Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is a luxury resort and casino in the Marina District of Atlantic City, New Jersey. It opened on July 2, 2003, after construction that cost roughly $1.1 billion. This was the first major casino built in Atlantic City in over a decade. MGM Resorts International has owned and run the property since August 2016 after fully acquiring it. The Borgata ranks among New Jersey's highest-earning casinos, often generating more annual gaming revenue than any other Atlantic City property. Combined with online gaming and sports betting tied to its license, the property has reported annual figures over $700 million in peak years.

History

Atlantic City needed a makeover. By the late 1990s, the city's aging casinos faced stiff competition from newer gaming markets in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and along the Gulf Coast. Visitors were leaving. The idea was simple: transform Atlantic City into a real resort destination, not just a place people drove to for the day and drove back home. Boyd Gaming Corporation and MGM Mirage (later MGM Resorts International) formed a 50-50 joint venture to build something fresh. Construction started in 2001 on a Marina District site that'd been reserved for resort development under New Jersey gaming rules.

Opening day came July 2, 2003. What struck people immediately was that this didn't look or feel like an Atlantic City casino. The design, the amenities, the restaurants: it was pure Las Vegas Strip, transplanted east. Visitors came in huge numbers those first months, and the success drew comparable investment to the surrounding Marina District.

The Water Club arrived in 2008. It was an 800-room boutique hotel tower positioned right next to the main resort, designed as something more intimate and design-focused. The Water Club had its own pools, spa, and separate identity but shared the broader resort's infrastructure. Following MGM's full acquisition, it was rebranded as the BetMGM Hotel at Borgata. Together, the two towers offer more than 2,000 guest rooms.

Things shifted in 2010. Boyd Gaming bought out MGM Mirage's stake for roughly $276 million and became sole owner and operator. For six years, Boyd ran the property independently. Then in 2016, MGM Resorts International acquired Boyd's 50% interest for $900 million, taking full ownership on August 1, 2016. Since then, the Borgata's been integrated into MGM's national network, including BetMGM sports betting and online casino operations tied to the property's New Jersey gaming license.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut casinos down in March 2020. Atlantic City's properties, including the Borgata, stayed closed for roughly four months before a phased reopening began in July 2020, at reduced capacity with restrictions on dining and entertainment. The closure hit 2020 gaming revenue hard, but even during that disrupted year the Borgata still ranked among the state's top performers.

Location and Setting

The Borgata sits on a 32-acre site in Atlantic City's Marina District, a neighborhood developed separately from the historic Boardwalk casino corridor. Rather than facing the ocean, the Marina District sits along the back bays and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, giving it a completely different feel from the Boardwalk properties. The district was built from the start to hold larger resorts with structured parking, marina access, and fewer pedestrians than the Strip.

The main tower rises 43 stories. Mediterranean influences show up in the warm-toned stone cladding, arched entryways, and landscaped spaces. A marina with docking facilities can take yachts and larger pleasure craft. Getting there's easy: less than a mile from where the Atlantic City Expressway meets the roads in, and close to the Garden State Parkway, so it's convenient for the day-trip crowd from Philadelphia, New York, and northern New Jersey. Atlantic City International Airport (IATA: ACY) sits roughly 10 miles west, offering limited scheduled service and charter flights.

The BetMGM Hotel at Borgata, which opened as The Water Club in 2008, connects to the main building via an enclosed walkway. It shares resort amenities but maintains a separate identity aimed at younger, design-conscious guests.

Gaming

The casino floor spans roughly 161,000 square feet, making it one of New Jersey's largest. You'll find more than 3,100 slot machines and around 200 table games: blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps. There's also a dedicated poker room that's become one of the East Coast's most recognizable.

The Borgata Poker Open runs multiple times a year. It's a major stop on the regional tournament circuit, drawing thousands of players with prize pools reaching into the millions. The poker room itself runs cash games and tournaments year-round and gets frequently cited as one of the better-run poker facilities outside Las Vegas. In 2014, something serious happened: counterfeit clay poker chips were discovered in the poker room. An internal investigation followed, along with heightened chip-verification procedures across the property.

New Jersey legalized internet casino games in 2013. The Borgata's online casino, later rebranded under BetMGM following MGM's acquisition, consistently ranks among the state's top-grossing online platforms. BetMGM Sportsbook operates a retail sportsbook at the property. New Jersey legalized mobile sports betting in 2018, and that's added a significant revenue stream tied to the Borgata's gaming license.

Dining and Entertainment

The restaurant collection's been core to the Borgata since day one. The property brought nationally recognized chefs to Atlantic City for the first time, changing how people thought about the city's food scene. Bobby Flay Steak, one of chef Bobby Flay's flagship restaurants, opened with the resort and remains a signature venue. Wolfgang Puck's American Grille operated here for years and helped set the culinary bar high. More than a dozen food and beverage outlets span everything from casual to fine dining.

The Borgata Event Center seats 11,000 and has hosted concerts, boxing, comedy, and major awards events since opening. Paul McCartney. Bruno Mars. Acts you'd expect to see in major arena markets. Sightlines and production capabilities rank among the best on the East Coast outside the largest cities. Smaller venues scattered throughout, including the Music Box and lounge spaces, offer nightly programming year-round.

The Summer Social returns annually. Multi-week outdoor events centered on the pool deck with live music, DJs, and food programming. The 2026 edition was announced in spring as part of broader summer programming.

Spa and Wellness

The Spa at Borgata spans over 36,000 square feet. Swedish massage, deep-tissue, body wraps, facials, hydrotherapy. It's one of the larger day spa destinations in the region and open to both hotel guests and outside visitors. Sex-segregated relaxation areas feature steam rooms, saunas, and whirlpools. There's also a full salon for hair, nails, and skin care, plus a fitness center with cardio and strength equipment available to all hotel guests.

The BetMGM Hotel at Borgata tower has separate pool and fitness facilities. Guests there get an alternative to the main resort's spaces. Combined, the two towers provide one of the most comprehensive wellness offerings among East Coast casino resorts.

Accommodations

The Borgata tower contains roughly 1,250 guest rooms and suites spread across 43 floors. Rooms start above the resort's podium-level amenities and offer views of the Marina District, the back bays, and on higher floors, the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The BetMGM Hotel adds approximately 800 rooms under a separate brand. Categories range from standard king and double-queen setups to multi-room suites with butler service. The property caters to both leisure and business travelers, with over 70,000 square feet of meeting and convention space for conferences, trade shows, and corporate events.

Economy

The Borgata stands as one of Atlantic City's largest private employers and one of New Jersey's top-earning casinos since opening. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement releases monthly gaming revenue figures for all Atlantic City properties. The Borgata finishes first or near the top consistently, reporting annual gaming revenues that have at various points exceeded $700 million when combined with online gaming and sports betting.

Several thousand workers depend on the resort for employment across gaming, hotel operations, food and beverage, spa and fitness, retail, and security. In March and April 2026, the Borgata held a multi-day hiring event from March 30 through April 2 to fill summer seasonal and full-time positions ahead of the tourism season, reflecting its ongoing role as a major employer in regional hospitality. This hiring push was part of a broader surge in Atlantic City tourism ahead of the 2026 summer season.

Tax revenues from the Borgata flow to both Atlantic City municipal government and the state of New Jersey.