Atlantic City on a Budget!!

[brandiramirez]

What can you tell me about Atlantic City, I have never been before and want to go for my birthday at the end of May. I would so so so love tips about where to stay, eat, and what to do besides gamble. I'm really not much of a gambler. It would be a group of 6 of us, was planning on bidding on priceline for a room. Thanks for all the help!

 

[laurafergie]

Stay on the Boardwalk.

We stayed at the Chelsea for $49 a night booked on Orbitz (The Tower side NOT the Annex side) in the last week of December and walked across the street to the Tropicana. The Chelsea was a wonderful hotel, very slick and retro vibe going on.

Google Atlantic City coupons - there are lots. We did and did not pay full price for one meal or experience while we were there.

Sign up for the rewards cards at the casinos - for example, at the Trop there are TONS of coupons you can get with the reward card and they change every day.

Also wanted to mention that the fancy restaurants in the casinos midweek have Prix Fixe menus and you can get wonderful, gourmet meals for $30-40, for 3-4 courses. We have eaten at Max's at Trump Plaza twice this way. 3 courses for $35 a person. UNBELIEVABLE food, and the service is top notch.

 

[jx3smom]

There are a ton of places to shop in AC. The Walk is outlets and is really close to the Trump Plaza. There is also the pier with lots of restaurants like Philips Seafood.

 

[tomscarpt]

Try to avoid the weekends the price go threw the roof on the rooms.Harras has the best indoor pool .Right now a room is 70.00 on a weekday 250.00 plus on weekends.Also eat outside of the casinos its alot cheaper.Never found any deals on priceline better off with the atlantic city hotel.com sites or the casino's direct web page most of them have a (hot deal page for prices ) Be very carefull of off casino hotels in ac itself there are alot of dumps check trip advisor for reviews.Borgato and harrahs have the 2 best buffets but expensive the others are ok depending on how picky of a eater you are but we never had any problems.You can get a ton of info on Trip advisor under atlantic city forums tons of reviews and any question you could think of has been answered there.

 

[brandiramirez]

Thanks for the tip on Trip Advisor, never even been to that site before and it is such a great site. Thank you everybody else for the tips also!!!!!!

 

[Disneysun]

We stayed at a newish Courtyard Marriott that was nice. It is next to Resorts and Taj. Also, check out the Caesars Pier for good restaurants. They have Budakkahn, Continental and a few other good ones.

Trip Advisor is the best!

 

[tomscarpt]

http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/casinos/
Here is another link we use sometime you can get a great deal.One time we got free rooms for getting the players card only drawback was it was only good for the next visit.

 

[anotherdisneygal]

Stay in a casino or the Chelsea - I wouldn't use priceline for a party of 6, you can probably do better going through whichever place you want to stay in - AC has more than its fair share of dumps.

If you are on the boardwalk, you can walk to The Pier (fancy shops and upscale dining) or The Walk (Outlets). The boardwalk can be sketchy, but you can walk on it, just be aware of your surroundings.

If you stay at Harrahs (fantastic pool, Red Door Spa) or The Borgata (the newest casino, "vegasy"), you can either take a Jitney (small bus) for a few dollars to get over to the boardwalk or a shuttle (check your hotel).

In the Trop, there is also a little mall, with excellent places to eat (The Palm, Red Square, Cuba Libre, Carmine's). If you want to save a few dollars, The Palm has an amazing happy hour menu, check the Trop's website to find out more. The Trop also has an Imax thearter.

Happy early birthday!

 

[Sagginit]

try orbtiz/expedia before booking directly, i often find a better price on those websites, sometimes they even run specials for hotel rooms and you can get them a lot cheaper. keep in mind distance. if you stay at showboat for example a lot of stuff is a far walk and then you either end up spending an hour walking to another casino or getting a taxi. taxis are fairly cheap though but with six people you would need two. the distance between ballys/ceasars/trump in the middle is walkable to trop so i either stay at one in the middle or at the trop.

if you dont want to gamble the pier in ceasars has some upscale luxury shopping to average mall stores. they also have plenty of restaurants and its just nice area to walk around in. the outlets do not have parking but you can walk there from ballys/ceasars easily. dining deals can be found but there are perfectly reasonable restaurants too, in the trop most are very affordable i think. if you are going to drink many places have happy hour, the blue martini in ballys has a good one but they are not always open, philips seafood in the pier is always open and has a basic one. there is also ripley's believe it or not on the boardwalk and on occasion some casinos may have special shows or exhibitions for cheap. if you go on a weekday keep in mind not all bars/night clubs will be open so just do your research first, i find on average mon-thurs there is generally only one nightclub open each night.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Go to Restaurant.com for some good gc's for a few of the restaurants inside The Pier at Caesars. There is usually an 80% off code.

For buffets we like the one at the Will West in Ballys. We will be eating there Friday.

To pass time enjoy the walks from one of of the board walk to the others.. check out all of the casinos. Like others said, if you gamble make sure you get a rewards card. We are going for free this weekend.

We go a few times a year and I used to work for the former corporate company than owned Ballys, Ceasars, etc.

I see you said the end of May... prices will go WAY up for Memorial Day weekend. Try tyo go before than.

Also, check www.skyauction.com for rooms.

 

[DisneyDude61]

the casino's also have shows. You can check out each casino's website to see what they offer. Borgata has some funny comedy show's, and if you like the club scene they have mur mur and mixx,plus just the size and decor is worth checking out. harrahs has the pool
which is the pool for resort guests during the day, and then on certain nights is the dance club. I would try and get a decent rate at a casino, the hotels in AC can be very risky. at least the casino's have security and keep out the riff raft for the most part.
The walk has plenty of outlets, and is close to ceasars, ballys and trump plaza. u can park in one of those parking garages ( usually 5-10 unless its a holiday weekend )and its right there.
there are alot of nice resturants, it just depends on what you like and how much you want to spend.

 

[anotherdisneygal]

Oh - FYI - if you park in a casino garage and leave, make sure you get a receipt. You can use that receipt to park in another casino garage without paying again as long as you leave the second casino before 6AM. The attendants usually don't tell you that it pays to get a receipt.