ATLANTIC CITY - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa served more than 60,000 meals to its guests during New Year's Eve weekend. All that food was washed down with 3,230 glasses of champagne.
In other words, the Atlantic City casinos, like their customers, finally had something to celebrate in the bad economy as New Year's Eve proved to be every bit the
Some hotels were booked solid, concerts and clubs were sold out, parties were jam-packed and crowds surged on the gaming floors.
"It was filled to the rafters," said Bob Griffin, chief executive officer of the three casinos owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.
Griffin's comments were echoed by other casino executives.
"New Year's Eve proved to be very successful. Our gaming and nongaming revenues were very strong, the crowds were larger than anticipated and our restaurants and showroom were sold out," said Mark Giannantonio, president and CEO of Tropicana Casino and Resort, who added the Tropicana had record-breaking business in its restaurants. "It was wonderful to see the volume of patrons more reminiscent of a few years ago."
Giannantonio and other gaming officials said they are hopeful the booming holiday will be a sign of things to come in 2011, following four straight years of plunging casino revenue in the economic meltdown.
"It was definitely a great weekend and a great way to kick off 2011," said Courtney Birmingham, a spokeswoman for Resorts Casino Hotel. "I think that when you start off strong, it definitely propels you forward."
The new owners of Resorts had only three weeks to prepare for what is traditionally the biggest holiday on the casino calendar. Gaming executive Dennis Gomes and New York real estate magnate Morris Bailey bought the financially troubled Resorts on Dec. 7 for $31.5 million and used the New Year's Eve celebration to unveil their new Roaring '20s theme for Atlantic City's oldest casino.
"Everyone came. It was a great party," Birmingham said, noting that Resorts' hotel rooms and parties were sold out. "It was definitely a fantastic start for what is sure to be a grand 2011 for the new Resorts."
Casinos were able to recover from the Dec. 26 blizzard that smothered Atlantic City in more than 20 inches of snow.
"The week started rather slow with the snowstorm. But I think people were anxious to get out of the house, have a great time and say goodbye to 2010," said Jennifer Weissman, regional vice president of marketing for Caesars Entertainment Corp.
Caesars Entertainment, owner of Bally's Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah's Resort and Showboat Casino-Hotel, staged New Year's Eve concerts by rock band Maroon 5, pop songstress Sarah McLachlan and blues legend B.B. King to draw big crowds.
"We saw great hotel occupancy, great attendance in the casinos and terrific attendance at the restaurants and parties," Weissman said. "It was a large volume of people having a great time and enjoying themselves."
Borgata released a series of statistics to illustrate just how busy it was over the New Year's Eve weekend at Atlantic City's top-grossing casino. Among them, Borgata parked more than 25,000 cars and used more than 79,000 bath towels in its guest rooms. Borgata's 60,000 meals included 1,350 pounds of shrimp, 4,300 pounds of lobster, 21,250 clams, 600 pounds of lamb racks, 1,400 pounds of prime filet and more than 400 pounds of veal.
"We were very excited and very pleased with the whole New Year's Eve weekend," said Dave Coskey, Borgata's vice president of marketing. "We were sold out with our hotels, entertainment and nightlife."
Griffin said hotel rooms and parties were also booked at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and Trump Marina Hotel Casino. At one point on New Year's Eve, Trump had to shut off traffic to its valet service because of the holiday throngs, he added.
Despite all the revelry, Griffin noted that spending is still not up to pre-recession levels. Casinos have been squeezed by the weak economy, with customers cutting back on their discretionary spending for gambling flings.
"It's a good indication that people will come to Atlantic City when something is offered in town - that hotel rooms and large entertainment venues really do matter," Griffin said of the New Year's Eve festivities. "The question is whether or not gamers will loosen their wallets like the pre-recession."
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