COSMOPOLITANS AND CRYSTALS...

This past Saturday evening, we had the immense pleasure of being treated to a night's stay/dinner & drinks at the newly opened Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino, at the City Center, in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip...and yes, I had a Cosmopolitan at The Cosmopolitan - it just seemed like the thing to do.   This is a project that has been five long years in the making - my husband's elevator company (Thyssen-Krupp) installed all of the escalators and elevators in this fabulous building - lots of blood, sweat and tears in this project, and a well deserved evening out for the guys, who did not have to ask the wives a second time to tag along.  I'm sure the write-ups in the papers will far surpass my little blog about it, but I snapped a few pictures and wanted to share the decadence of it all (make sure you click on the pictures to enlarge)...

This greeted us in the lobby of the hotel - they've taken a beautifully modernistic, artsy approach, for lack of a better sounding description...OK, artsy fartsy maybe, but absolutely jaw dropping!  Most of the things I tried taking pictures of were SO massive in size, it was hard to get it all in, so even harder to put it all in perspective.  These LARGE, four-sided LCD screens (there are people in the second photo - this was taken at check-out the following morning, hence the lack of bodies) are constantly changing their displays, and the displays are perpetually in motion.  These beautiful flowers were actually moving like they were real.  When we checked in, there was a different show on these, and I was told one of the more interesting ones involves a woman who appears to be trapped inside the columns.

One of the many escalators in the building - this was stunning!  The globe sculpture actually had water cascading over the screen behind the balls, while the whole display changed colors - it was blue just the second before I snapped this.

A glass drape ceiling display and the entrance, back down the hall, to the casino, were just a hint of what lay ahead, but first things, first...

Our incredible room was located on the 60th floor - very beautiful, minimalistic, and soothing styling in a room with a king sized bed; two (count em, TWO) 42" flat screen TVs; a sitting area with a full sized wrap-around couch; and wet bar.  The walk-in closet housed the greatest wallpaper.

The second picture here is of the wallpaper in the gorgeous bathroom - at first glance I just thought it was beautiful scroll work.

The most fabulous part of the room was the view of The Strip, facing South, towards CA.  I am uncomfortable with heights, so the fact that I crawled between the two railings on the balcony (walk out balcony with patio furniture) to take the photo looking towards Planet Hollywood, was no small feat on my part, and perhaps it could be attributed to that Cosmopolitan I had before we actually got to the room.  Final photo is looking down at one of the pool areas.

The showpiece of this grand resort is undoubtedly the 3-story, Chandelier Bar, in the middle of the casino.  I was standing with my mouth open at the sight of the bar with the crystals in the first picture, when my husband grabbed my arm, told me to close my mouth, and prepare to be amazed - that I hadn't seen "nuthin'", yet!  I don't think I've ever seen anything as truly fabulous as what I beheld when I rounded the corner.  The bar is swathed in crystals...SIX MILLION crystals, according to the concierge I spoke with at check out.

Crystals as far as the eye could see, and then some...

There was a faint color change, ever so slowly, throughout the evening, casting a different glow every so often - absolutely stunning, and obviously, in just letting the pictures speak for themselves, I'm still speechless.

Vegas has something for everyone, and who would have thought that I would have found what I did after dinner that night (which was at STK - an unbelievable steakhouse with amazing ambiance, helped by a live DJ in the middle of the room).  Allsaints Spitalfields had HUNDREDS of antique sewing machines in two LARGE front windows - attached to steel, threaded poles - believe me...HUNDREDS!  Probably the best window display I've ever seen, even if I wasn't a seamstress!  The inside of the store was done totally in greys, and was reminiscent of a turn of the century sweat shop - sewing machinery and antiques as far as you could see, past the fabulous clothing line they carry.  I'm taking my daughter and going back, without the boys, for some serious looking around.

And then there were these...the lighting in the hallway made these pictures next to impossible to take, true to color.  These three glass chandeliers were Pepto Bismol pink, in color - truly, decadently gaudy, and more than likely outrageously expensive, if I only knew the story behind them...which brings me to one of the million dollar, round glass elevators at the side of the bar...

...and out the door, back to my humble little abode.  An amazing evening out - many thanks to my husband, his company, and his employees that put in many, MANY long hours on this incredible project.  Truly the most fabulous place I've ever stayed, and I have them to thank for it.  Don't miss it, even if it's just to go in and gawk at the crystals - all 6 MILLION of them...I think I was impressed!