OT - Heading for new East Coast poker hotspot

[QuikSand]

I'll be at a conference late this week (working hard), and afterwards will take a few days of R&R. Mrs. Q and I are excited to be heading up to Atlantic City to visit the newest luxury hotel, The Borgata (http://www.theborgata.com).

From everything we have heard, this is the first AC hotel that actually captures the general sense of the premium Las Vegas hotels. Great service, great accommodations, great food, and great gaming atmosphere. We're staying Sunday and Monday nights, and their poker rate is actually very fair.

I've heard that the poker room is excellent, and is rapidly supplanting the Taj Mahal as the top venue in AC. Fine by me - I always found the Taj's space a bit too crowded - its main saving grace for me was the proximity to the race book.

So, I will be away from the board for most of the next week or so... but will gladly offer my reviews of the Borgata upon my return. For those of you on the East Coast within traveling distance of AC, I'm hopeful that we finally have something up there worth visiting.

[TredWel]

Good luck, Q. I've heard nothing but good things about the Borgata, and I look forward to hearing about your stay.

[cthomer5000]

Just got back from A.C., and didn't have the time to get over there. I've heard great things, let me know if it delivers.

[digamma]

Quiksand--I've seen you around the boards. Any report on this yet?

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by digamma
Quiksand--I've seen you around the boards. Any report on this yet?

I'll post a full review tomorrow, probably. For now - Borgata is easily thebest spot in AC, and gets a modestly qualified thumbs up from yours truly.

[Buccaneer]

From everything we have heard, this is the first AC hotel that actually captures the general sense of the premium Las Vegas hotels.

Didn't think that was possible for AC.

[QuikSand]

The Borgata

The Atlantic City skyline, such as it is, is now altered pretty dramatically. For the moment, I simply mean in a visual sense. The “major” hotels in AC along the boardwalk area and northward along the coast are now positively dwarfed in stature by the luxurious new Borgata (http://www.theborgata.com), the latest enterprise of the recently-merged MGM Mirage entartainment group. The Borgata stands at around 500 feet (my guess, I’m sure the precise height is listed somewhere) and is easily the tallest and most prominent figure in the city. Regardless, it’s a monumental gold-sheened presence up in the marina section of town (near Harrah’s, if you’re familiar).

Well, the effort is clear – introduce the Vegas-style “super-luxury casino” to Atlantic City, which currently is rightfully seen as a distant shadow of the Western gambling center. I’m sure that AC has suffered some from the growth of gaming alternatives in the east, including the Connecticut casinos and slots in several locations. The Borgata represents a more wholesale effort to launch “destination gaming” – trying to get customers to think about visiting the Borgata, rather than visiting Atlantic City.


Overall, my review is a modestly qualified “thumbs up.” The hotel delivers on most of its essential promises—the rooms are fabulous, the general accommodations (common areas, etc) are appropriately luxurious, and the gaming areas are spacious and well-designed. The food we sampled ranged from good to excellent, and their buffet is the only one in AC that can rival the better offerings of Vegas.

Room – Not extremely large, but accommodations are outstanding. Huge bathroom area and shower, king bed was better than the one we have at home, comfortable work area, good entertainment facilities – all top marks. The color scheme might run dry after a decade or so (some light green that I think will lose its novelty) but overall, not a single complaint. For what it’s worth, the poker rate is higher than others in the AC area – but spending an extra $35/night over the Taj might be the best money I spent all weekend.

Food – The buffet is excellent, we had two dinners there and were pleased both times. I tend to judge casino buffets on some of the relative fringe items—freshness of fruit, variety and quality of vegetable items, that sort of thing—and they rated very highly in nearly every category there. The variety was not overwhelming, but certainly adequate. For a $25 dinner, it is well worth the cost. We also sampled the late night noodle kitchen (very good) and an Italian-themed bistro (good), as well as the snack bar in the poker and racing area (pretty good, and actually fairly priced).

Poker – The poker area is very nicely appointed, the tables are new and the chairs are very comfortable. The table management is all computerized, and very easy to follow. The comp system is also entirely computerized (this is the case across the board) and seemingly leaves absolutely nothing to anyone’s judgment (there’s no negotiating with a pit boss for a reward – your card tells you at any time exactly how many dollars you have earned). The Borgata seems to have snatched many top dealers from the Tropicana (predictably), and their staff is solid for a newly-launched location. They seem to be a little tolerant of disruptive players – more so than I might like, but not to the point of being a serious problem. Overall, the card facility is excellent for a player like me, but I did hear some talk that the space may not be expansive enough to become a serious haven for top-players and tournament play (plus the bathrooms on that level are oddly small).

Logistics – These may not be huge issues, but there are a few demerits. When Mrs. Q and I arrived at about 6pm on Sunday, there was a line of easily 200 people waiting to check in. It was a clear disgrace, with no evidence of any systemic problems to explain it – it apparently is common to see already. I don’t know how they can resolve that (all their reservation stations were up and running) but that’s simply unacceptable. We were savvy enough to get valets to handle our things, but other people were waiting for at least an hour to get checked in. (I heard second hand that valet parking was a similar nightmare)

Along similar lines, we found a variety of small issues that begged for better ergonomic or logistical planning. The signs and waiting area for the buffet seemed to confuse more than half of the people entering (everyone was walking into the area reserved for the “high rollers” by accident)… at some point, it gets past people being stupid, and becomes the responsibility of the management to do a better job. There were other similar examples – poorly placed signs, not enough direction to patrons, etc. All seem easily remedied.


Bottom line – I don’t much care for Atlantic City. I hate slot machines, and mostly want to play poker and perhaps the horses. I can do both from home with ease. So, I need a reason to go up there.

The Borgata is now my reason. It’s the first place closer than Vegas that has the Vegas feel – top quality service and rooms, great restaurants, and a very good gaming setting. I have very little doubt that Mrs. Q and I will be back, likely within the year. Stark contrast with the feeling I usually have after leaving AC – where I just feel like I need a bath.

Three stars out of four, and given its proximity, I’m thrilled.

[Fritz]

hey Quik -

Was AC still a ring of casinos surrounding blocks of government housing (projects)?

[QuikSand]

Oh, by all means, Atlantic City is still the complete shithole that it has been for about 30 years. Most visitors now just hold their nose and avert their eyes as they drive or are bused in to the destination site.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by QuikSand
Oh, by all means, Atlantic City is still the complete shithole that it has been for about 30 years. Most visitors now just hold their nose and avert their eyes as they drive or are bused in to the destination site.

thats a damn shame. Talk about opportunites squandered.