Review: The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas — Terrace One Bedroom

With this being my first-ever trip to Las Vegas, I’d only heard about the different properties and all they have to offer — I’d known about the Bellagio because of its famed fountains and seen Caesars Palace in “The Hangover,” but The Cosmopolitan’s name always came up because of its chic styling and flashy interior. So, when I found out I was going to be staying at the property during our four-night stay, I was really excited to try out the hotel and see all that it had to offer for myself.

A few years ago, it was announced that The Cosmopolitan was going to become part of Marriott’s expanding Autograph Collection. As an Autograph Collection property, Marriott Rewards members can earn and redeem points at The Cosmo like they would at any other Marriott property — a definite advantage if you’re planning a Vegas trip and want to earn elite-qualifying nights.

I stayed in a Terrace One Bedroom room, which was going for around $232 per night, although on the Friday and Saturday during my stay, the rate jumped to around $350. Knowing we were going to be in town for four nights, the last two being a Friday and Saturday, I took advantage of the Citi Prestige card’s 4th night free benefit. The four-night stay would have cost me $1,416, however the 4th night free benefit saved me $382 for Saturday night, and the total instead came to $1,034.

In addition, the four-night stay earned 14,300 Marriott Rewards points (including a 2,860-point Gold bonus), which were credited about 10 days following checkout.

Check-In

I arrived at The Cosmopolitan on Wednesday afternoon around 1:30pm. When I walked in, I was blown away by the number of people at the front desk trying to check in.

Fortunately, one benefit of Marriott Gold status is an opportunity to bypass the main check-in line and go to the Autograph Lounge, an area just for Marriott Rewards members located just off to the side from the front desk.

Upon entering the lounge, I was greeted right away by a friendly receptionist. There was a selection of refreshments available, including coffee and water. It was nice to be welcomed to the property in such a way when just outside the door things were so chaotic. The check-in process itself was really smooth, and the agent confirmed that she saw the Marriott Rewards number attached to the reservation.

The Room

My Terrace One Bedroom was located on the 29th floor. Keep in mind that there are two towers at the Cosmopolitan — the East Tower and the West Tower. The main floor of the East Tower is occupied by the hotel’s casino, while the main floor of the West Tower is occupied by the hotel’s lobby, which makes it more convenient to head straight up to your room after checking in. Additionally, the hotel’s car service and valet area are located right outside the doors of the West Tower lobby, which is where you’ll also find the Uber pick-up area.

Upon opening the front door, you’ll have a pretty straight view to the back of the room and the balcony. Just to the left is the living room area and to the right is the kitchen area (more on those later).

The Terrace One Bedroom is very much a railroad-style room. It’s long and somewhat narrow, but does manage to feel very spacious.

The kitchen is essentially in the living room area and comes with a mini-fridge, microwave, sink and some storage space.

The one thing that immediately caught my attention upon entering the room was the light — or lack thereof. I was so surprised with how little light there was in the living room area that I was convinced I was skimming over a light switch completely — there had to be more light. After about 10 minutes of searching for additional light, I heard the housekeeping staff outside and asked them for help. Even the housekeeper who came inside to help was confused as to why it was so dark in the room — she was even ready to call maintenance to come in and fix the problem.

Just as she was about to leave, she pressed the light switch one more time and a small amount of light appeared from the ceiling and projected directly onto two pieces of artwork in the living room. That was the only source of light in the living room beside the kitchen light and a nearby desk lamp. The light situation could have been easily fixed with the addition of a larger ceiling light — if you were entertaining a group in your room, it would be weird welcoming your guests into such a dark, dungeon-esque space.

The living room furniture was a bit outdated as well and looked like it should probably be cleaned. I avoided using the couch at all because it looked like there was a lot of wear and tear, something I wasn’t expecting to see at a hotel like The Cosmopolitan. I did expect to see some wear and tear, as is common in every hotel, just not that much.

Thankfully, the hallway area between the living room and the bedroom had a nice amount of light thanks to a large chandelier in the center of the room. There was a nice ottoman in the center as well, and I ended up storing my suitcase there for the relatively short four-night stay.

There was plenty of closet storage space, which I also made use of. There were automatic lights in the closet, which provided ample light to see everything in there.

Inside the far-right closet door were a safe and several labeled cubbies. Inside the cubbies, there was a bag for laundry, an iron, slippers and some shoe trees. It was nice to have these hotel essentials labeled and organized in one convenient place.

After walking though the front door and passing through the living room and hallway, you’ll find the bedroom. The bed itself was nice — a king-sized bed, which proved to be extremely comfortable. I found there to be ample light in the bedroom, mostly due to the balcony’s natural light, a nice change from the living room.

There’s a sliding door that separates the bedroom from the rest of the room. It’s really smooth and has its own lock — the same type of door also separates the vanity area of the bathroom from the rest of the room.

The bedroom itself is pretty spacious and there’s definitely enough room to maneuver around the bed. I think the glass window and open space to the bathroom really helped to make the room seem larger than it is.

The bathroom situation was a bit strange because of the room’s open view of the Japanese soaking tub. The tub and shower both run parallel to the bedroom and the tub has open access to the bedroom — there’s no glass, just a shade that you can draw. The floor-to-ceiling window on the other side of the TV, which lines up with the shower, is glass, however, there’s also a shade that you can draw for extra privacy.

I was staying in the room alone, so this really wasn’t an issue for me. However, if I were staying with a group, I could see how the multiple points of view opening to the tub and shower area could be problematic.

As previously mentioned, the room has access to a balcony, which is located opposite the door to the bedroom and has a sliding glass door.

Outside, there’s a single chair and ottoman, which was fine for a single traveler, but for a group, I imagine it would feel pretty crowded.

I did not have a fountain view room (one that looks directly over the Bellagio Fountain) and instead, my room faced the opposite way. If you’re familiar with the Strip, my view was looking toward the New York, New York Hotel & Casino and the MGM Grand. It wasn’t a bad view, and remained rather quiet each night I was there — even with one of the hotel’s pools several floors below my balcony.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was definitely the highlight of the room — and you can tell that right when you enter. Everything looks clean — white towels accompany white drawers and sinks, while the lighting is very bright and fresh looking.

The his-and-hers vanity area would have been extremely helpful if I were traveling with more people. Inside the drawers were all the basic bathroom amenities anyone would need — Q-tips, cotton balls and a hairdryer among other amenities.

The entire bathroom and shower area was stocked with C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries products — everything from the mouthwash to the body lotion and facial soap. The scents matched each other and were all a very refreshing lavender and peppermint scent.

To the right of the vanity area was the toilet, which had its own door, great for privacy in a room that lacked general privacy features. Inside, the toilet room was very spacious, however the wallpaper was kind of dizzying — if you look closely, it features the pattern of silhouettes of women with their backs to each other. An interesting choice, but… Vegas.

To the left of the vanity was the shower and Japanese soaking tub area — my favorite part of the room. Everything from the tiling on the wall to the amenities made it an absolutely amazing shower.

The shower area itself was massive and lead right to the tub. The head of the shower was very tall and just about touched the ceiling. Everything from the water pressure to the temperature to the shelving in the shower was fantastic, almost spa-like.

I didn’t end up using the tub, but it did look really nice. As you can see, there’s a ton of natural light streaming through balcony window and coming from the bedroom. The tub itself is very deep, adding to that spa-like experience.

C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries products also flowed into the shower and tub area. In the shower, there were tubes of lavender and peppermint shampoo, conditioner and shower gel, and by the tub there was a bar of soap and shower cap provided.

Overall, the bathroom provided an amazing and refreshing shower and looked amazing, especially with the light reflecting off the tiles.

Service and Amenities

There were a variety of extra amenities, like a fully-stocked mini-refrigerator. If you’re looking to get your Vegas pregame started in the room, look no further than the mini-fridge.

There was also a selection of snacks for you to munch on — everything from Fiji Water to Milano cookies, jelly beans, chocolate-covered almonds, cashews and Snickers, among other snack options.

It’s also worth noting the room’s abundance of power outlets. Just about everywhere I turned, there was an outlet — more than I’ve ever seen in a hotel room before. This is a great perk, and one that often goes unnoticed.

I took the opportunity to try out The Cosmopolitan’s room service one morning and I was incredibly satisfied. I didn’t really have high expectations for room service, so my meal completely blew me away. I opted for the Nutella-stuffed French toast, which was topped with a crispy and delicious Corn Flake crust. As you can see, the Nutella was oozing from the French toast, and it was perfectly cooked — I’m still thinking about how good that was!

I also opted for the organic yogurt and berries — not only was the yogurt delicious, but the berries were all extremely fresh and ripe. The whole meal was an opinion-changing room service experience.

If you’re thinking of staying at The Cosmopolitan — or just strolling through its lobby and casino — it’s well worth your time to stop at The Chandelier, the hotel’s multi-story bar.

Checkout

If you’ve been to Las Vegas before, you know that many hotels are pretty strict about their 11:00am checkout times. For that reason and knowing it was on a Sunday and most people would be checking out right around that time — probably after a long night out — I chose to checkout from my room. By simply dialing down to the front desk, I was able to checkout without having to wait in line or incur a late-checkout fee. As you can see from the photo below, there was in fact a busy cluster of people in the lobby waiting to checkout around 11:00am.

Bottom Line

Overall, my stay at The Cosmopolitan was great. In a city where a hotel has to be over-the-top enough to stand out from the rest, The Cosmopolitan really stands out and I had a great stay. My only complaint was with the lighting in the living room of my Terrace One Bedroom room, which wasn’t that big of a deal considering I didn’t spend much of my time in the room anyway, especially the living room. The bathroom really made the room worth it, and I’d consider staying in the same room again just for the bathroom. I’d definitely consider staying at The Cosmopolitan again on my next trip to Las Vegas — the experience definitely lived up to my expectations.

Source: thepointsguy.com