Giving the Cosmo a second chance, this time (finally!) as Platinum. Documenting my experiences here. Hoping that it won't turn out a disaster like last time.
Part 1: _The "Booking on Marriott.com" Experience_
Booking indicated a resort fee but did not specify what it included. Google answered with --
It looks like they had a recent policy change on Jan 1 2013 - as they are now charging a resort fee. This is surprising, since the Cosmo is a luxury hotel that's not supposed to be tacky and penny-pinching like the cheaper hotels on the strip. There's also this quote from LV Sun, which makes me worried that maybe the Cosmo is losing its vision (or, did they lose their CEO?):
“I’ve been playing around in that (resort fee) arena for 15 years,” veteran hotelier and Cosmopolitan CEO John Unwin said in a recent interview. Though hotels often tack on resort fees to offset plummeting hotel rates, “we’re not doing that because people don’t like it,” Unwin said.
Apparently, this resort fee is waived for Identity Platinum, but not for Marriott Platinum. The resort fee comes with gym access, phone and Internet. This basically means that Marriott Gold and Platinum members have to pay a fee for using the Internet at this Autograph Collection hotel.