(For Marquee Reservations,VIP host terry.saquido@marqueelasvegas.com is great!)
Nevada Property 1 LLC, otherwise known as "The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas" or simply "The Cosmo," has seemingly branded itself as the premier hip, young resort-casino, unlike any other. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas-- located right in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip-- was such a highly-anticipated and unique revolution in the resort-casino industry that their grand opening celebration even took course over a handful of days.
The Cosmo opened its doors to hotel guests and the public on December 15, 2010 with opening-night performer and Las Vegas local, Brandon Flowers (whom you may know as the lead singer of The Killers). The Cosmopolitan's grand opening celebration continued on to New Year's weekend, with a special invite-only NYE celebration called Viva La Hov, featuring "The Hov" himself, Jay-Z; and the world's current #1 rock band, Coldplay.
(borrowed from gospelconnossieur.com: Jay Z, Chris Martin of Coldplay and Kanye West, NYE)
The Cosmo's sensory-tantalizing inception in December 2010 served as a precursor to the property becoming an artistic and musical haven for popular and sub-pop acts alike. The Cosmo has continued to push the envelope as the only hipster casino around, promoting themselves as being "Just the right amount of wrong."
The Cosmopolitan's one-year anniversary is soon approaching, and after countless nights of good times there-- both vivid and blurry-- I must say that the Cosmo has become my favorite hot spot on the Las Vegas Strip! And that's not even taking into consideration the 100,000 square-foot gaming floor and the 2,995-room residential style hotel amenities. But to boil down the main elements that really make this unique property matter to me, The Cosmo gets my eclectic stamp of approval for the music, the ambience, and Marquee Nightclub.
As far as music, The Cosmopolitan repeatedly delivers the most in-demand (not-so-mainstream) current musical acts to strip-going hipsters. Bands, singers and DJs present to us their fresh new sounds at The Cosmo via several different platforms throughout the property. For example, in February, I caught The Black Keys playing The Chelsea, located upstairs a few flights. My only complaints are that after hearing of a venue called "The Chelsea" at the highly-esteemed Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; I had expected something classier and more theatre-like, comparable to "The Pearl" at The Palms. However, I was disappointed to find that The Chelsea was merely a banquet room with wobbly floors, inadequate bar amenities and cheap bleachers set up in the rear. Another example; The Book & Stage, is a sports-lounge-by-day located on the outskirts of the gaming floor near the lobby that, at night, repeatedly brings great underground acts-- both local and out-of-state-- to Las Vegans free of charge. Additionally, besides at Marquee Nightclub, DJs like Vegas' own DJ Miss Joy can be found posted up around different parts of the casino, such as The Chandelier Bar, to offer up more attention to musical detail. The music-delivery doesn't end at the casino doors, however; some of the hottest acts can be caught at The Boulevard Pool as well, like TV on the Radio, who will be playing there on September 23, 2011 and Death Cab for Cutie who just played there yesterday, August 20, 2011. And just to emphasize how musically in-tune The Cosmo is with their hip patrons, I must admit that I even enjoy the elevator music played there (i.e. The Talking Heads, James Brown, or Tear for Fears)! Here are just a few of the great acts booked by The Cosmo:
Kaskade, The Strokes, Black Keys, Deadmau5, Girl Talk, Cage the Elephant, The Flaming Lips, Mumford & Sons, Ben Folds, Foster the People, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Max Vangeli, Adele, Steve Aoki, The Naked and Famous, Pretty Lights, and many, many more genre-bouncing acts….
(a picture of myself in the lobby of The Cosmo; square pillars as backdrop)
When it comes to ambience, The Cosmopolitan did not take the generic cookie-cutter route, by any means. There seems to be an ever-present emphasis on modern art culture throughout the entire property. The walls of the underground parking garage are adorned with graffiti/street art from little- known to well-known street artists hailing from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, etc. The large square pillars in the lobby are an ever-changing LED screen anomaly that provides a magnificent backdrop for photos with friends! And if you happen to pass a cigarette vending machine, make sure you take a second look, because it's actually one of The Cosmo's Art-O-Mat machines. Yes-- instead of vending packs of cigarettes from the machines-- for only $5 you can actually buy a small-scale piece of art to take home with you. Also adding to the ambience is the Cosmo staff. The employees at The Cosmopolitan are not called "employees." They are referred to by their employer as "Co Stars" and they are encouraged to be helpful, cool, hip and expressive in their mannerisms, hair, body art, and general presentation.
(DJ Erick Morillo tearin' it up at Marquee Nightclub)
And the last element of The Cosmopolitan that I've chosen to behold in this blog post is Marquee Nightclub. Arguably, yet agreeably the #1 night club in the world, the 62,000 square-foot Marquee is a vast Night Club and (poolside) Day Club set atop the Las Vegas strip. With its four-story media (LED) art, the hottest and most organized go-go performers, the most in-demand DJs on the face of the planet, and different rooms to satisfy your night club cravings, it's no wonder that Marquee is always packed shoulder to shoulder even before the clock strikes 11pm, with tables selling out (many times) a week in advance! The main area is set up in a coliseum-style formation with the main DJ booth as the focal point. If a darker, more hip-hop-club vibe is what you're looking for, the downstairs area will appropriately compliment your fancy. And if you're looking for more of an alternative, twisted-countryside-manor sort of style, make your way upstairs to The Library, and there you will find a pool table, leather-bound books lining the walls, leather couches and a dark argyle sweater/Hugh Hefner-esque atmosphere with naughty-looking librarians as cocktail servers. Let me not forget to mention the outside area of Marquee either; the outdoor poolside area is the brightest area and is also the most hobnob-appropriate area of the club. Not only will you be surrounded by the sounds of the best house music around and the Las Vegas wind blowing through your hair, but this outside area is reminiscent of (a more grown-up and classy version of) the outdoor area of raves I used to go to when I was a kid: fresh air, pulsing bass, and the chatter of hundreds of dancing party-goers all around.
(some girlfriends and I, outside on the patio at Marquee)
Without a doubt, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is truly eclectic and dissimilar to any other resort-casino. As its one-year-anniversary soon approaches, I extend kudos to this property for being "Just the right amount of wrong." No other casino around does music, ambience and nightlife quite like Cosmo does!
~Meow~
Pennies
