Morris Benjamin Wilkins, 90, popularized Pocono resorts devoted to love

YOU CAN STILL go to the Poconos for love.

Thanks to Morris Wilkins, you can still soak in heart-shaped bathtubs at some resorts, and drop into a gurgling, 7-foot-tall Jacuzzi shaped like a champagne glass just big enough for two.

It was Wilkins who back in the late 1950s hit upon the idea of developing a resort restricted to couples, preferably honeymooners.

His innovations to encourage the free expression of love among his guests earned him nationwide publicity, a booming business and many imitators.

In case his guests missed the purpose of his Cove Haven resort, a heart-shaped sign on the grounds informed them that they had entered the "Land of Love."

Morris Benjamin Wilkins, who opened other Pocono resorts with the same theme and became president and CEO of Caesars Pocono Resorts, a Navy veteran of World War II who served in submarines, died May 25 of heart failure. He was 90 and lived in Honesdale, Pa.

Writing in the Inquirer about the Cove Haven resort in 1988, Terry Bivens wrote, "Leave your Sierra Club sensibilities at home for this one, amigos. Here on the shores of Lake Wallenpaupack is the ultimate in that long and leering tradition of Pocono hideaways, a 125-acre theme park for consenting adults, a Great Adventure for the id."

Wilkins bristled when anyone suggested that his heart-shaped tubs and Jacuzzi goblets had prurient appeal.

"It's not porno, it's romantic," he once said. "Anyone who can't see the romance in my tubs just doesn't understand love."

Wilkins was convinced that when his resort was restricted to honeymooning couples it reduced the divorce rate.

"We feel the divorce rate from our places is much lower than the national average because they get a great start," he said.

Although the rule to restrict attendance to honeymooners was lifted, the resort was still restricted to couples.

Morris Wilkins and a partner, Harold O'Brien, purchased the 18-room Hotel Pocopaupack on Lake Wallenpaupack in Lakeville, Pa., in 1958. Morris renamed the hotel Cove Haven and started his policy of couples-only.

In 1971, Life magazine featured a risque photograph of a couple covered only in soap bubbles embracing in one of those glossy red heart-shaped tubs.

In 2010, the Wall Street Journal wrote that the tub design had taken hold at vacation resorts all over the world.

In 1982, the ABC television network produced a TV movie, "For Lovers Only," about the Pocono phenomenon with Andy Griffith portraying Morris Wilkins.

Cove Haven grew to more than 230 rooms. The idea for the champagne-goblet Jacuzzi was developed in 1984, and was such an attractive feature, reservations had to be made weeks in advance.

One guest who tried it commented, "I felt like an X-rated swizzle stick."

Morris sold Cove Haven to Caesars World of Las Vegas in 1969, and went on to open similar resorts, including Paradise Stream, Pocono Palace and Brookdale. He then became president and CEO of Caesars Pocono Resorts. He retired in 1997.

He was born in Stroudsburg, Pa., the oldest of the three children of Benjamin and Rose Wilkins, Russian and Hungarian immigrants. He enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

He served in the Pacific Theater on two submarines, the USS Rasher and the USS Gurnard. He trained as an electrician in the Navy and after his discharge, started a successful electrical contracting business.

In 1955, he eloped with Lois Faye Weitz. They were married for 47 years before her death in 2002.

He is survived by two daughters, Lori Wilkins Immerman and Jill Wilkins; a son, Michael Wilkins; a son from a previous marriage, Thomas Wilkins; a brother, David Wilkins; and five grandchildren.

Services: Were Friday in Honesdale.