They mentioned the “long distance between the casino floor and the hotel’s front desk, a casino floor that fails to engage gamblers, and vast empty spaces that make Revel expensive to heat and cool.”Īnd Alan R. These sentiments were echoed by industry experts who spoke to the Inquirerin June. “The enormous cost of the property, its vast size and its peculiar configuration-patrons had to ride a steep escalator from the lobby to get to the casino, the 57-story hotel and the restaurants-made it difficult to turn a profit,” reported the New York Times. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently noted that Atlantic City, which had been the nation’s second-largest gambling market ranking just behind Nevada, has now fallen behind Pennsylvania.īut in terms of Revel, specifically, its design may have been its fatal flaw. These closings reflect Atlantic City’s challenge to stay relevant amongst more competition. Revel’s huge cost, and its very short lifespan, has unsurprisingly received lots of attention, but its closing is just the latest sign of trouble in Atlantic City-the Showboat will close on August 31st, Trump Plaza calls it quits on September 16th, and the Atlantic Club shuttered in January. The casino will close the day after, which will put over 3,000 people out of work. That date has already been moved up-the hotel will now close on September 1st, Labor Day. The casino’s parent company recently announced that they weren’t able to find a buyer for the bankrupt complex and that Revel’s last day would be September 10th. In its short two-and-a-half year lifespan, the casino never turned a profit. “I am really hoping that we are successful.” In mid-August, we learned that they were not. “It’s more of an urban development plan than a typical casino plan,” Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis told AN. At the time, the glassy $2.4 billion complex, designed by Arquitectonica and BLT Architects, was expected to be a transformative property for the iconic boardwalk that offered gambling, convention space, and entertainment. Two years ago, AN visited the newly-opened Revel Casino in Atlantic City.

The revel casino in atlantic city