The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is part of the Marriott Autograph Collection of independently branded hotels. Marriott won the musical chairs game in branding the Cosmopolitan for its Marriott Rewards members.
The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas could have been a Grand Hyatt. That was the plan reported in the Las Vegas Sun April 6, 2005 when the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino was scheduled for an early 2008 opening. Hyatt pulled out of the project.
Then the Cosmopolitan was reported to become the first representative of Hilton’s new Denizen hotel brand. Months after Deutsche Bank foreclosed on the Cosmopolitan project in 2008, the news broke in March 2009 that Hilton would rebrand the hotel-casino project.
Denizen Hotels never got off the ground due to legal troubles brought from an April 2009 corporate espionage lawsuit by Starwood Hotels claiming Mr. Ross Klein, former president of Starwood’s luxury brands group took proprietary Starwood Hotel plans to Hilton Hotels Corporation when he became head of Hilton’s luxury and lifestyle brands and launched the Denizen brand project in amazingly short time. USA Today story of Denizen. Lawsuit puts Denizen brand on hold – Hotel World Network (April 17, 2009). Mr. Klein was suspended from his position and the Denizen hotel brand was shelved by Hilton.
Finally in August 2010 Marriott Hotels penned an agreement with the Cosmopolitan to brand the hotel in the Autograph Collection of independent properties.
Identity – The Cosmopolitan loyalty program
No wonder the Cosmopolitan came up with the name “Identity” for its gaming rewards program. The hotel also participates in Marriott Rewards, so there is confusion with two hotel loyalty programs competing for guests.
Marriott Rewards members earn 10 points per dollar at the Cosmopolitan just like other full service Marriott Rewards hotels. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Rewards category 7 hotel reward at 35,000 points for a free night. FlyerTalk members report there is a Marriott Rewards representative at the hotel working with the Cosmopolitan to integrate loyalty benefits for its Marriott Rewards members.
Identity may be the preferable rewards program for guests more interested in the Cosmopolitan property than Marriott Hotels in general. Identity members receive 10 points per $1 for hotel room rate and a free night after 8 nights at the Cosmopolitan. Assume $200 per night average room rate and you earn a free night after just $1,600 in hotel spend. Use your free night on a weekend for best value.
Marriott Rewards requires $3,500 in base spend to earn a free night, although elite members and promotion bonuses may reduce that hotel spend amount significantly.
The big advantage of Identity is for gamblers.
Earning Identity Points
Identity Points reside in a member’s personal account and are based on the amount of dollars either spent or wagered.
Identity Points can be earned by members as follows:
· 10 points for every $1 spent on room or suite accommodations
· 10 points for every $4 of other resort spending (e.g., restaurants, spa, selected retail)
· 10 points for every $15 wagered on reel/video reel slot
· 10 points for every $50 wagered on video poker
· 10 points for every $100 wagered on table games (approximate – varies by game type)
· Identity members who book their hotel stay through a third-party partner or online travel agency will receive a flat amount of 1,000 points per night of accommodations, in addition to points earned on their other expenditures.
Identity points may be used for room upgrades.Â
FlyerTalk member Cova provides a detailed description of the Identity loyalty program and membership tier benefits with qualifications.
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The Rooms at the Cosmopolitan
The vibrant blue of the couch, contemporary art and open space bathrooms are modern decor for guests. The type of guest being marketed by the Cosmopolitan is a little difficult to ascertain from this 60-second TV spot.
The Cosmopolitan appears to be a pet-friendly hotel!
The club scene of the Cosmopolitan with the Bond Bar located right on Las Vegas Boulevard and the upstairs Marquee nightclub extending right out to the adults pool area with eight elevated clear glass hot tubs is the kind of place you lounge with a martini, but not in solitary comfort. The Cosmopolitan is designed for partying, playing, dancing, dining and viewing Las Vegas from your room terrace. The Cosmopolitan is designed for people to hang out.
There is gambling too at The Cosmopolitan.
The Cosmopolitan is the last major new casino and hotel planned for Las Vegas over the next three to five years. Rates in the $200 to $300 range for the lowest category rooms over most of the next few months is a bold move in this economy.
One of the unique features of The Cosmopolitan is 70% of the nearly 3,000 hotel rooms have terrace balconies. No other major casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip offers terrace room balconies in regular hotel rooms.
Currently the lowest rates over the next several months are $135 for a Studio Terrace on January 2 and 3. You can book a Terrace Suite on these dates ($235) for less than the price of a Studio Terrace on most weekends (Studio Terrace $260 Friday Jan 28; Terrace Suite $410) for the next three months .
The rooms at The Cosmopolitan add 1.5% more rooms to Las Vegas. My gut feeling is room rates over the next few months will drop to the $120 to $150 range from their current $160 to $200 average. The Cosmopolitan will be a good indicator hotel to watch for rate fluctuation settling somewhere more specific in the Aria to Encore to Mandarin Oriental price range.
Pre-Opening Press Tour Tuesday, Dec 14
The pre-opening press tour did not permit photography inside the hotel. This Loyalty Traveler post has links to websites showing photos and videos of The Cosmopolitan. YouTube video links uploaded by The Cosmopolitan show room tours. Room photos posted here were received from The Cosmopolitan hotel PR department.
There are five basic room types at The Cosmopolitan:
- Terrace Studio (620 sq. ft. + 110 sq. ft. terrace – kitchenette with microwave and refrigerator)
- City Room (460 sq. ft. studio with two queen beds – no terrace)
- Terrace One Bedroom (610 sq. ft. + 110 sq. ft. terrace – Japanese square soaking tub; kitchenette with stove, microwave and refrigerator)
- Terrace Suite (910 sq. ft. + 160 sq. ft. terrace – two bathrooms with master bath spa tub )
- Wraparound Terrace Suite (1,200 sq. ft. + 480 sq. ft. terrace - in-suite washer/dryer )
- Terrace Studio Premium View, Terrace One Bedroom Premium View and Terrace One Bedroom Plus with oversize terrace are better locations for these hotel room categories; likely a Bellagio Fountain view.
The two Cosmopolitan tower buildings are about 600 ft. tall. The floor numbering is creative just like at Aria Resort where floors 40-49 do not exist. The Cosmopolitan is confusing too with guest floors starting at 15 and no room floors in the 40s.
How to fit 75 floors in a 603 ft. tower?
Las Vegas has creative floor numbering. My memory recalls 75 as the top floor elevator button in the east tower of the Cosmopolitan. I read a review by a person who stayed on the 68th floor last week. So how does a hotel not built for hobbits get 75 floors in a 603 ft. building?
I noticed during my stay at the Aria Resort that no elevators had buttons for floors 40 to 49 in the 59 floor tower. I asked several employees about the missing floors. Nobody simply explained that no floors in the 40s exist in the hotel. The floor numbering goes directly from 39 to 50. The 59th floor penthouse is actually a 49th floor location.
Wikipedia lists the tallest buildings in Las Vegas. Aria Resort at City Center is 600 ft. and 50 floors. The Cosmopolitan East Tower I toured last week is listed at 603 ft. and 51 floors. Check out the elevator numbers when you are going up the tower. There must be a lot of missing floor numbers between the Promenade restaurant level and the 75th top floor.
The reason cited for no floors in the 40s is an association with bad luck/death in Asian cultures. Others think it is just a way to make Las Vegas hotels appear taller to hotel guests than they actually are. Encore, Wynn and Palms Place also do not have room floors in the 40s.
Room Photos
The Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio
Video: The Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio (YouTube 33 sec)
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The Cosmopolitan City Room
Video: The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas City Room (YouTube – 21 sec)
The Cosmopolitan – Terrace One Bedroom
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The Cosmopolitan – Terrace Suite
Video: The Cosmopolitan – Terrace Suite (YouTube – 49 sec.)
The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite
Video: The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite (YouTube – 1:03)
This Loyalty Traveler Dec 14 post shows the room view from a wraparound terrace suite on the 58th floor of the east tower.
Blog.Vegas.com has a gallery of photos of the lobby floors of the hotel and the central focal point of the hotel-casino Chandelier.
Related Posts:
Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]
CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)
Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)
Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)
Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010)Â
Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)
Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)
Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)
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