The Ins and Outs of the Cosmopolitan

Hey, turns out if you take head west on Harmon Ave. and cross Las Vegas Blvd., it will take you directly to the parking and valet entrance for the Cosmopolitan. When you leave, turn right onto West Harmon, turn left when you get to Polaris, and you'll come out on Tropicana, just west of your choice of I-15 or Dean Martin. Avoid that nasty Strip traffic altogether!

Anyway, on our last visit we decided to splurge on a $40 upgrade to a room with a north-facing private terrace, based on the guidebooks' recommendation that it was the best view of the Bellagio fountain show. And what a room! Two beds facing a gigantic flat-screen TV, a sitting room with a sofa and chairs and a desk with a slightly smaller flat-screen TV, the private terrace with a chair and ottoman overlooking the pool and the Bellagio fountain, a kitchen with a microwave and a dishwasher (you heard me) and a refrigerator (don't touch any of the mini-bar items or you'll trigger the weight-sensitive sensor and get billed for that bottle of champagne). They gave you a cloth laundry bag emblazoned with Mark Twain's slogan, "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." The bathroom had a tub and a big shower with a marble bench for sitting down and, uh, whatever, and a big picture window looking out over the bedroom or vice versa. Okay, if that last seemed a bit awkward, it had blinds you could draw over the scene. (At the Princeville Resort on Kaua'i, the same window has a switch you can flick to turn it opaque. Now that's cool.) The bathroom sink had a little stainless steel container holding cotton balls and cotton swabs in addition to the usual bath and shower amenities. Even the spare roll of toilet paper came in a cotton draw-sack. Now, that's class.

If you don't upgrade to a terrace room...well, you get very little of that stuff. You will get a very nice good-sized room with comfy beds which will likely have a spectacular view and overlook the pool. You get one decent-sized flat-screen TV. There's no kitchen; there's not even a microwave or a coffee maker. There's the fridge for the mini-bar, and the staff will volunteer to empty it if you want to be able to use it as your refrigerator without worrying about nudging a bottle of champagne and having it billed to your room. The extra roll of t.p. still comes in a draw-sack, and you might still want to draw those blinds. Also, all the Cosmo's rooms are non-smoking, so if there are any smokers in your party, they might really miss that terrace.

So is it worth $40 to upgrade to a terrace room? Hell, yeah! If you can get a good deal on a room at the Cosmopolitan (like, only being charged the $25 a day resort fee) for just one or two nights, you should treat yourself to the experience at least once. Careful, though; you might get addicted to it.

Heads Up: By default the Cosmopolitan will put a hold on your credit card for $150 each night against expenses that might be charged to the room, so be sure you have that kind of funds available.