Harrah's Atlantic City

Harrah's Resort Atlantic City is a hotel and casino, located in the marina district of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and is Harrah's flagship casino.

The casino is one of three in the marina district of the city, along with the Borgata and the Golden Nugget. Harrah's was the first to be located in the district and remained the only resort there until Trump's Castle was opened in 1985.

History

Harrah's Atlantic City was conceived, and initial construction started, by a partnership of LM Walters Co and Holiday Inns. It was originally to be named the "Holiday Inn Marina Casino". Holiday Inns purchased Harrah's Corporation, following the death of Harrah's founder Bill Harrah, during construction of the facility. Though Bill Harrah did not participate in the new casino's development, the facility was re-branded "Harrah's Marina" prior to opening. The new casino was located in the marina district - the first casino in Atlantic City not located on the famous boardwalk.

Harrah's opened on Saturday November 22, 1980 with a 506-room hotel tower, now known as the Harbour Tower, and became the top-grossing casino in the city. In 1986, Harrah's opened the new all-suite Atrium Tower, due to the complex's popularity and the opening of Trump's Castle across the road. Another expansion occurred in 1997 with the opening of the Marina Tower. The Harbour, Atrium, and Marina towers each stand at 16 stories tall, and the Atrium Tower is connected to the Harbour and Marina towers by hallways on each floor. In 2002, the 25-story Bayview Tower opened, along with expanded gaming space.

The Waterfront Tower opened in 2008, along with a new pool and a spa, to better compete with the nearby Borgata, which opened in 2003. The hotel tower is Atlantic City's second tallest building, at 525 feet. At night, the entire surface of the tower displays varying digital images. On a square footage basis, this installation is believed to be the largest exterior LED display surface in the world.

Restaurants

Harrah's features a variety of restaurants:

Fine Dining

• Dos Caminos
• Luke Palladino (now closed)
• Martorano's
• McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant

Casual Dining

• Bill's Bar and Burger
• Cafe Tazza
• Taste of the Shore Food Court
• Sammy D's
• Waterfront Buffet

Entertainment

The 800-seat Broadway-By-The-Bay Theater opened New Year's Eve 1980 with Debbie Reynolds and Jay Leno. The room featured many of the staples of Harrah's properties in Reno and Lake Tahoe including Sammy Davis, Jr., Andy Williams, The Oak Ridge Boys, Marilyn McCoo, Shecky Greene and Suzanne Somers. In 2007, the room was remodeled to feature theater-style seating and 400 seats were added. The 1200-seat theater was renamed The Concert Venue. Recent headliners have included Ron White, Penn & Teller and Patti LaBelle.

Shopping

The Waterfront Shops at Harrah's holds a small collection of stores:

• Destinations
• Park Place Jewelers
• Studio
• Studio Shoes
• Swatch
• Top Drawer

Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa

The Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa is a state-of-the-art spa located next to the domed pool in the new expansion of the resort. It consists of 23 treatment rooms, jacuzzi and sauna rooms, and a cafe.

Gaming

Harrah's has 177,000 sq ft (16,400 m²) of gaming space, with 2,722 slot and video poker machines and 139 table games. The poker room has 40 tables, and hosts an annual World Series of Poker event.

Poker Room â€" Harrah's Atlantic City features 40 poker tables open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The room offers mainly low limit cards games. Most big limit poker players tend to play at The Borgata. They host a number of tournaments every year, including a WSOP circuit event and some WPT tournaments as well.

The Pool at Harrah's

The new pool at Harrah's is located under a large glass dome and is surrounded by palm trees and other plants. The pool, due to the landscaping and warm temperature year-round, has become a very popular destination in the city. It has an age limit of 21, and guests under 21 can use the family pool on the opposite side of the resort. On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday Night's, The Pool is transformed into 'The Pool After Dark' offering live DJ music and VIP Bottle Service.

Transportation

Harrah's has a bus service, The Total Rewards Shuttle, which takes hotel guests and Total Rewards members to Caesars Atlantic City and Bally's Atlantic City, the other Caesars Entertainment properties in Atlantic City.

Harrah's Atlantic City is also accessible via the Brigantine Connector and is serviced by Route 2 and 3 of the Atlantic City Jitney Association.

The Casino is also accessible by rail via the free jitney buses to and from the Atlantic City Rail Terminal (NJ Transit Atlantic City Line).

Also accessible by NJ Transit Bus #501.

The casino offers air charter service via Republic Airlines to Atlantic City International Airport from many cities across the East coast with hotel packages.

See also

• Gambling in New Jersey
• List of tallest buildings in Atlantic City

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Harrah's Media Website