In some casinos on the boardwalk, the gaming areas are quiet, and dealers stand idly behind roulette and poker tables. Borgata is on the other side of the city and represents Atlantic City's newfound glossiness. There's proper attention to treating people well, from the top of the management ladder down to the casino and restaurant personnel, and this sets the Borgata apart from others. Even those who have had a run of bad luck at the tables or slots walk away saying they had a very good time.
Just seven months after its stunning debut last summer, the shockeroo is that Borgata is already planning an expansion, via a $1.1 billion joint development venture with the Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage.
Winter months in Atlantic City may be slow, but at Borgata, buses carrying white haired slot players are ubiquitous. Entering the outsized reception area hung with stunning Dale Chihuly glass fixtures, those staying the night or the weekend are greeted by lines waiting to register for rooms. For the privileged, there is also a V.I.P. registry in the domed lounge, where two receptionists process the freshly arrived guest, Four Seasons fashion, and offer cold juices along with freshly baked delicacies from the kitchens of Master Baker Thadeus Dubois, one of the hotel's many Culinary Institute of America alumni.
On the occasion of an initial visit, neither the elaborate spa nor the swimming pool were in operation; both are now in full swing. The Spa Toccare, with separate female and male enclaves, may just be one of the most inviting on the East Coast. After disrobing, toga'd clientele relax in an ante room while watching television or reading glossy magazines and sipping a multiplicity of beverages, compliments of the spa. The Toccare Spa has saunas, steamrooms and two enormous whirlpools of varying degrees of heat in a large hide-away with subdued lighting. The order of the day is a variety of deep down massages and facials. Even the locker rooms are divided into V.I.P. and regular areas. Personnel have been trained to perfection, making even the Mr. Milktoast type feel less inhibited. Male masseurs are available, if desired.
Inez Ribustello, a master sommelier and Borgata's wine director, is an enchanting, petite North Carolinean with beguiling rebel patois to match. A tour of her cellars, including one with a cache of 14,000 bottles, is revealing, as are the wine lists created as a user-friendly, non-intimidating agenda. We'll drink to that.
For those nostalgic for what in former days was dubbed a "tonsorial parlor," the Borgata offers the ideal spot for a shave, haircut and shampoo. Or a nine ball in the corner pocket. This monument to masculinity offers anything from billiards to manicures, pedicures and a straight-razor close-up shave. Owned by Philadelphia's Sgarra family, it boasts large mirrors, hydraulic chairs and an atmosphere that for many men has become a holy ground. Michael Sgarra is an evangelist, or guru, doling out comfort and guidance with advice about shaving creams and shampoos to avoid. Lying in a horizontal position in his barber chair, one cannot help but recall, with unnecessary degree of alarm, the Barber of Fleet Street, London's Sweeney Todd, who invited his enemies to his second floor establishment and while shaving them slit their throats, then dispatched them to the butcher shop below. Sgarra, a master of his profession, leaves a guest with the smoothest and closest shave of their lives. There is little reason for anxiety.
Though restaurants, bars and office buildings bar smoking, there is one haven of liberty left. It is the gambling casino, but with a difference: Giant fans scoop out all the second hand smoke, keeping the nicotine crowd happy and non-smokers relieved.
If there is any larceny in a man or woman, staying at a hotel with a gambling focus will bring it out. In its marbled bathrooms, Borgata has discreetly placed small signs quoting an old proverb: "You can't take it with you," adding, "but if you do, we will charge it to your credit card."
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