Casino Reviews

Ballys Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City is located in a central area on the boardwalk. Just beside Michigan ave, you have the boardwalk to enjoy and the beach of course, and also the outlet stores. Just walk up Michigan ave away from the ocean 3 blocks, past the hospital and you will be in the middle of the outlet mall run by Tangiers. There are over 250 stores to shop in with all of the usual outlet stores selling their products. There is also  a Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subway if you are hungry or are just looking for less expensive food compared to the restaurants on the boardwalk or in the casinos.

We really liked the look of Bally’s, the casino and the hotel area. We decided to stay one night to check it out and discovered that it is part of the Harrah’s chain of Casinos. When we used our slot card, we were given a free room for the night. We still had to pay the $13 room tax and the $5 parking fee.

Avoid the Old Claridge Hotel Tower

Ballys has a tower and they also own the old Claridge hotel. This was not known to us when we checked in and although the room was free, they gave us a room in the Claridge tower which is really the Claridge Hotel.  It is very dated and decorated in a 60’s style, with a very small bathroom. We did have a corner view of the ocean and the boardwalk with a flat screen TV and a Coffee machine. It was not all bad, however we would not stay at Bally’s again if we had to stay in the Claridge tower in Atlantic city.

Bally’s has closed their buffet and refer patrons to Caesars Hotel, next door, which is also a Harrahs hotel. We ate instead at a restaurant called 6IX on the 6th floor which advertised all you could eat steak and crab legs for $29.99. Lot’s of food, more than we could handle since they also served a large salad and seafood pasta with it. It was great, but we would not go back, preferring to try another place next time.

It is also located on the boardwalk and has a fantastic beach area in front of the hotel. Refer to the picture. this was taken at low tide around noon as we strolled along the beach. A great day with lots of sunshine, little wind and great sand, what more could you ask for.

Ballys Casino and Hotel Atlantic City-Slot Machines

The casino is very modern and has all of the machines that everyone looks for these days, with the exception of keno machines. They have lots of poker machines with some keno as one of the games that you can play on the slot machine. There are probably in excess of 2000 slot machines at this casino.

Table Games

There are table games as well with all of the usual suspects.

Restaurants

There is no buffet at this hotel. They have closed it and now refer customers to Caesars buffet next door. There are a number of restaurants including a restaurant called 6ix which we enjoyed, had more than enough to eat and it was decent quality.

What We Liked

• Variety of slot machines
• Free drinks while gambling
• Hotel rates are very reasonable
• Covered garage parking
• Easy access from all highways
• Safe environment in the casino, hotel and parking areas
• Close to the outlet mall, 3 blocks away
• Check in and check out was quick

What We Did Not Like

We do not like the $5 / day parking charges and the $13 per day state taxes that all of the hotels are forced to charge their customers. We also did not like staying in the Claridge tower hotel. It really needs to be updated and it is a long way from the front desk.

Slot Player Card

They are part of the Harrahs slot players card system. Slot members can take advantage of benefits at many Las Vegas hotels,  as well as sister hotels in Tunica, Biloxi, Laughlin and Reno.

If you have not taken advantage of slot player cards, there are a number of benefits that many slot players should consider. Free or discounted rooms, email mailing list of promotions, free or discounted meals, access to entertainment, and a tax report outlining your losses and wins for tax claim purposes.

Parking

There is ample parking at the  Bally’s hotel & casino in a large parking garage beside the hotel. There is no surface parking that we observed. You can access the hotel from the garage via an elevator from all levels. The parking garage is also patrolled on a regular basis and it also protects your car from the weather.

Directions:

Getting to the hotel is pretty easy once you come off of the Atlantic City Expressway. There are lots of signs to direct you to either valet parking or self parking whichever you prefer.

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