Poll : 15 December - 28 December 2010

Analysis

Thanks so much for all the feedback on this one; you can read our initial thoughts in the January issue of the LVA newsletter (more to come as we have the opportunity to explore); for some of your thoughts, see below:

• "I visited and played at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas the day after it opened. Nice place but not as impressive as it was built up to be. The chandelier is impressive – 2 million crystals. But so what? Nice elevators too. Casino is bright, well lit but narrow. Great air quality but the place was relatively empty at 9 am. Good variety of table games and I had excellent luck there. I will revisit, may stay there at some point but it isn’t high on my list. Awaiting an invite or a mailer to see what they offer. No mailer, no hotel visit.
• "I am a Jockey Club owner. I can finally park my own car!!"
• We visited the Cosmopolitan 5 days after opening. Would describe it as cool'...'hip'... exciting ... and different. Think it will be a huge success. Restaurants will be fabulous -- maybe even better than CityCenter."
• "I'm excited to see another resort in LV. I visit about twice a year and it's exciting when I visit to see something new. I hope it will help boost the economy and not take away from the other properties not doing well."
• "I think it's a very cool building. I've booked us for a wraparound suite for May! I am also excited about having another independent property on the strip. The HET/MGM monopoly needs more competition and I think Cosmo is gonna bring the enema the Strip needs. I could also be very wrong..." "I am excited to see a new place open. I hope that means the economy is turning around. Unfortunately, I have not been able to visit Las Vegas this year due to the economy, so I haven’t seen CityCenter, either. My original plan was to be in Las Vegas today (my birthday) and see the new places and visit a few of my old favorites. That will have to wait until next year."
• "I am booked to check into the Cosmopolitan on Dec 28th and I can’t wait. I’m very excited about it. I love their advertising vibe about ‘sophisticated yet unpretentious,’ as so many of the other high-end places on the Strip are very snotty (I’m looking at you, CityCentre, among others). When they were building the Cosmo I thought it was an eyesore and that the balconies were ugly. But now that I have booked a balcony room my opinion has changed. I hope that I get a Strip view on a high floor because the view over New Year’s should be incredible. I have high hopes for this place, and I hope that they can deliver. I hear that financially they are still in trouble and some experts say that they will be unable to generate enough cash for their debt payments. The last thing the Strip needs is another bankruptcy. I will be keenly watching for the LVA review of the place before I check in." [Ed: Check out the January issue of the LVA newsletter -- see above link.]
• "Great poll this time. I checked off 3 answers, with special emphasis on the last option: Let's return to ‘tacky.’ And here's why CityCenter won't make it: "The big money is mostly from the big cities: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, to name a few. In my opinion, the last thing Big Spenders want to do on vacation is visit another ‘Big City’ in Vegas. They want fantasy, dreams, something different. CityCenter doesn't offer that. Instead, it's ‘same old, same old.’ While it may be unique for Vegas, it isn't unique for these visitors. Once the newness wears off, they probably will end up at the Venetian or Encore instead, despite all the hype of CityCenter. MGM should implode the entire eyesore and start anew."
• "It is about time that we have a hotel on the Strip with balconies for the common player. Looking forward to having a cocktail on a hot summer evening and watching the Strip transform from day to night."
• "I HAVE been to CityCenter; the last thing we need is another huge Strip resort/high-end shopping mall and I’m just not interested. And I don’t care about Cosmopolitan but I hope the extra inventory it’s adding will help keep room-rates low. And I wish Las Vegas would stop trying to take itself so seriously with all these modern buildings that could be from any city skyline; I’d love to see a return to the fun/tacky themed era that made Vegas famous. I know it won’t happen, but I can dream..."