Mothers of invention; Fernwood 2night

“Stacked” casino floors are a rarity in Las Vegas, usually necessitated by a limited footprint. That’s certainly the case with the Cosmopolitan, jimmied into a narrow slot just north of CityCenter (and often mistaken for part of that complex). However, CEO John Unwin — a veteran of both Caesars Palace and Morgans Hotel Group — has rethought the original Ian Bruce Eichner concept, at least to the extent of bumping stores up to the second floor, the better to concentrate his casino offerings at Strip level. Still, a casino resort where are the restaurants are on the third floor represents a design gamble.

Speaking of which, the Cosmo has been testing the blue-neon piping that runs around parts of its balconies. Aside from a tendency to flicker on and off in a way that suggests a fluctuating electrical current, the lighting presents a stylistic question. Does “understated” work on the Las Vegas Strip? Compared to the neon patterns which wash over Eastside Cannery after dark, Cosmo’s look reticent, possibly too much so. As with the inconsequential pee-pee spurts that pass for a “fountain” in front of Aria, Cosmo may be opting for tact in a climate where a bolder statement is required.

By virtue of its leviathan cost and the high-end manner in which has been appointed, the Cosmo doesn’t have the option of being a “value” property (unless it were to lure players with 3/2 blackjack and better slot paytables than its rivals). However, Bill Lerner of Union Gaming seems to have done a 180 on his contention that Cosmo would lift room rates on the Strip, now implying the opposite. At 2,995 rooms and suites, how can Cosmo do any but dilute that’s showing modest harbingers of recovery that don’t extend to ADRs?

UNR casino guru William Eadington vocalizes what a lot of us have probably been thinking — but were afraid to say: “There may not be that many people to sustain all the five-star facilities in Las Vegas, even longer term.” So far, the math is bearing him out. It would be heartwarming comeback story if Cosmo makes good on its $3.9 billion cost but it’s difficult to like the odds.

At a far lower price point, a group of Pennsylvania casino investors have found an ingenious way around the state’s requirement of 275 hotel rooms. Does their Holiday Inn have only 239 units? Solution: Add 36 RV spaces and you have the RV World resort-casino!

After studying a detailed breakdown of the four proposals competing for the Keystone State’s last casino license, it’s impossible to find a clear front runner. Embattled Mason Dixon Resort, near the Maryland border, has gone through a lot of tsuris that may be all for nothing. It has one of the two largest budgets ($75 million) and Penn National Gaming lined up as operator, but controversy over its Gettysburg location may scare off regulators.

Penn has improved its chances by bigamously committing to run the Fernwood Hotel & Resort in northeast Pennsylvania. Owner Bushkill Group has the most hotel rooms (906) of any applicant and draws the vast majority of its customers from out of state. However, the Poconos is not exactly under-served by casinos presently and Bushkill’s proposed outlay — $39 million — is the smallest on the table. By contrast, RV World is offering to invest $75 million in a central part of the state with less casino product on offer.

For sheer profusion of amenities (“36 holes of golf on two championship courses, a 30-station shooting academy, trail rides, shopping, ski facilities, and its own airfield with a 3,900-foot airstrip“), Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, would seem to have it over everyone else. These are, after all, supposed to be “resort casinos.” Operator Isle of Capri Casinos has no competing properties in the region (unlike Penn) and is in better fiscal shape than when it first attempted to breach the Keystone State. But, even at 40 miles’ distance, regulators may deem Nemacolin too close for comfort to the underperforming Pittsburgh market.

I feel like Pollyanna when I read the analysis of June’s Nevada casino revenues by David G. Schwartz. The good doctor deems our signature industry “moribund.” In of the economic indicators he cites, should we be expecting better?

Further evidence that Las Vegas is evolving into a tourist destination in which gambling is no longer the primary lure, Phil Satre paid a visit to Steve Wynn, and reports that Surrender and Encore Beach Club will break even in two years (second item). Where all these twentysomethings with so little inhibition in either their behavior or spending have come from remains something of a mystery to me but they’re manna in the desert for present-day Sin City. However … what works for Vegas can be a big dud in Missouri. An expensive experiment in Strip-style night life never paid off for Ameristar St. Charles.

Margaritaville Biloxi may be in a deep coma but an independent, two-headed project in nearby D’Ibreville is being expedited. French Village theme park promises something for the whole family while CanCan Casino Resort (above) offers — well, you know. This terrific news for an area (the Mississippi Gulf Coast) which has been America’s hard-luck story for the past five years.