Atlantic City's New Revel Casino Resort

Greetings all,

Just got back from AC and happily booked a winner this weekend for a change. Stayed at the Borgata but called the host department at the Revel and arranged a guided tour of the property and even got to see a couple of their lower end suites (1 and 2 room 1 bedroom). The floor to ceiling glass provides an incrdeible view of the ocean. The entertainment they are bringing in is prompting everyone to up their game in AC right now. Thinking about trying a stay out there in August instead of LV because of the beach and not having to pay airfare.

For those in Vegas who don't know much about Atlantic City, the Revel would be analgous to someone finishing off the Fountain Bleau project, but the only other casinos on the strip would be like IP, Excalibur level. The Borgata is over in the Marina so I'm not comparing that. The Revel stood at a standstill for over two years until rescued with state help in tax incentives to lure the financing needed to complete it. The resort itself is architectually phenominal. Second tallest building in NJ and sits right on the Atlantic Ocean. Not everything is open in the resort right now but most of it will be by Memorial Day except perhaps the 4 story entertainment lounge with multiple venue options is still being fitted out. Rooftop pool is nice too. The resorts focus is on a new demographic primarliy looking to pay for their rooms and entertainment and gambling is secondary.

Now about the gambling. First thing is the have a resort wide no smoking policy. There are no designated smoking areas so if you smoke you are definately not gonna like staying here. If you hate smokers and their smoke you will love it here. BJ had 6 deck hand shuffle S17 games. Still no surrender in AC.

Ok here's the scoop on their players club and host dept. They have one card period. It is white in color. They have no players club for premium players. Your play earns you resort credits that you can then comp yourself towards your room, food and beverage. A host will comp qualified premium players their first 2 trips. For me they just called the Borgata a got my information and will offer me a 1 bedroom jr. suite. During those first two trips you will be building up your resort credits up but will not be used for your comped stay. By the third trip you are on your own and the host functions more as your concierge/travel agent and sets up your stay on how you want to spend the resort credits you have. So if you want a bigger room and eat food court style
or you can stay in a regular room and eat more. So kind of like MLIFE's express comps but with primary comps included in the pot and you decide how to use them. It protects them from low play cause if you low play you won't have the credits the next trip to get your same perks. All this being said who knows what it could look like in 2 years from now. If no one is coming in the place in the winter that could force changes to their club or smoking policy. So that's the bigger picture and as a result they will get some players to switch but I think the serious habitual gamblers are gonna stay where they are at because they will be shown more love. This place is going after the resort vacationer who likes to gamble more than the gambler who likes the resort and vacation thrown in.

That's all for now.

 

Haven't been yet, but from everything I've read and heard so far I have to agree that your assessment that Revel is not going to be going after the serious gamblers and high rollers is spot on - I would liken it to the Cosmo - or at least the Cosmo's attitude when it first opened - that the place is trying to focus on the resort side and not the casino side.

I also think, though, that - much like it seems is slowly happening at Cosmo - they're eventually going to realize that rooms food & beverage revenue alone - while still important to a large casino-resort's revenues - aren't going to be enough to pay the bills it takes to build & maintain a place of that size & caliber - and eventually they'll come around and realize that they have no choice but to compete for the gamblers, too.

It'll be interesting to see how Revel's opening plays out going forward - originally, I thought it would cannibalize & syphon away gamblers from the existing places - now, I'm not so sure. I just wonder if it will be the shot in the arm that AC sorely needs to bring the crowds back again, or if after a few months of hype it will start to struggle along with the rest of the city. If they don't go out of their way to bring in or retain the serious gamblers, I think after the hype wears off, they could be in trouble - I really don't think the surrounding, non-gambling market is enough to sustain the place as a resort destination long term, unless maybe if they're able to generate & grow a decent amount of convention & meeting business - but I'm not even sure how much meeting space they have so I don't know if that's even possible.

We shall see...

 

It's a long cold winter in AC most years

Beyonce cant be there every night either.The general public will be lining up for $269 rooms and $19 drinks . $2.4 billion

 

Pretty much right. They are gonna have to lure people out of NYC, Phile, Baltimore and DC that all have a lot of entertainment options in their own. Casino was not busy on a Saturday afternoon and Borgata was filling up to capacity all day to a sold out Saturday night. I couldn't even get my usual suite this weekend because they had a titanium event going own with all their big players coming in.

 

Maybe we should hold off final judgement until they get up and running

Maybe theres something there we 're missing that after Memorial Day people will flood in there with wads of money to spend on Celebrity Chef Restaurants and designer clothes. AC, you know the Borgata much better than I do,did that Water Club ever pay for itself?

 

It's doing better now I think. During the height of the recession in the last 2 years it was only open on weekends in the winter time. Not sure now. I've used the spa over there but never stayed over there.

 

I went for a short look see this past Saturday. I didn't do the tour, but I got the players card and asked if they match other cards player levels. As you said, they have only one level and you earn whatever you get with your play. I haven't paid for a room in a casino in so many years I expect a free room. If I paid for a room that's just less I would use for gambling.
I agree it's on a completely different level than the other casinos except Borgata a second.
I can't believe they will survive without room comps or the no-smoking policy. I think they will need to have some smoking areas or people won't play or stay.
Remember when they tried the no-smoking policy about two yours ago, I don't think it lasted a month. Personally, I don't care for the smoke. When I'm at Caesars they have the second floor non-smoking area but I always end up down on the first floor because that's where the better stuff is.
My opinion is they will change or they will go broke.

 

I'm gonna check it out again in late June and I will post if it has gotten busy in the thick of beach weather.

 

AC ....

You described the basics of the Revel's BJ offerings. Did you happen to check out their Video Poker line-up ? That's the part about Borgata that got me up there, along with them automatically signing me up with their Black Label card.

 

No I didn't sorry. I wasn't there long enough. That being said being the new kid on the block and what I saw with BJ I would suspect they offer a good 9/6 VP. They have to almost to get people in there. I will check in June though. Love the place though and plan to try it out in August. My wife is the slot and VP player while I play table games.

 

Regarding the VP at the new Revel ... I put aside my laziness, and checked out the VPfree webpage for Atlantic City, and the Revel is now listed.

The best game listed was 9/6 DDB (98.98% game) for dollars and up. So there appears not to be any real "full-pay" VP ... no 10/7 DB (100+%), no 9/6 JOB (99.54%), no 8/5 Bonus (99.17%), and no DW listed of any decent type.

 

Thanks for your original post AC.

We've never been to AC even though we could drive there in less time than it takes to fly to Vegas.

I don't mean to offend anyone but the reason being is I prefer not to spend my chill and gambling get aways with the "jersey shore" kids....am I misguided, thinking that's what AC will be like?

 

Not the kids from Jersey Shore, per se - but on a weekend night, you can expect a lot of Sopranos wannabees and Real Housewives of New Jersey rejects - which is why - just like Vegas - I try to avoid Friday & Saturday nights.

 

You are in the same boat as me living in MD..... ACity isnt bad, but I just ignore all the jersey crowd... I have some good friends from jersey and they dont act like that and it annoys them... So I know where you are coming from

I wish something would get stood up in DC/VA/MD So i didnt have to fly 5 hours to vegas or drive 5 hours to ACity

 

Thanks Jilly...that's what we do too. Usually arrive in LV on Sun and leave the following Fri.

Revel looks like a nice place....we like to spend some time at the pool during the day and my biggest complaint is most of the hotels up there seem to have indoor pools.

 

I think MD is moving forward with adding gaming at National Harbor right off the beltway. That will be nice and close for me.

 

Nah,all nice people here.

Those Jersey Shore Kids arent even from Jersey,and what people say,theyre pretty decent when the camera isnt on them. Some even say theyre an improvement over some of the people that live in that town,but I wouldnt know anything about that.

 

Visited Revel this weekend while staying at Borgata and was impressed. First, the casino is huge, almost like Palazzo if it were circular, with restaurants and the like all on the outside.

We played mainly slots, including in an area overlooking the ocean -- I can't believe no other casino (I guess save for The Atlantic Club) has this feature. We also played a strange BJ game in a pit that's likely a "party pit" at night as all of the tables surrounded a large runway. There was a live dealer, but inset into the table were iPad-sized screens where you saw your cards and placed your bet. You made the same motions for hitting or staying as you would at a normal table, but the dealer would then just a hit a button next to her. It was odd, but fun (and I cleared $150). I have to think it's to allow perhaps less-than-professional dealers to deal and make the game more accessible for some people (strategy suggestions would pop up on the screen). There were also two bonus bets: you won on one if the dealer busted with 3+ cards (3-4 was 1:1 and then it went up from there); you won on the other if the dealer's up card fell between your two cards, with the payoff increasing with the greater the spread (I think; I didn't play that as often). I hadn't seen those bonus bets before.

We also ate at Distrito, since we're big fans of Jose Garces. Tasty tacos, great guacamole, and Negra Modelo on tap. Great place, and cannot wait to try Amada with views of the ocean.

All of the staff were very helpful and friendly. I asked a slot attendant where the Ghostbusters slots were, and she walked me over. Not that she had a lot to do: it was pretty dead when we got there mid-morning on Saturday, but it picked up.

It'll be interesting to see what if any offers I get. I'm not going to leave Borgata until they give me something worth denying free rooms!

 

new program matching tier levels to CET, Borgata, and Trump One. http://www.revelresorts.com/revelcardpromo

 

Hope you enjoy your new home away from home AC

Sure didnt take them long to figure out how the gambling business actually works did it? Someone just came up with a proposal to build a small casino-hotel between Harrahs and Borgata featuring a waterpark.AC was an initial success ,I'm sure you know because they attracted the "hardcore gamblers" not a bunch of wet kids.