Just The Right Amount Of Wrong.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is my Vegas spirit animal.

The "Cosmo" opened on 15 December 2010 (happy Bday yesterday!). My first Vegas trip was less than 2 months later, in February of 2011. When I arrived in town, I cabbed over to my resort off-Strip, freshened up a bit, and headed out into the night to take in my first Vegas Strip experience.

I'll always remember that mile-long walk from Rumor on Harmon east to the Strip. My excitement level was high, but I also didn't know what to expect. I had done a little research and had been to Reno casinos like the Silver Legacy before, but this was capital V Vegas, the big Kahuna, what would the Strip be like?

Harmon spilled me out onto LVB right in front of the Shiny, new Cosmopolitan. It somehow just looked "right", so across LVB I went and into the Strip-facing front door.

It blew me away.

It was simultaneously modern and classic, with the programmed LED curtains of Bond leading to the endless chandeliers of, well, the Chandelier Bar. I sat down at the first bar I saw, the cozy, comfy Henry and ordered up the first of I know not how many Belvederes I've had there. The bartender was personable and kind despite his hearing my "it's my first night in Vegas!" story he's heard who knows how many times.

I struck up a conversation about football with one of the managers that is a running conversation we still have every time we see each other, 5 years later. He gave me my first taste of Vegas service by going far out of his way to track down a liquor the Henry didn't have, bringing the bottle back to me from wherever he found it and then sharing an on-the-house shot with me.

Leaving An Impression On Your Guest, 101.

Then as I left the bar to start exploring the resort, I put my first bill into a quarter machine near the Henry, and on the second spin hit $380.

Leaving An Impression On Your Gambling Guest, 201.

I wandered around that night and over that first short trip, but the impression that I got from kindness and warmth from that first hour on the Strip at the Cosmo has never really faded. It's still my go-to resort on the Strip and as far as I can remember I've spent at least a little time at the Cosmo on every single day I've spent in Vegas on every one of the 13 trips since.

I've had up and down experiences in the Cosmo, to be sure, when you're a bump on a log like I can sometimes be as a "middle aged solo guy at the bar", but a good portion of my truly memorable times on the Strip have been in that glorious resort, and it really has seemed to have only gotten better. I still walk in that same Strip-facing door on a weekend night and my jaw hits the floor. Dancing girls, tastefully loud music, beautiful people EVERYWHERE; it's a feeling unlike walking into any other casino, at least for me.

And now, for the first time, I get to actually stay in the resort. Only 2 nights, but man am I looking forward to it. Getting to hang out at the comfy Henry, see and banter with some of the same bartenders I've talked to for years, snicker at the 11/10 hookers working guys (like me) at the Vesper with LV cops looking on, throw a few hundie in the slots to keep my Identity points going, and now being able to jump in an elevator and be crashed out in a room in a suite on the property instead of having to trek a mile and a half down to a small room on the south end of the Strip.

1 week until Vegas trip #4 of 2015.