The Cosmopolitan offers just the right amount of ‘wow’

The Cosmopolitan’s advertising slogan is “Just the right amount of wrong,” but the reality Thursday was it was just the right amount of right.

Don’t take my word for it. Pay attention to Iris etta Goliger , an interior designer who teaches at the Art Institute of Las Vegas. She’s studied every hotel-casino in Las Vegas, because she teaches hospitality design and other design classes related to the hotel-casino industry.

We wandered through the new $3.9 billion property on our own Thursday. We did it like most locals will do it, getting lost and forming our own opinions without any spin.

First impression: The Cosmopolitan has the best main valet in town, bar none. What other property has terrazzo flooring where the cars drive? Plus, it’s entirely underground and protected from the elements.

Next, we were wowed by the lobby and its modern, swirling design elements. Then, we were wowed by the various chandeliers and ceiling treatments, and that was even before we arrived at the Big Mama of a chandelier that is three-stories high. That’s the first thing people who walk in from the Las Vegas Strip see. Pictures don’t do it justice. It makes you feel like the shrunken version of Alice in Wonderland.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s worth all the hype,” Goliger said, as we joined other gawkers.

We spent more than four hours exploring and getting lost. Most casinos have enough land to spread out on the first floor. The Cosmopolitan is squeezed from the north by Bellagio and Jockey Club and from the south by CityCenter. Designers had no choice but to go up. The Cosmopolitan spreads its public amenities over six floors.

“The Cosmopolitan is very stylized and artsy. The curves soften the hard edges. It sparkles and makes you feel like you’re in a special place,” Goliger said. “I’m so impressed with the accessibility, it doesn’t bother me that it’s long and skinny.”

We lunched at Henry’s and there was a steady stream of people pouring in from one of the three pedestrian entrances off the Las Vegas Strip. There are nickel slots near that entrance, as if to say: “See, we are not so expensive, even if we look it.” I liked that the high-limit area was accessible and open, inviting rather than intimidating.

When it was over, the designer’s favorite casino, and mine, remains the Bellagio. But she admits she has a fondness for themed resorts, which are now considered passé.

However, when it comes to modern places on the Strip, she preferred The Cosmopolitan over the Aria, which has not proven universally popular in its design.

Her major criticism, and mine, was the difficulty finding things, even though the signage was good. “What floor am I on? Am I east or west?” We struggled to find the spa, stumbling on it by accident, and only found two of the three pools.

We did encounter pockets of smoke, which seemed odd for a place that hadn’t even been open 24 hours. If we wanted to be picky, there was that one hot-pink chandelier near a rust-colored ceramic that seemed off.

“The property is edgy, but the people are everyman,” Goliger noticed in the casino. The people checking in, however, were significantly younger.

How were we treated when, obviously, we didn’t belong to the nightclubbin’, drink-till-you-drop crowd?

When Goliger asked to see the rooms, explaining she taught an interior design class, Melinda at the concierge desk went above and beyond what normally would be expected.

Everyone we questioned volunteered their name and offered to help, a warm touch.

Perhaps they recognized even two women in their 60s can be part of that “curious class” looking for a little something wrong at The Cosmopolitan.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.