Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

***"Just the right amount of wrong"***

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (also known as simply the Cosmopolitan) is a 3,027-room resort and casino located on 3708 South Las Vegas Boulevard on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort is currently owned by the Blackstone Group and opened its doors on December 15, 2010.

The property features a variety of high-end bars and restaurants, some of which are considered to be "hidden" within the resort, including Secret Pizza. The resort contains two 184 meter towers, the Boulevard Tower, containing the Bamboo Pool, and the Chelsea Tower, which has the most hotel rooms. It is currently the only hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip to contain balconies, letting hotel guests enjoy a view of the Las Vegas Strip and the next door Fountains of Bellagio. The main building is made up of four floors. The first being the 110,000 square foot casino floor, offering approximately 1,300 slot machines (according to their website) and 83 table games. The second floor contains a multitude of restaurants and bars, including Momofuku, the Wicked Spoon Buffet, and Eggslut. This floor also features retail stores and bridges connecting to Harmon Corner and Aria on the Las Vegas Strip. The restaurants continue on the third floor with ones such as Jaleo, Secret Pizza, and Blue Ribbon. Multiple conference rooms are also located on this floor. The fourth floor is where guests can enter more conference centers and the Boulevard Pool. The Chelsea Pool is located on level 14 of the Chelsea Tower, which features a spa, salon, and tennis courts.

The Cosmopolitan is the home of the Marquee Nightclub and Spiegelworld's OPM.

## History

### **Construction**

In April 14, 2004, it was announced that an 8.5 acre U-shaped parcel surrounding the Jockey Club Timeshare Hotel had been purchased, and a new resort and casino would be taking place at Harmon Avenue on the Las Vegas Strip. David Friendman, former assistant to the chairman of the Venetian Hotel and Casino at the time Sheldon Adelson, real estate developer Ian Eicher, and an investment company known as SFM Capital Management were all planning to build this new resort.

The lot was originally used as the parking lot for the Jockey Club. However, it was agreed upon by the owners that it would be used as part of the resort's underground parking garage. The Jockey Club itself would end up being squeezed right up against the Cosmopolitan's casino building.

At the time, it was not expected for what the resort's hotel towers height would be. However an expected 80,000-square foot casino was expected to be created. A theming concept began to try to find a name for the resort. Just a few months later on November on 2004, it was announced by SFM Capital Management that resort and casino will be named "Cosmopolitan". It was then said that Arquitectonica would be the project's architect, Dougall Design as the resort's interior and retail work, Paul Duesing Partners for design work, and The Friedmutter Group for resort's tower design.

Groundbreaking for the Cosmopolitan began back in October 2005, just almost a year before the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino closed its doors to make way for the rest of the City Center property at an expected cost of $1.8 billion. However, during construction, multiple financial problems began going underway. For example, during construction, Eicher and his company, named 3700 Associates LLC, entered foreclosure proceedings. On January of 2008, while construction of the half-finished resort was still going, Deutsche Bank AG acquired the project for about $1 billion after agreeing to buy both of the Cosmopolitan's towers. The company then made a $760 million construction loan for the towers, causing a setback for more financial issues.

### **Opening**

At a cost of $3.9 billion, the Cosmopolitan opened its doors on December 15, 2010 as part of Marriott International's Autograph program, which was a collection of hotels that have access to Marriott's "Marriott points". It was the last hotel in the City Center property to open. Despite success, the resort suffered a net loss of $440 million.

In August of 2011, the resort began creating a new way to get people to get people through the doors of the resort. They decided to make big, purple trucks that would go around neighborhoods picking up locals who use the Cosmo's mobile app. The trucks included various amenities, such as a massage for $50.

On May of 2014, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas was sold to the Blackstone Group for $1.73 billion after Deutsche Bank struggled to try to sell the resort.

On June 30 of 2015, it was announced that the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas's struggling Book & Stage was going to close in July of 2015. The Book & Stage was the combination of a race and sports books, bar, and music venue that offered a lounge environment multiple musical performances.

On July 25, 2015 at approximately 12:15 P.M., a fire at the resort's Bamboo Pool on the Boulevard Tower got caught on fire, fueled by the pool's cabanas and artificial plants. Several floors of the Boulevard Tower were evacuated until the fire was knocked out in thirty minutes. No one was killed, but two people were treated for hospitalization. One was treated for smoke inhalation, and another one for unknown reasons.

On May 16, 2017, the Cosmopolitan began charging for parking. For valet parking, fees were $13 for up to four hours, $18 for four to 24 hours, and $18 per day after every 24 hours. In addition to the fees, it was announced that the resort will now have special pricing during special events between 4 P.M. and 11 P.M.

On August 9, 2017, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas announced major renovations to the resort and casino's high rise towers. This included upgrades to the rooms and suites, building designs, hotel registration areas, and retail stores. A new triangular LED screen was added to the top of the Boulevard tower, and the blue neon bars on the resort's towers became animated. In-rooms iPads were added to allow guests to book restaurant and spa reservations, room service, etc. 65-inch Samsung TV's with programs such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Pandora, and Crackle were added to the hotel rooms as well.

On April 11, 2018, Spiegalworld began its new sci-fi comedy variety show known as "Opium" at the Cosmopolitan as the predecessor to Caesars Palace's "Absinthe". The show was presented at 8 P.M. Wednesday through Monday with additional 10 P.M. shows Thursday through Sunday at the Cosmo's Opium Theatre.

On December 28, 2018, the Cosmopolitan announced that as of January 1, 2019, parking fees would no longer be charged to guests of the resort, but to be included in the resort fee, going up from $35 to $39. This is the second resort on the Las Vegas Strip to drop its own parking fees, with the first being Wynn Las Vegas in mid-2018. This may be due to how many analysts noticed that fewer tourists are visiting the Las Vegas Strip, with parking fees being partly to blame.

On January 18, 2019, an unidentified person inside the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas won a jackpot of $617,756 while playing on a Sienfield slot machine.

The Cosmopolitan temporarily closed on March 18, 2020, due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns. The original re-opening date would've been on April 18 of the same year, however it was setback numerous times by Nevada governor at the time Steve Sisolak and would actually re-open on June 4, along with multiple other casinos in Las Vegas. From then on, rumors of MGM Resorts International acquiring the Cosmopolitan began spreading on social media. The rumors were confirmed true on September 2021, when MGM announced a $1.6 billion acquisition deal from the Blackstone Group that would let the company keep the resort and casino for 30 years following a lease agreement partnering with Cherng Family Trust, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, and Stonepeak Partners. The acquisition closed on September 2022. Plans for MGM to merge the Cosmopolitan's Identity Rewards Club in with MGM Rewards are being planned for completion on February 1, 2024.

### Controversies

The Cosmopolitan was immediately hit with controversy on May 24, 2019 after American rapper Meek Mill was supposedly racially profiled and threatened with arrest while trying to enter the casino area. The controversy became even worse after TMZ reported that Meek's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, created a letter that stated that the Cosmopolitan contained a blacklist of African American recording artists, and those who were not allowed within the property. Social media users immediately caught on to the controversy, and began posting negative comments on the hotel and casino's Facebook and Twitter, telling other users to boycott the resort.

## Additional Information

### **Social Media**

* ***Facebook:*** https://www.facebook.com/TheCosmopolitan/
* ***Instagram:*** https://www.instagram.com/cosmopolitan\_lv/
* ***Twitter:*** https://twitter.com/Cosmopolitan\_LV
* ***Snapchat:*** https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/snapchat
* ***TripAdvisor:*** https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel\_Review-g45963-d1829539-Reviews-The\_Cosmopolitan\_of\_Las\_Vegas\_Autograph\_Collection-Las\_Vegas\_Nevada.html
* ***YouTube:*** https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCosmopolitanLV
* ***Yelp:*** https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-cosmopolitan-of-las-vegas-las-vegas

## Reference

1. ↑ *Cosmopolitan of las vegas*. World Casino Directory - Casino Guide and Gambling Forums. (n.d.). https://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/casino/cosmopolitan-resort-casino
2. ↑ *The cosmopolitan*. Las Vegas Resort Maps | The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. (n.d.). https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/resort-maps
3. ↑ Fox, J. T. (2021, September 29). *MGM resorts to acquire Cosmopolitan Las Vegas operations*. Hotel Management. https://www.hotelmanagement.net/own/mgm-resorts-acquire-cosmopolitan-las-vegas-operations
4. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-cosmopolitan-of-las-vegas-set-to-join-mgm-rewards-loyalty-program-february-1-2024-301890743.html