Las Vegas' Cosmopolitan Hotel bans smoking in parts of resort
LAS VEGAS – Unless you're gambling behind a plexiglass barrier, in front of a slot machine or inside the sports book or lounge, forget about smoking at Cosmopolitan.
Smoking is now banned in The Strip resort's public walkways and corridors.
The ban is part of a "continued effort to further protect the health and wellbeing of our guests and employees," the hotel-casino said in a statement.
Masks are mandatory, but guests may briefly remove them while smoking in these designated areas:
In the casino while siting at a table game with plexiglass dividers
In the casino while sitting at a slot machine
In the sports book
In a lounge
As the COVID-19 death toll rises across the U.S., smoking inside casinos has resurfaced as a make-or-break detail for travelers planning vacations, and resort companies are now restricting where visitors can light up.
Park MGM will be Strip's first smoke-free resort
When MGM Resorts reopens its last closed Strip property on Sept. 30, guests won’t be able to smoke at card tables or slot machines.
Park MGM and NoMad will reopen as the only smoke-free resort on Las Vegas Boulevard. Visitors will find notices like this inside the casino:
The properties will have three designated smoking areas:
Rideshare Zone: Located off the main lobby
NoMad Porte Cochère
Central Park Terrace: Located on the second floor of the convention center
“As we looked toward our reopening,” said Park MGM COO Anton Nikodemus in a statement, “we identified an opportunity to be responsive to recurring guest demand for a fully non-smoking casino resort on The Strip.”
Law protects casino smoking, but resorts have choice to ban
Lighting up at card tables and slot machines is protected by Nevada law, making it difficult for government officials to ban smoking in casinos. But casinos have the choice to allow it inside their properties or not.
Though the Silver State launched the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act in 2006, the law doesn't quite apply to The Strip.
The law outlines where people can smoke indoors in Nevada, as opposed to where they can't – and the list where smoking is acceptable is a long one:
Strip clubs and brothels
Tobacco stores
Stand-alone bars and taverns that are 21 and over
Any area inside casinos where loitering of minors is prohibited, typically near gaming tables and slot machines
Some convention centers
Outside areas of restaurants
In May, a Nevada resident wrote in an email to the Nevada Gaming Control Board that she would never step foot inside a casino if people are allowed to smoke during the pandemic. Nevada Chief Deputy Attorney General Darlene Caruso had this to say:
"The legislature has specifically stated that smoking is not prohibited in casinos and the statute even includes a provision that states any regulation inconsistent with that would be null and void," Caruso said. "The board’s hands are tied."
Ed Komenda writes about Las Vegas for the Reno Gazette Journal and USA Today Network. Do you care about democracy?
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Las Vegas' Cosmopolitan Hotel bans smoking in walkways, corridors