Did You Know This About The Borgata In Atlantic City?
The Borgata, without a doubt, is Atlantic City’s finest Casino/Hotel-Resorts. It’s done to Atlantic City what the Mirage did to Las Vegas in the 80’s - revived it from being more or less a gambling town to the status of an international destination for vacationers and gaming enthusiasts alike. Borgata means “a little village” in Italian. Borgata has quickly risen to its status as the backbone of the Atlantic City casino industry. Borgata aimed to bring the luxury “packaged entertainment” concept from Las Vegas to Atlantic City and boy, did they do a good job at it!
Borgata hotel and spa opened its doors to the public on the second day of the month of July in the year 2003. That’s not very long ago, you’re right, but quite a bit has happened at Atlantic City in these five-odd years. This world class hotel is co-owned by Boyd gaming and MGM Mirage - another first of its kind, a collaboration rare in the Gaming or any other industry for that matter. The project of Borgata hotel and spa was also considered to be a Tunnel project in the year 1999 because Steve Wynn (yep, the guy that’s credited with making Las Vegas what it is today, and the owner of the hugely successful Wynn and Encore Resort in Las Vegas) wanted to connect the Atlantic City expressway of around 4 kilometers directly to the resort. This tunnel would bring in direct traffic to the Marina Bay where the Borgata is located. This tunnel never saw daylight though, plagued by controversies and lawsuites. Donald Trump sued Wynn suggesting that Wynn was using the tunnel as a driveway to his casino. Despite those setbacks, Borgata opened amidst great hope of a new era of success at Atlantic City.
Fastforward a few years, today, the Borgata is the fastest growing casino in Atlantic City with more customers and revenue going its way than any other casino. It has the largest Poker room in Atlantic City, which was created in 2006 where the major World Poker Tour is organized. Its spa is by far, the best in Atlantic City, attracting people from nearby states including New Yorkers, in large numbers. Several new projects are in place as well - some details are on their Wikipedia page here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgata
The Borgata, like any other successful operation in the Casino business, has seen its share of controversies and issues. In 2005 they issued a policy recommending that the Hotel authorities fire any cocktail waitresses who gained weight which is more than 7% of their body weight and don’t lose the excess weight within ninety days. Newspapers and tabloids took a generous stab at the Borgata for harrassing their employees. Borgata booked twenty three people on 14th November for their alleged involvement in the illegal sports gambling ring that was run out of their poker room. After proper investigation it was discovered that out of the twenty three people booked, six were employees of Borgata and four people were known mob associates. Not a good thing for a leading casino to boast about!
Despite these controversies, the Borgata Hotel and Spa has managed to stay ahead in the Casino race and their Poker events are still a classic. With the recession hitting Atlantic City big time in 2008, Borgata is among those few casinos that’s still standing tall and holding it’s own.
Image Courtesy Of www.wgyates.com/project_view.asp?d=5&p=54
Atlantic City has definitely changed for the better with the addition of the Borgata and the transformation of the boardwalk. Time for a road trip!