Today's Las Vegas Sun has a multimedia preview of Aliante Station, newest pride and joy of Station Casinos. I had hoped to also link you to a comparable piece that ran earlier in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, partly because the Sun's snail-powered video isn't worth the time it takes to get through it (unless you want to hear General Manager Joe Hasson trying to talk like a hipster and not quite making it). And partly because the R-J's photography did greater justice to the casino's interior than do the Sun photos.

But, alas, the R-J's 19th century search engine couldn't pull up the story I wanted to show you (although it found several irrelevant ones), so tant pis, as the French say. Or, as we prefer, "Whatever."

First off, Aliante's interior looks far different -- and considerably more beautiful than its phlegmatic exterior would have you believe. Why Station pushing this "Scottsdale resort" or "contemporary Scottsdale" positioning is a bit beyond me, as when I think of Scottsdale I think "retirement community." Station clearly envisions itself running with a younger crowd, so why it would build a casino whose exterior resembles a Southwestern-style Ikea store is a puzzler.

(And, come to think of it, why doesn't Las Vegas have an Ikea or two? Think of it: Large, mobile population in need of lightweight, reasonably priced furniture. I'm just sayin'.)

Did Station over- or underspend? That depends. A year ago, the project was budgeted at $675 million and it came in $13 million below that. So congratulations to the guys with the slide rules and pocket calculators for saving some much-needed dough. Still, $662 million for a non-Strip casino is quite steep, especially when the locals market is in a period of inelasticity. (Which is a fancy-pants way of saying everybody's fighting over a casino-saturated and finite pool of customers, at least for now.)

"The trick," wrote Howard Stutz, "is to create new customers for Aliante Station in a turbulent market without poaching from its nearby sister resorts, Santa Fe Station, Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho." Very true and I don't envy the Station execs who have to pull off that balancing act.

Ingredients like "Italian marble flooring, imported stonework" etc. sound somewhat lavish for a casino in what's currently an over-served niche. On the minus side, it means Aliante is going to have a harder time making its nut than $250 million Eastside Cannery is doing. However, the Fertittas are obviously building with an eye toward the long haul, so Aliante Station will probably not only age well but require less replacement of carpeting, wall coverings, etc., over the years -- assuming that its materials are durable as they are expensive ... and, yes, I do believe you get what you pay for.

One other aspect of Aliante Station bears mentioning and I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up except in passing. Back when I interviewed the Fertitta brothers, prior to the opening of Red Rock Resort, they took considerable pride in the fact that all of its and Green Valley Ranch's restaurants were owned and operated in-house. Not so with Aliante, which opts for a mix of Station-owned restaurants and extensions of chain restaurants. The Fertittas were quite emphatic that what they did at RRR and GVR was a superior business model, so I'd love to find out what accounts for the -- pardon the overused term -- paradigm switch.

Matter of fact, I'll do that right now. I'll let you know what Station has to say.