only and asked if that included Marriott Plats. It didn't, but the lady was very happy to check me in as she had just finished with an earlier guest.
My Platinum status was acknowledged and I opted for the 500 points rather than the free gift (the 500 points never posted), but no details were provided about the Plat benefits (which are free breakfast in the Wicked Spoon Buffet for 2, free WiFi, and a room upgrade where possible).
I was verbally offered an upgrade to a wraparound suite, and having completed formalities went up to my room in the West Tower; lovely room overlooking the Bellagio fountains, and it was a sizeable Terrace Suite, but certainly not the Wraparound that had been mentioned.
As I had tipped the lady quite well ($40) I wasn't very happy with that outcome, so marched down to secure myself a Wraparound Suite, the link gives a good overview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRPcncnX0uI
Wraparound Suite
This was on a very low floor in the East Tower; if I'm honest I wasn't thrilled that it was so low, but it was very handy for the gym and pool and I didn't fancy schlepping all the way back to reception; it's quite a long walk. I would certainly try and get a room in the West Tower in future.
Rested in my suite (it had been a five hour drive to get to Vegas) and sunbathed on the Terrace, waiting for my bags which took an unacceptably long 2 hours to be delivered. No tip offered...!
Amused myself checking out the suite; found a anatomically shaped viagra-style pill and an old sock under the curtains; not great either.
No less than nine lightbulbs weren't working - one or two is fine, but that quantity isn't right.
I suppose the room was allocated to me earlier than planned so final checks hadn't been completed, and to be fair after an hour and half waiting for bags, and on raising these other issues, an small army of people appeared to clean the room, sort the lightbulbs etc. and the Manager popped in to apologise so it wasn't all bad.
Cosmo was intended to be condos, hence the oversize rooms and unusual features such as a washer/dryer in the room; handy for those on longer trips, but bring your own detergent. Strange there's no doorbell, and given the distance from the bedroom to the front door this can be a problem as staff are almost into your bedroom before you realise thy're there; use the DO NOT DISTURB!!
A lovely mini kitchen, but not many features (crockery/cutlery was minimal or non existent, and about 8 glasses of various sorts, but bring your own if you're planning a party). Plenty of fridge space.
Bathroom was amazing (there was also another loo/shower off the main reception area):
Noise was something of an issue being nearer to the pool by day and the Nightclub by night, but living in a city it didn't bother me; others used to more tranquil surroundings would have had issues with this.
Room Service
I usually order a few items from Room Service at Wynn - a shrimp plate/crudites and dips etc. and that's usually a few hundred dollars, but includes plenty of champagne glasses and bowls plus ice and a set up/clear down service so well worth it.
A similar package at Cosmo was $850 (plus service/tax!) so that was a no-go, and given the slowness of the baggage delivery I was concerned they would not have delivered on time as it just didn't feel as tightly run an operation as Wynn's Tower Suites. I got most of what I needed at Albertson's instead for a few hundred dollars.
Wicked Spoon Buffet
This gets great reviews for the food (and they're right) but it just doesn't have the "wow" factor Wynn Buffet manages.
The morning I went it was VERY slow as half the restaurant was out of commission. Queued for an hour, and that's not acceptable, and I wasn't even paying. Second visit it wasn't at all busy but still a ten minute wait; someone needs to take this in hand.
Oh, and it only opens at 8am so that's not great if you have an early start. I did brunch twice, which included sparkling wine, but would not have paid for it.
WiFi
This was entirely free until 1 September when it changed and you had to login; some confusion over this caused problems on the first morning, but were soon sorted out! WiFi remains free for Marriott Plats (and I think Golds as well) as per Marriott policy.
Spa
Wasn't overwhelmed; spa is smallish and treatments were good but not great. East Tower Gym, adjacent to my suite, overlooked Bellagio Fountains, so that was a plus.
The usual inappropriate advances in the steam room, which seems endemic in Vegas "conference" hotels, so I didn't linger long.
Pools
There are three pools; one is a day club (which is uber cool, apparently) but not my scene, the other Boulevard (nr East Tower) is a more mainstream party-pool and then the Bamboo pool which is quieter.
Wish I'd found Bamboo pool earlier as Boulevard pool was far too noisy with musac making it almost impossible to read a book. Great chair service food and cocktails, though.
Points
My Marriott points took about three weeks to post, but I didn't have to prompt them and it triggered a megabonus promo so I did quite well out of my stay, with about 15,000 points plus the 20,000 bonus. (40k is a night in an R-C if you stay five).
SUMMARY
I stayed here because it was new, Marriott affiliated and cost-effective for the Labor Day week, which can get pricey in Vegas.
I would stay again, but only in the West Tower and would have been very happy in the Terrace Suite as booked, but wanted the larger space to help with accommodating a Drinks Party with friends, which worked well for ten people.
I would avoid the Spa and the noisy Boulevard Pool, ensure I travelled light so I didn't need the bellhops, and bring detergent for the washing machine.
It did make me think how good Wynn Tower Suites are, but they were running at $500/night and up to $699 nearer the weekend and do not represent good value at anything more than $250 IMHO.
All in all, I was content and would stay there again better armed to make the most of the property and ensuring I got a similar deal.