The troubled Revel hotel will begin reopening in stages starting next week when owner Glenn Straub says 900 of the hotel’s available 1,400 rooms will be available. Oddly, however, Straub will only rent the rooms to a management company he’s hired to run the casino, once all state approvals are gained. If that happens soon enough, the casino could open by late August. A spokeswoman for the Division of Gaming Enforcement says the agency is working diligently to make that happen.
Straub was cagy in an interview with the Associated Press. He declined to identify the management company and also wouldn’t reveal the new name for the property but gave a hint.
“We have some Asian painters coming up with the artwork,” he told the AP.
In addition to the hotel, Straub says the newly named facility will offer a rope-climbing course; a zip-line; an e-sports lounge; 13 beachfront cabanas, and the conversion of part of the parking garage into a 13-story bicycle endurance course. Surfing, windsurfing and scuba lessons will be available on the beach, and a day-club will open, along with a 32-room spa. On July 1, a burlesque show will open, along with seven indoor and outdoor pools. And finally, on August 15, Straub says he will be offering horse rides on the beach, along with a rock climbing wall, skydiving machine and a heliport.
Meanwhile, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa will open three new attractions for summer including an outdoor pool, and non-casino hotels in Atlantic City are expanding.
The Borgata is also adding the Borgata Beer Garden and The Marketplace Eatery.
The Eatery was developed with restaurateur and real estate developer George Siganos and is a multi-outlet, quick-serve complex in the former Cafeteria space below Borgata’s Poker Room. It is expected to open July 1.
“We fit a niche that is missing there and in all of Atlantic City,” Siganos told the Press of Atlantic City. “I travel all around the world, and it’s a trend to offer tastings and very interactive cuisine. It’s a unique concept because it will be beautiful, there will be plates and silverware, and we will serve them their food after they order. It’s a unique and upscale quick-service experience. We are revolutionizing and elevating the entire concept.”
The Marketplace will be anchored by a market specializing in fine cheeses, charcuterie, olive oil, wine, Lavazza Coffee bar and more, according to the Press.
There will be seven other quick-serve offerings—Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Chop & Toss Salad Company, Burgerville, Casa Taco Express, Asian Fusion, Pizata and The Original Philly Steaks and Subs.
Also opening July 1 will be the Borgata Beer Garden, offering more than 15 craft and domestic beers plus live music every Friday through Sunday. The facility will be located in the former Festival Park space adjacent to surface lot parking, there will be a variety of lawn games as well as unique events such as “Beer N Bites Happy Hour,” “Pig Roast Thursdays” and “Sunday Scotch and Cigars,” the Press said.
The Outdoor Pool is a 3,200-square-foot, Roman-style pool expected to open in early July that will be accessible only to Borgata and Water Club hotel guests. Featuring more than 300 chase lounges, daybeds and cabanas, more than 1,000 guests will be able to enjoy the facility at a time. Both the Outdoor Pool and Beer Garden will feature food from Executive Chef Tom Biglan.
Also announcing new additions was the non-casino Claridge Hotel, which has expanded its business conference and meeting space.
The hotel’s new Conference Center at The Claridge, adds 15,000 square feet of new meeting space to the Boardwalk hotel, according to a press release.
The hotel is also opening two new leisure venues—Atlantic City’s only rooftop bar and a new Beer and Wine Garden in Brighton Park at The Claridge.
Also an estimated 3,000 people turned out for a job fair at the former Showboat casino, which is reopening as a non-casino hotel this summer. Many that turned out had worked at the Showboat before it closed in 2014, according to the Associated Press.
Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein, who now owns the property, says 852 of the complex’s 1,300 rooms will be open to the public in July. The hotel will still be called the Showboat.
Blatstein’s company is looking for managers, plus front-desk agents and housekeepers, among other positions.
The reopening of the property without a casino was seen as a positive by many gaming analysts.
“The last thing the city needs is more casino space,” Alan Woinski, president of Gaming USA Corp. told the Philadelphia Business Journal. “But the one bad thing about the casinos closing was that the hotel inventory was decreased. Even though you can still find cheap rooms midweek, they do need more hotel rooms for peak periods such as summer, teachers convention, special events and weekends.”
Glen Straub, owner of the neighboring and also closed Revel casino has also said he expects to re-open part of the property—including a casino—during June, but he has yet to name a casino partner. Though Straub is optimistic, it seems unlikely he could have a re-opening in place that quickly.
