Two Senior Citizens here ... both smokers (cigarettes only ;)) Always keep the doors closed if smoking on the balcony (unless prohibited, in which case we don’t stay at that hotel).

We are also conscious that neurotic anti-smokers may be on adjacent balconies, and try to ensure our faint smoke emissions aren’t blowing in their direction. How they cope with diesel emissions at street level is a separate subject, of course.

It’s become a fashionable bleat by sad people, especially in the USA ... where we will very soon be spending 2 weeks in a tobacco State. IIRC, Virginia doesn’t tax cigars, just cigarettes: how cute is that?

As to the main point, the Hotel is taking the pi$$, especially when they provide ashtrays on the balcony.

Absolutely. The majority of smokers, like you and me, are willing to give and take and comply with reasonable (or even semi-reasonable) restrictions, which certainly seems to be the case here.

For the record, I also (at least for the last 15 years or so ;) ) only smoke cigarettes, but I have absolutely no objection to adults enjoying other combustible products in places where it is legal and within a property's policy.

I wish the OP and party the best of luck with fighting their case.

Just wait until you ask for a plastic straw.

Actually, the hotel does specifically prohibit marijuana:

https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/faqs

Oddly enough, the mention that "smoking is prohibited in guest rooms" (but doesn't mention balconies on the official website) is included under a FAQ about marijuana. And in typical vague Marriott fashion, it's hard to determine if the "fines" they speak of are just referring to smoking, or also about possessing marijuana.

To the OP: sounds like you're in a "you say/they say" regarding whether or not you smoked in the room. Hotel determined they needed to clean the room, regardless, and you were the last occupant. So I might look at the $566.90 as the price you pay to do whatever the hell you want in your Las Vegas room.

I only drink wine from glasses. Many of my US friends drink from glass bottles, for some reason. We will all be recyclable eventually. ;)


EDIT: Have just seen the weed prohibition, which rather kills the OP’s case. As a teenage child of the Swinging Sixties, in a core UK location for ‘happening’, I mercifully never ventured down that rocky road.

Is marijuana legal in Nevada? The website looks to have an outdated policy because it says "and other illegal drugs."

I would say banning marijuana for medicinal purposes may end up going to court someday. Marijuana in that case is basically medication.

Not in hotel rooms.

Good!

I would be outraged if I rented the room after you and would demand to be moved to another room. The hotels know this and to try to address they assess the smoking cleaning fees.

What smokers fail to understand is that for many nonsmokers, we can instantly tell the previous occupant was a smoker. It permeates your clothes, your suitcase, it wafts in under the door, it is in the wall coverings, the bed .... just gag me!

Good for them. I have too often been trying to enjoy the balcony when smoke wafts from another balcony. Your right to smoke doesn't supersede our right to be free of your cancer causing (second hand) habit and obnoxious smelly habit.

I’ve just been thinking over destinations over the last few years in the (tobacco) smoking context:

In room ... Cape Town, Honolulu, Phoenix, Anchorage, Savannah ...

Balcony ... Maui, Hermanus, Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, St. Lucia, Antigua, Malta, Virginia.

Oh, the suffering. Think of the children, and the kittens ... 75 years old and still smoking ;)

But the flip side of that is that when smoke wafts into non-smoking areas, as it often does, it affects the non-smokers in ways that the policy is specifically designed to avoid. HKG has an interesting approach to this. There is no smoking in the airport except in specifically designated smoking rooms, or pods, throughout the airport. These rooms have glass walls, and it's amazing how much smoke there is in them. Equally amazing is the air filtration system that seems to prevent completely any scent of smoke from reaching the outside.

Compress smoking into an enclosed space, and it’s hardly surprising there’s a fog. Sadly the extraction systems in the smoking rooms at IAD (B-Gates) are ineffective, and I do hate having to use them!

Amazingly, the outside world disperses cigarette smoke quite easily. It’s not a ‘dense’ smoke, unlike a lot of diesel trucks on a street near you.

Was there any other language about smoking other than this from their website (and referred to above)?:

"Guests and visitors to The Cosmopolitan may not consume or possess marijuana or other illegal drugs at any time, including in our rooms, terraces, pool areas, and the casino. This applies to both medicinal and recreational marijuana consumption regardless of the form, including smoking, inhaling, vaping, ingesting, or any other method. In addition, smoking is prohibited in all of our guest rooms and violation of that policy may result in fines or eviction."

If there wasn't any other language, and unless you signed something agreeing to something else, I'd charge it back. The hotel could have banned smoking on its balconies but it didn't; instead it explicitly only banned smoking in its guest rooms. Apparently it went even further and actually provided ashtrays on the balcony. No way they don't know that smoke smell will drift into the rooms when people smoke on their balconies, regardless of the product being smoked.

The terms on their website link the imposition of a fine to smoking in the guest rooms, not to the consumption of marijuana. The quoted language doesn't specify what the punishment is for violating the prohibition on marijuana consumption. In the case of their need to clean due to odors from the marijuana smoke, I think it's irrelevant that you didn't smoke in the room and that they provided ashtrays. The issue there is that you violated one of their rules and they believe they suffered damage as a result. However, unless the law in Nevada provides otherwise, I'd argue that it's up to them to show damages.

Edit to add: Apparently you're lucky they didn't call the police. Misdemeanor with a steep fine.

Why did the state even legalize it in the first place if they just half-baked the law. It seems like if you posses a small amount and use it in a private residence it's okay. Otherwise, it's a felony.

Seems like whoever legislated the law didn't think things through.