Atlantic City: Cheap rooms

Cash grab is one way for Atlantic City's casinos to attract customers during the dead of winter

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff Writer


ATLANTIC CITY - Hotels.com lists room rates for the Atlantic City casinos that sound like a throwback to the 1970s.

At the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, rooms start at just $55. Not low enough? Then what about $44 per night at Harrah's Resort?

But the bargains get even better. Showboat Casino Hotel is offering a $39 rate. And the cheapest rooms can be found at Resorts Casino Hotel - a mere $31 a night.

Casinos are desperate to draw customers in the dead of winter. They have gone into survival mode, hoping that their sprawling gaming floors and soaring hotel towers do not go empty in January and February.

Casinos usually lay off workers in winter in response to lower business. In December, nearly 500 jobs were eliminated industrywide, dropping the total casino work force to 34,145, New Jersey Casino Control Commission employment statistics show.

December's casino revenue figures illustrate just how grim things can be for Atlantic City's 11 gaming halls in winter. Revenue generated by slot machines and table games plunged nearly 13 percent .... compared with the same month in 2009.