Generally speaking, Atlantic City, New Jersey is a nationally famed resort and travel or vacation destination that offers gambling resorts, fine dining, quality hotels, shopping and a Boardwalk beach experience. It is well known that the street layout of Atlantic City provided the original inspiration for the classic board game Monopoly.
View of Atlantic City from Caesar's Pier with beach in foreground and Convention Center and Boardwalk hotels in the background.
In the Monopoly game, the ultimate goal is – building Atlantic City hotels. First players move pieces around the famous locations in old Atlantic City – the Boardwalk, Park Place, Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Avenue, Indiana Avenue, Illinois Avenue, Baltic Avenue and so on. Once three adjacent properties are owned, the player has a “monopoly” and can start building houses and ultimately the hotels. Much like the board game, this is the place to come and learn about the sights, flavors and of course hotels in Atlantic City.
Located on Absecon Island on the New Jersey shore of Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic City has an interesting history, which we discuss below, along with the old world charm of the Boardwalk, salt water taffy, and block after block of Atlantic City hotels and casinos both on the Boardwalk and the Marina area.
If you are planning a vacation in Atlantic City, New Jersey, you may be interested in learning more about the different Atlantic City hotel reservations options both for hotels on the Boardwalk, and in neighboring areas. Not just travel reviews, but reviews on the size, location, facilities the different Atlantic City hotels, casinos and resorts may be providing.
Location of Atlantic City
Atlantic City is situated near three major metropolitan areas. New York, Wilmington in Delaware, and Philadelphia are all close enough to make Atlantic City travel convenient for weekend visits to the hotels in Atlantic City. This proximity to major population centers and resort towns has always contributed to the resort town’s draw and appeal and every week thousands of cars and buses make the short trip from these cities to the Atlantic City hotels. Many make the trip for the Atlantic City resort and casino experience, but others for the amenities of the Boardwalk and beach. In addition, nearby are the Cape May and Wildwood New Jersey shore resorts are also located nearby. Many people choose to stay in one of those resorts, and may make side trips to the big Atlantic City casinos nearby either for gambling or other types of entertainment, such as shows, fine dining or the big buffet experience.
History of Atlantic City
Atlantic City has always benefited from its prime vacation location on a barrier island along the Atlantic Ocean on the New Jersey shore. It demonstrated itself to be an ideal target for real estate development as a resort destination as early as the 1800′s because of its proximity to population centers and its shoreline location. The very first of the Atlantic City Hotels commercially open to the public was constructed as early as 1853. Soon after that, a year later, the city became incorporated, and train service of the Camden Atlantic Railroad started operating. This train proved to be instrumental in building up the city’s resort reputation and following. It linked Atlantic City with Camden, NJ and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Around half a million visitors each year arrived in Atlantic City via rail by 1874.
The boardwalk was established as the leisure historic heart of the city and the main attraction, and continues to be a vacation draw.
The Atlantic City Boardwalk at Night
The first Atlantic City Boardwalk was constructed aside the beach in 1874. The idea was to keep sand out of the hotel owner’s lobbies. This worked so well and became so popular that the boardwalk began to be expanded and extended in subsequent years. Until the 1944 hurricane hit, the boardwalk reached a greatest length of seven full miles and ran all the way from Atlantic City through Ventnor, Margate, on to Longport.
Some larger Atlantic City hotels began to appear around 1878 as plans for the second and third railroads took shape. The Reading railroad and second Philadelphia-Atlantic City Railroad were built and brought in even more tourists to the beach resort on the Atlantic Ocean. This is when Atlantic City Hotels such as the Surf House and The United States began opening. An entire city block was occupied by the Untied States Hotel. Such early larger Atlantic City resorts proved to be more than just big for the times, they also contained what were considered good amenities, making them upper end resorts for the day.
For many residents and visitors, the golden age of Atlantic City travel and tourism was considered to be the 1920′s and 1930s. This is the era in which tourism reached a high point for the town. This was the time of prohibition, when technically speaking the sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal, but in restaurant and night club back rooms, gambling and liquor went hand in hand.
The HBO Series Boardwalk Empire is inspired by the glamor and intrigue of prohibition - era Atlantic City.
The Pre- Casino Atlantic City Hotels
Atlantic City resorts were built without casinos in the 1800′s and the first thirty years of the 1900′s. A lot of these famed Atlantic City hotels were constructed along the city’s boardwalk. Among the more famous of these were The Breakers, Madison House, Mayflower, Ritz Carlton, Ambassador, Shelburne, Chelsea, Brighton, Chalfonte House, Haddon House and Claridge. The 1930 opened Claridges proved to be the last of the pre casino major Atlantic City hotels to open for business. The Claridge ulitmately was converted to a casino hotel in the Atlantic City casino – hotel era later on.
Atlantic City Piers
The Atlantic City hotels are not the only tourist sites around the city. Atlantic City has a long history of amusement piers, in addition to the Boardwalk. The first one constructed was the Ocean Pier in 1882. Besides this, there are the Steel Pier from 1898 and the Million Dollar Pier from 1906. The Steel Pier is still opposite Trump Taj Mahal and operates as an amusement pier.
The Pier Shops at Caesars Atlantic City Hotel on the Old Million Dollar Pier, Actual Cost - $175 million
The Million dollar Pier hosts the Pier Shops at Caesars and so finds itself across from Caesars Casino. There is also the Garden Pier that is now the home of both an Arts Center and the Atlantic City Historical Society. Other piers, such as the Steeplechase Pier, were obliterated by the Hurricane of 1944.
There also are a number of amusement piers in Wildwood, on the New Jersey shore south of Atlantic City. Many vacationers and weekenders come stay in rentals or Wildwood hotels. There is the Woildwood beach, Wildwood boardwalk and all the rides on the amusement piers to enjoy. The nearby Atlantic City hotels and casinos also are available a short drive from Wildwood, and offer readily accessible night life and casino gambling.
Gambling is Legalized: The Atlantic City Casinos Arrive
Atlantic City Hotels and casinos began to revive after a long decline when gambling was legalized in the State of New Jersey in 1976. The city had been in decline since a punishing hurricane in 1944 and decades of urban decline and blight. As the casinos began opening, the Boardwalk once again was prime real estate, as Atlantic City hotel developers vied for control of choice parcels. Resorts International opened as the first legal casino hotel in AC, as well as in the Eastern half of the U.S. in 1978. Times have changed now with dozens if not hundreds more casinos and poker rooms in many other locations.
Following the opening of the Resorts International Hotel, a number of other casino hotels opened up in Atlantic City – first on the boardwalk and then the marina district. These have included three Trump branded properties, the Trump Taj Majal Casino Resort, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino, along with the Tropicana Casino and Resort, the Showboat Hotel and Casino, the Resorts Atlantic City, Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, Bally’s Atlantic City, and Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort.
Atlantic City Versus Las Vegas
There really is not a competition between Atlantic City and Las Vegas. They both are very different and at opposite ends of the United States. Atlantic City is on the Atlantic Ocean and one of its main attractions is its beach and coastal boardwalk. In contrast, Las Vegas is in the desert but still with grand resorts. Many of the resorts in Atlantic City also have branches in Las Vegas, such as Caesars and Harrah’s. Once casino gambling was introduced in Atlantic City, Atlantic City caught up a bit with Las Vegas. Still, Las Vegas has many more hotel rooms and a larger gambling rake. However, in terms of average casino size, Atlantic City features larger casinos than Las Vegas. The hotels tend to be larger in Las Vegas though.
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