MGM


Welcome to Atlantic City!

The famous sign on the Atlantic City Expressway has been revamped to match one of the largest on-going city remodeling projects on the east coast. More than just remodeling, Atlantic City, New Jersey, has seen more new construction in the last five to ten years than any city on the eastern seaboard save the Big Apple itself, New York.

Long gone is the dingy Atlantic City of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Today’s Atlantic City is a great mix of new and nostalgic. Returning to its first half of the century roots as one of the county’s premiere seaside resorts in the country, and the redesigning of almost every single casino in town, Atlantic City, New Jersey, is seeing a renaissance like never before. While the classic Boardwalk Hall is still alive and well, the new, state of the art, Atlantic City Convention Center is garnering rave reviews. So impressive is the new convention center, conventions historically held in Philadelphia, New York, and even as far as Baltimore and Washington D.C. are moving to Atlantic City. With the new, gorgeous, Sheraton hotel built directly across the street, conventioning in Atlantic City becomes easier than any larger city. Guests can literally walk 50 feet from their hotel to the convention center. All of this for only a fraction of what convention space, and hotel rooms, cost in New York or Philadelphia.

Another of one of the many great new improvements to Atlantic City has been the Walk. The Walk is an area the size of several city blocks dedicated to dinning and shopping. Perfectly located between the new convention center and the boardwalk, just passing through the Walk to get to the beach, boardwalk, or casinos is quite a pleasure. Not only are the sidewalks kept meticulously clean, but they feature landscaped greenery and trees, and even a photographic history of all the Miss America winners through-out the years. And then there’s the shopping! The Walk features more than 80 outlets offering something for everyone. From Nike and Timberland, to Brooke Brothers and Liz Claiborne, to book stores and gift stores, the Walk is a shopper’s paradise. And don’t forget the food. From a 50’s style diner, to Ruth Chris, the selection of places to eat in the Walk is almost as numerous as the shopping.

The casinos in Atlantic City, now numbering a dozen, have also undergone massive remodeling and expansion projects in the last few years. Harrah’s and The Borgata have both opened new hotel towers in the Spring of 2008, more than doubling their hotel rooms. The Borgata, as only the Borgata does, opened its new expansion, the Water Club, with amenities never before seen in Atlantic City. Indoor pools high above the city below, spas, steam-rooms, massages and more all make the new Water Club the most luxurious place to stay in Atlantic City. The Tropicana has also opened a superb expansion it calls The Quarter. A large sprawling indoor complex designed to look like the French Quarter in New Orleans; The Quarter offers great food and fun. Mario’s the Italian restaurant, Cuba Libre the Cuban restaurant and dance hall, Red Square Russian restaurant and vodka bar, Ri-Ra’s Irish pub with live music, numerous clubs, sports bars, and even an always hip karaoke bar with zebra pattern couches. The Quarter gets the ultimate seal of approval for not just vacationers and business travelers play there, but even with the locals The Quarter is considered a great place to meet up and have fun.

The new Atlantic City is easy to go on and on about. The dining options have vastly expanded, and so has the entertainment. The new pier mall on the boardwalk with its shopping, restaurants and 3 story water fountain extravaganza complete with music and light show makes even window shopping applaudingly fun. Of course there’s the world famous boardwalk, and beach, which is looking sharper than ever before. And all of this is just the opening number in the new Atlantic City, New Jersey, with whole host of new projects planned from the Hard Rock Casino, Four Seasons seaside spa and resort, the Pinnacle luxury casino, and MGM’s new mega-resort which will be the largest on the east coast.

Yes, Atlantic City is new and improved and unlike anything else you’ve seen. With the entertainment, shopping, eating, casinos, beach and boardwalk, all painstakingly revamped, Atlantic City is quickly becoming one of the hottest and most relaxing vacation spots in the entire country.

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MGM Mirage Inc. plans to build a mega-casino resort worth up to $5 billion that will dwarf anything Atlantic City has seen before, the company said Wednesday.

The move is part of an ongoing gamble by casino operators to polish Atlantic City’s image and attract upscale customers who want to do more than just bet money.

The project, which will be called MGM Grand Atlantic City, will cost between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, not including the land value and associated expenses, the company said in a statement.

It will be built on a 72-acre site at Renaissance Pointe that MGM owns, next to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which the company co-owns with Boyd Gaming Corp.

“We … hope to re-energize the city’s resort offerings and attract a new market of affluent East Coast customers,” said Terry Lanni, MGM’s chairman and CEO of the casino operator. “We believe the success at Borgata demonstrates the eagerness for further evolution of the nation’s second-largest gaming market.”

The project will consist of three hotel towers with more than 3,000 rooms and suites.

It will feature the largest casino floor in Atlantic City, with 5,000 slot machines, 200 table games and a large poker room, a 1,500-seat theater, as well as restaurants, nightclubs, a spa, 500,000 square feet of retail space, and a convention center.

The city’s 11 casinos have invested billions of dollars to attract more upscale visitors who are drawn by entertainment, dining and shopping options, as opposed to day-trip gamblers who ride a bus into the city, play for a few hours, then go home.

“It’s a very exciting project that is another step in Atlantic City’s evolution to a full-scale destination resort, which is critical given the competition we currently face,” said Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey.

Atlantic City’s casinos are being hurt this year by slots parlors in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York which are siphoning off gamblers that were once Atlantic City’s exclusive customers.

Atlantic City’s gambling revenue fell 4 percent from the start of the year through August, compared with the same period last year. It may mark the first annual revenue decline in the city’s 29-year history of gambling.

MGM plans to build on about 60 acres of the site, setting 12 aside for future development, which may include a residential component. That is the same model the Borgata used when it opened in 2003. It is currently building a second hotel tower called The Water Club, which is expected to open before next summer.

Ground breaking is expected next year, with an anticipated opening in 2012.

MGM’s stock dipped 68 cents to $99.07 in early trading, but the drop follows a recent run-up in the shares from $84 at the beginning of September.

Analysts were pleased with the news.

“It is a bet on what Atlantic City can become, not on what it is right now,” said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Robert LaFleur. “We are long-term believers that the market can transition from a predominantly day tripper market to more of a Las Vegas overnight destination.”

Several analysts speculated MGM Mirage might take on a joint venture partner such as Dubai World, which recently announced it would take a 4.9 percent stake in the company and invest billions in joint ventures in MGM Mirage projects on the Las Vegas Strip.

Associated Press Writers Ryan Nakashima in Las Vegas and Michelle Chapman in New York contributed to this report.

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A&C Transport, car service and airport transportation, provides private sedan car services for all occassions. Whether it’s conventions, vacations, business meetings, casino and beach trips, just to name a few, A&C Transport’s transportation services can meet your ground transportation needs in style. We are happy to provide airport transportation to and from airports in New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York.

We are your number one choice for executive, corporate, and airport car services. Our professional car hire service uses only luxury sedans at affordable prices. A&C Transport’s experienced chauffeurs will ensure a comfortable experience to and from your travel destinations. Our knowledgeable drivers are well versed in the area’s local resort attractions, restaurants, convention centers, entertainment spots, hotels, Atlantic City casinos and more. They are happy to answer any questions, comments or make suggestions at your request.

Book your next car trip with A&C Transport, car service and airport transportation, to make sure you get where you are going on time, in comfort and with assurance that you are riding with the most dependable car service in the New Jersey area.

While not first in many people’s minds’ as a vacation, or ‘to visit’ destination, New Jersey’s $32 billion tourism industry is one of the best in the nation. In part driven by it’s approximately 130 miles of pristine shoreline, renowned internationally as the Jersey Shore, New Jersey has a rich diversity of things to do and places to visit. From the sea-side gambling mecca of Atlantic City, to the Travel Channel’s pick of the best family vacation town in the nation three years running, Ocean City, New Jersey constantly surprises vacationers and business travelers alike as a place like no other.

New Jersey’s a geographically diverse state unlike any other. It’s one of the few states where some of the nation’s best beaches are just a couple hours drive away from award winning winter ski resorts. Sunset Beach in Cape May is one of only a handful in the country where sunrises can be seen in the morning on the eastern beach, and sunsets seen at night on the western beach. New Jersey’s home not only to the HBO hit show the Sopranos, but did you know it’s also the home of the nation’s first beach resort (Cape May), half of all the revolutionary war battles, the first college football game ever (Rutgers beat Princeton) and the statue of Liberty?

If you’re planning a vacation, business trip, or just a week-end getaway, consider New Jersey for its 13 casinos, wild wolf preserve, 130 miles of gorgeous beaches, both winter and summer skiing, nation-wide largest collection of Victorian Era B&Bs, historical landmarks ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the museums of George Washington and Thomas Edison, and world’s greatest collection of beach boardwalks, just for starters.