No Green Seen in Marketing for New Vegas Hotel Towers

Last night Las Vegas saw the opening of its newest mega-hotel--The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The luxury resort has 2,995 guestrooms, a 100,000-square-foot casino, spa, nightclub, a diverse restaurant collection, nine retail boutiques, and 150,000 square feet of convention and meeting space. The hotel is located between Bellagio and CityCenter along the Strip on 8.7 acres and features two 50-story East and West Towers. In contrast to CityCenter, which opened almost exactly a year ago, there was no green buzz leading up to the opening of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. A scan of the new hotel’s website provided not one bit of information on what the hotel’s owners intend to do to minimize the skyscrapers’ environmental impact.

Perhaps the owners of The Cosmopolitan believe luxury and green don’t mix?

I reviewed all of the press releases on The Cosmopolitan website. Again, no mention of green building or operations. Why not? The environmental impact of a hotel the size of The Cosmopolitan is immense. What is the hotel doing to save water? Energy? Reduce waste? For now they are keeping it a secret but I will try to find out. A mention in a press release about The Cosmopolitan’s oversized bathrooms with “rain showers” is not reassuring.

I have written about the environmental excesses of Las Vegas before; it certainly earns its “Sin City” title. Its water appetite alone is scary. According to an article in The Arizona Republic, Lake Mead, the source of water for Las Vegas, sank to an almost 75-year low in October. The lake is now just 8 feet above the level that would trigger the first drought restrictions.

What is the tipping point for Las Vegas when it comes to water? Other environmental impacts? How many mega-hotels are too many? It looks like we may soon find out. Your thoughts?