Conquering Vegas, Cosmopolitan Style

Amazing as Hawaii may be, I think we all need a little break, don’t you? So I’m going to shake things up a bit and break chronological order by posting about my recent birthday trip to Las Vegas. After, I’ll continue onto my Maui and Kauai coverage!

Las Vegas. The city made famous for guilt-free gambling, all-you-can-eat buffets, star-studded shows, and hedonistic nightlife.  I first visited Sin City two years ago and had the time of my life — and my internal alarm clock was going off loudly, telling me that my twenty-third birthday was the perfect occasion to return. So I grabbed my little sister and my cousin Kirsten and we headed West for a weekend of Vegas-conquering.

You can see The Strip in the left of this photo!

Readers with elephant-like memories may recall that I won a weekend stay at The Cosmopolitan back in June at the TBEX Travel Blogging Conference. On my last trip to Vegas I stayed at The Aria, and when I walked through the Cosmopolitan I vowed that it was where I would stay upon my return. It’s like someone took everything about me and made a hotel out it. I just love the quirky, modern style. I don’t know what I did to deserve such luck — to have my wish granted, and for free to boot.

Olivia and I caught the first flight out of New York in the morning, so we arrived well before check-in time. Luckily our Terrace Studio room was ready for us. As we entered the room we turned into deranged schoolchildren, giggling and jumping and tearing around the room shrieking with joy — needless to say, it was stunning. It is to the benefit of society that there is no video footage of this event.

The Terrace Studios are made up of three interconnected rooms — a bathroom larger than an average Manhattan apartment, a stylish living room with a kitchenette, and a bedroom that opens onto a balcony with a view of the strip. I could have happily moved into this room permanently.

My only complaint? The kitchenette, complete with a microwave, mini-fridge, and dishwasher, had no dishes other than the four water glasses! Do people really run the dishwasher with just those inside? Because I am a crazy lady who travels with oatmeal everywhere I go, I would have loved a bowl and spoon to take advantage of that microwave with.

The room was filled with fun touches, from designer coffee table books to luxurious wallpapers to indulgent C.O. Bigelow bath products.

The ultimate luxury of the room was without a doubt the spacious balcony. Even though it was a chilly November weekend, us sunshine-starved New Yorkers couldn’t get enough of laying out looking over The Strip.

Did I mention we were feeling giddy?

Though we could have easily stayed in the room all day taking naps and doing Jillian Michael’s Yoga Video (oh wait, we did do those things….) we had places to go. The activity we did well deserves a post of it’s own, but here’s a little hint:

Before we knew it, it was nighttime — when Vegas really comes alive. After a champagne-and-Ke$ha-fueled primping session, we were ready for dinner, where Kirsten would finally join us from Chicago.

Our dining destination was The Wicked Spoon, The Cosmopolitan’s buzzed-about new buffet. Buffet, you say? I’m a big fan — I love sampling tons of different dishes without looking at price tags. At $35 a head, The Wicked Spoon is on the upper end of Vegas buffets — but how many have been written up in The Wall Street journal? And my friend Abby, editor of Las Vegas Magazine, confirmed that it’s considered the crème de la crème on the strip right now.

Some of the highlights for us were the design-your-own mac-n-cheese station, the fried chicken baskets, and of course — the dessert table. I technically did not have room for the gelato I polished off my meal with — but I crammed it in. As a bonus, house wine starts at just $20 a bottle.

After a brief period of digestion and girl talk back up in our room, we set off for a late night of dancing and debauchery. We started at one of my favorite clubs from my last visit to Vegas — Tryst at The Wynn. Tryst has resisted the house music movement and I love them forever for that. Here you can dance and sing along to poppy, upbeat music. It’s guilty pleasure fun.

Late night we headed into XS, The Wynn’s most popular club. I’d love to tell you all about the music and the scene here, but I learned a hard lesson this night. You know that whole saying about “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?” I think what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas because PEOPLE CAN’T REMEMBER.

Or maybe that’s just me. But regardless of the fuzzy bits, I was out on the town in Las Vegas — I know I had a good time.

To Be Continued!

Thanks to The Cosmopolitan for their generous hospitality. As always, you receive my honest opinion regardless of who is footing the bill.