At long last, Borgata is reopening in Atlantic City on July 26th after 132 days of closure. This decision has been made 24 days after casinos such as Hard Rock reopened. This property of MGM Resorts located in the Marina District is the last of the Atlantic City casinos to start receiving guests once again.
Earlier on March 16, Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey had ordered the casinos to be temporarily closed. The order was, however, lifted on July 2. Although restrictions were placed on indoor dining and casinos could operate at 25% capacity without serving food and beverage inside, Borgata casino chose to remain dark.
According to a statement passed by the casino in early June, their guests look forward to a special experience when they visit Borgata. If they fail to provide the expected quality of hospitality, it’s better to remain closed until things normalise.
However, Phil Murphy doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to lift the restrictions on casino dining and drinking, which has forced Borgata to reopen its best gaming property in Atlantic City on July 23. The opening, however, would be a soft one and only those who are invited will be able to visit the property. The general public will be able to enter the premises three days later.
It should be noted that no pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted by the governor since May this year. According to him, it might be some time before business activities can be resumed. “We’re going to be here a bit,” he said during a recent briefing on COVID-19.
Ever since America allowed resuming normal operations, the number of coronavirus cases has gone up. Of course, it can be also due to increased testing. Whatever be the cause, the governors have been put on high alert. Murphy has raised his concern regarding the rising cases in other states adding that his state has lived through hell. He confirmed that the state lost more than 13000 people and over 15000 if probable deaths are to be included.
The circumstances being such, indoor dining in casinos is likely to remain suspended for days to come. In response to the uncertainty, Borgata has prepared an outdoor beer and food truck garden for its guests whilst upholding social distancing norms. Food and beverage will be served poolside at the casino’s Water Club. Also, the outdoor dining area would be accessible by top members of the M life Rewards loyalty program.
According to MGM Resorts, around 40% of the pre-coronavirus staff of Borgata is likely to be called back to resume operations. Considering the fact that Borgata is one of the top revenue grosser land-based casinos in Atlantic City, this seems like a smart move. Of the $2.68 billion earned by the nine casinos of Atlantic City, Borgata alone won $709.5 million in 2019 (26.4% of the total revenue). Furthermore, with 822,046 occupied nights, the brand also sold the most hotel rooms at the costliest nightly rate of $171.73 in 2019.