ELV note: We received some good news yesterday in the form of this letter from Jason. Apparently he made a ruckus, ELV made a ruckus, and lots of people made a ruckus over The Cosmos’ dunderhead move to route diners through a couple of rows of slot machines. As of this week, the elevators now go directly back to the second and third floor restaurants, and order has been restored to the universe. ELV will now officially end his unofficial one month boycott of The Cosmo, and shall be lunching there today. Please alert the media. (Hey! We ARE the media.)
Here is Jason’s Q & A to the R-J:
Question:
“Why did The Cosmopolitan change their elevators so you can’t go straight to the restaurants from the garage, but have to instead walk through the casino? I took my wife for a pre-birthday pig-out at Holstein’s and discovered we would have to hoof it through the slot machine jungle. Can you get to the bottom of this travesty?” Jason from Las Vegas
Answer:
Good question, Jason. The Cosmopolitan has tried to cultivate a following among locals by doing things that other properties wouldn’t even consider, such as: allowing guests to take elevators from the garage right up to the third floor, bypassing the casino and everything in between. On the one hand, it was very convenient for locals who wanted to get to a restaurant and not even hear or see a slot machine on the way. On the other hand, that went against the casino creed, which has something to do with funneling people through the casino because you never know when they’ll have the urge to try their luck on Megabucks (guilty!).
A Cosmopolitan spokesman said that the hotel has been trying a few things with “guest flow and optimization” for about a month. So, if you took an elevator from the east parking garage during that time, you could only access the first floor. Which meant you had to walk near or through the casino to get to the restaurants. Sounds like you were optimized and flowed, Jason. Luckily, as of Dec. 5, that restriction was lifted and guests can once again take one of the elevators up to the second or third floor.
Here is a direct link to the article in the Neon:
http://www.lvrj.com/neon/strip-tips-try-art-and-wine-or-wings-and-booze-135308458.html
…and props to R-J reporter Sonya Padgett for doing the leg work on this one.
“On the other hand, that went against the casino creed, which has something to do with funneling people through the casino because you never know when they’ll have the urge to try their luck on Megabucks (guilty!).”
Ahh… It also has to do with the property losing 10’s of millions each quarter. The casino was horribly designed and more then likely this property will be sold to a company that can better manage it. When that happens, convenient parking may be the least of your concerns!