I made my first trip ever to Atlantic City this month. I took my Mom with me, and we stayed two nights mid-week at Caesars on the 'Virtually Free' package.This included passes to Qua, free parking, $20 food comp...think that was it.

When I booked the stay, at first it seemed that since I had no play history in AC I would be paying the package rate (which was pretty decent) but when I got my emailed receipt prior to the visit one night was comped. No argument for me!

It was pretty busy because of a major convention in town and at Caesars – the NJ builders association. So no hope for an upgrade, $20 tip or not.

Sorry I did not take a photo of the room. We were in the Temple Tower, which is (I think) the oldest tower, was originally a Howard Johnson's. The 2 queen bed room was rather small – the bathroom VERY small – no counter space to speak of. No tub, but a nice size walk in glass door shower where the tub used to be.

I've had rooms with not much of a view – but this had NO view – literally. It looked out on an air shaft, and they had actually put frosted paper over the window to let in light but not let you see the broken beer bottles in the shaft one floor down. I could see this because someone had torn back a corner of the frosted paper!

The small bathroom and “view” were the only down sides. The beds, linens, furniture were all attractive and comfortable (rooms have been recently renovated.) And it was very, very close to the elevator, as requested – Mom's walking is a bit of a challenge. The room was quiet, and even had a coffee maker and a fridge (not a mini bar!)

Being with Mom made this different than a solo trip, hubby or girlfriend trip. She doesn't go far, so we selected restaurants on how close they were, or what her energy level was like. She doesn't gamble, so my gambling was done at night for the most part. So those things did color my first experience in Atlantic City.

Even though it was only two days, I find it easier to remember things by category. So here it is:

Meals. We actually covered all 4 casino food groups in dining: coffee shop, buffet, gourmet room, and a local iconic place. The coffee shop was at Bally's for lunch – excellent, I enjoyed a chopped salad which included pulled chicken, not just grilled chicken breast, and really crispy fresh veggies and greens. Mom and ½ sandwich and salad, and proclaimed it very good

Buffet was Caesars for dinner. It was decent. A relatively small selection, but with everything you need. Delicious small steamed clams cooked in wine and butter sauce with sausage slices and capers and lemon. Good prime rib, decent mixed salads. I guess I am spoiled by the buffet at the racino here in our area, or buffets in Vegas. For $28 per person I don't expect to peel my own shrimp (yep I'm spoiled!)

Gourmet room was Kwi – the asian restaurant in Caesars. Very, very nice!

Mom got the "Seafood heavenly basket - a basket made from taro root, filled with yummy scallops, shrimp and crab meat.


The wall decorations were made from the ends of chopsticks dipped in enamel paints.

The local icon? White House Submarines. In business with the same 2 families since 1946, walls covered with framed signed photos of celebs who dined there – including Sinatra, with a framed box of the towel he used on stage for his last Atlantic City concert.


We each ordered half a sub. A half of a sub was a foot long!


Sightseeing. We did make it out to the boardwalk – the weather was a glorious 75 and sunny! Walked through the Pier shops to see the water fountain show at the end of the shopping mall. Then Mom sat on a bench in the sun and I walked on the beach, stuck my feet in the cold Atlantic, annoyed some seagulls and picked up a few seashells.



Further down the beach was a small pier with beach cats - never did find out their story! (they weren't talking)


We also went in the shopping mall The Pier - extends over the water, they have a very neat seating area inside on the third floor, with beach chairs and sand - and a lovely view of the sunset over the boardwalk.



Other treats: Mom experienced her first ever spa visit. We went to Qua – its kinda like “Qua lite” compared to the Vegas one. All the same stuff, just less of it. Mom had a facial – and the results were obvious and amazing. I had a massage. I've had plenty, and this was one of the best I have ever had.

Entertainment: I quickly discovered that you can not do the evening sightseeing in Atlantic City that you can in Las Vegas, at least not this time of year. The board walk was not a place to be after dark, very deserted and rather creepy – even going between 2 casinos relatively close to each other. And there are long stretches of boardwalk with no casinos, and no attractions open after dark.

And a real lack of entertainment options – no shows except on weekends, and then only special concerts. Once summer rolls around, there are more entertainment options, but for this trip there was nothing to do after dark but but gamble and drink! :-)

Fortunately that was not a problem for me.


Gambling


I did play a lot more than I normally would, since the only other choice was watching mom's TV shows up in the room.


I had a few nice wins, which was fortunate since that stretched my bankroll. Nothing exciting – okay, I did hit $71 on one of the new Wizard of Oz machines and $200 on some brand new “silver sword” super multi spin something or other. My vp play lasted a long time – but the best hand I hit was quad 9's on DDB.


Oh – and the only Sex and the City slots I saw were at Caesars, and and the first 24 hours they were down. My last night they were running again, and I had a nice experience on them, cashed out $90 up thanks to hitting the Charlotte progressive (not much, about $18) but also getting SEVERAL screens filled with wilds, resulting in $30 -$40 results on a regular spin. It was fun.


There were some intriguing progressives out there – Caesars had a Double Joker Progressive on a quarter machine that was up to $4,000 by the time I left – only a bank of 10 machines, hard to get on!

If you are looking for it, it is on the lower level near the Toga bar.


I did get to a few casinos. I walked next door to Trump Plaza – it was okay, just played a few games here. They had better denomination choices – what were 5 cent machines at Caesars were penny machines at Trump. Caesars is also connected to Bally's – and Bally's has two casinos; a regular themed one and a “Wild West” themed one with talking cowboy mannequins and other fun things. The best thing about that casino was the bar with 24 hour specials – $3 Coronas, mixed drinks or Absolute citron shots; or $2 drafts. This was important because at first it seemed there were no cocktail waitresses in Atlantic City at all. They did show up after dark, and I found pretty good service in the regular Bally's section.


I also took the Harrahs shuttle to their Showboat casino, at the end of the boardwalk. This was the liveliest place, I like the atmosphere on the casino floor. They had lots of little TV screens hanging off the ceiling, so I experienced the trifecta of fun: playing a slot machine and hitting bonuses, drinking a cosmopolitan, and watching the Yankees beat LA.


I walked from the Showboat into the Trump Taj Mahal next door, very pretty outside – pretty chandeliers inside, but it seemed really dead compared to Showboat. Took a taxi back to Caesars – a short under $10 ride.


So – people ask (including me) how to compare Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Based on my experience of a mid-week April visit I found:


AC: has casinos LV: has more casinos


winner: LV – especially since there are more companies owning casinos in Vegas, a bit more competition.


AC: has the ocean LV: has the desert


winner: AC in summer, LV in winter. picking up seashells is fun but not during a Nor'easter, Valley of Fire is spectacular but your body would be on fire in July.


AC: The Boardwalk LV: The Strip


winner: LV. Boardwalk was nice on a lovely day, but there are long, long gaps on the boardwalk filled with cheapo stores, tacky restaurant stands, and $30 massage places. For some people that might be a plus! I prefer the Strip views (but then I don't go to Vegas when it is 115 degrees on the pavement)


AC: Wide range of restaurants LV: Wide range of restaurants


winner: a tie. Although Vegas buffets seem like a bargain compared to AC. But the Caesars Pier shopping area had lots of interesting restaurants I'd like to try some time.


AC: 6 hour drive LV: 7 hour flight (including plane changing time and TSA lineup time, you're talking 10-12 hours travel.)


Winner: ah, the tough one! If it is just me, flying is cheaper. If two of us are going, driving to AC would be cheaper.


Will I go back to AC? Probably, because it can be done with less advance planning than a trip to Las Vegas – and for a shorter amount of time.


I'm glad I went – I was very excited to see all the familiar casino names and know I had actually driven there, not flown. Does not replace LV for me – not for a second.

Sounds like a good trip Kes. Nice to get away with Mom once in awhile.
First time I went to AC was many years ago when a buddy and I decided at 2:00 am to drive to AC. We stayed and played for 8 hours and drove back again sleeping at the side of the road on the way back. For us it was an 8 hr drive both ways. Ah, to be young and foolish again.
My brother and I ended up there a few years ago as well and stayed at Harrahs. It was ok but I haven't been back since.

Thanks for the report.

Well, the way I see it, you owe yourself one more trip to AC, because you missed the 2 best casinos in Atlantic City, The Borgata, and Harrah's!
I hate the old section, it is very tight in those rooms. That was the last room we had before we moved to Harrahs permently.
Hope you washed your feet after being in the water in AC, the ocean is very brown in AC.
As you already know, I'm not a big AC booster! LOL But I guess being a guy, it has never been a problem walking the boardwalk after dark. I just don't venture out of the casinos onto the streets after dark. Did they have the rolling chairs on the boardwalk? We use them sometimes at night to get from one place to the next. But we don't spend any time on the boardwalk at all anymore, so maybe they are history too?
BTW, you probably can fly into Atlantic city, it just will probably cost more and take longer then going to Las vegas, with all the connections!
Thanks for the trip report! I am glad you had some fun!
But making Ac a weeks long vacation would be very boring IMHO!

I agree, Lee - a week in AC would be too long. But there are day trips in the area I would love to make - just that Mom is not up to walking and sightseeing so we were pretty much located in the one spot.

Yes the roller chairs are still there. THere's always at least one parked outside the casino door, no matter the hour - and a lot of people were using them on the nice, warm sunny day.

I know I missed Harrahs and Borgata - again, kinda stuck. So that will be my reason to return :')

(and yes, I washed my feet!)

Thanks, Kestral - I've always wanted to check out AC and you gave me a nice tour! Maybe I'll get there someday...

What Mike said...............
I did enjoy reading your report, and it was nice to get the tour of what and where. The last time I was in Atlantic City was when we took the kids camping near there, and there were no casinos. (The youngest kid will be 43 this year!!!)