Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

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The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is a luxury resort and casino located in the Marina District of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Opened on July 2, 2003, it was built at a reported cost of approximately $1.1 billion and represented the first new major casino construction in Atlantic City in over a decade. Owned and operated by MGM Resorts International since its full acquisition in August 2016, the Borgata is consistently among the highest-grossing casinos in New Jersey, generating more annual gaming revenue than any other property in Atlantic City for much of its operating history. When combined with online gaming and sports betting revenue tied to its New Jersey gaming license, the property has reported annual figures exceeding $700 million in peak years.

History

The Borgata emerged from a deliberate effort to reposition Atlantic City as a destination resort market rather than a day-trip gambling hub. By the late 1990s, the existing casino properties had aged considerably, and competition from newer gaming markets in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and along the Gulf Coast had begun drawing visitors away. Boyd Gaming Corporation and MGM Mirage (later renamed MGM Resorts International) formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop the project, with construction beginning in 2001 on a site in the Marina District that had long been set aside for resort development under New Jersey gaming regulations.

The resort opened on July 2, 2003, with observers noting that its design, amenities, and restaurant lineup were more consistent with Las Vegas Strip properties than anything previously built on the East Coast. The property attracted record visitation in its first months of operation and helped draw comparable investment to the surrounding Marina District.

In 2008, the Borgata expanded significantly with the opening of The Water Club, an adjacent 800-room boutique hotel tower positioned as a more intimate and design-forward complement to the main resort. The Water Club maintained its own pool facilities, spa amenities, and a separate hotel identity while sharing the broader resort's infrastructure. It was later rebranded as the BetMGM Hotel at Borgata following MGM's full acquisition of the property. The two towers together offer more than 2,000 guest rooms and suites.

In 2010, Boyd Gaming acquired MGM Mirage's 50% stake in the property for approximately $276 million, becoming the sole owner and operator. Boyd operated the Borgata independently until 2016, when MGM Resorts International acquired Boyd Gaming's 50% interest in the property for $900 million, taking full ownership and completing the transaction on August 1, 2016. Since the acquisition, the Borgata has been integrated into MGM's national gaming and hospitality network, including the launch of BetMGM sports betting and online casino operations tied to the property's New Jersey gaming license.

The property closed temporarily in March 2020 as part of New Jersey's statewide shutdown of casinos in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Atlantic City's casinos, including the Borgata, remained closed for roughly four months before a phased reopening began in July 2020, initially at reduced capacity and with restrictions on dining and entertainment programming. The closure and reduced-capacity period had a significant impact on the property's 2020 gaming revenue figures, though the Borgata still ranked among the top performers statewide even during that disrupted year.

Location and Setting

The Borgata occupies a 32-acre site within the Marina District of Atlantic City, a neighborhood developed separately from the city's historic Boardwalk casino corridor. The Marina District sits along the back bays of the Absecon Inlet and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway rather than on the ocean front, giving the area a distinctly different character from the Boardwalk properties. The district was designed from the outset to accommodate larger resort footprints with structured parking, marina access, and less pedestrian density than the Strip.

The resort's main tower rises 43 stories, and its architecture draws from warm Mediterranean influences, with earth-toned stone cladding, arched entryways, and landscaped exterior spaces. The property includes a marina with docking facilities capable of accommodating yachts and larger pleasure craft. Access by road is straightforward: the resort sits less than a mile from the junction of the Atlantic City Expressway and within easy reach of the Garden State Parkway, making it convenient for the large day-trip and weekend market from Philadelphia, New York, and northern New Jersey. Atlantic City International Airport (IATA: ACY) is located roughly 10 miles west of the resort and offers limited scheduled service as well as charter flights.

The BetMGM Hotel at Borgata tower, opened in 2008 as The Water Club, is connected to the main Borgata building by an enclosed walkway and shares the resort's amenity infrastructure while maintaining a separate identity aimed at a younger, design-conscious guest.

Gaming

The Borgata's casino floor covers approximately 161,000 square feet and is among the largest in New Jersey. It offers more than 3,100 slot machines and roughly 200 table games — including blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and craps — along with a dedicated poker room that has become one of the most recognized on the East Coast.

The Borgata Poker Open, held multiple times per year, is a major stop on the regional tournament circuit and has drawn fields of thousands of players, with prize pools reaching into the millions of dollars. The poker room itself runs cash games and tournaments year-round and is frequently cited as one of the better-run poker facilities outside of Las Vegas. In 2014, the property gained national attention when it was discovered that counterfeit clay poker chips had been introduced to its poker room, leading to an internal investigation and heightened chip-verification procedures across the property.

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

Dining and Entertainment

The Borgata's restaurant collection has been central to its identity since opening. The property brought several nationally recognized chefs to Atlantic City for the first time, helping establish the city as a credible dining destination rather than simply a gambling stop. Bobby Flay Steak, one of chef Bobby Flay's flagship restaurants, opened with the resort and remains one of its signature dining venues. Wolfgang Puck's American Grille operated at the property for a number of years and helped set the tone for the resort's culinary ambitions. The dining lineup spans casual eateries, grab-and-go options, and formal fine dining, with more than a dozen food and beverage outlets on the property in total.

The Borgata Event Center is an 11,000-seat performance and event venue that has hosted concerts, boxing matches, comedy shows, and major awards events since the resort opened. Acts ranging from Paul McCartney to Bruno Mars have performed there, and the room's sightlines and production capabilities are considered among the best on the East Coast outside of major arena markets. Smaller venues on the property, including the Music Box and several lounge spaces, provide nightly programming throughout the year.

The resort's Summer Social series, which returns annually, features a multi-week outdoor event program centered around the pool deck with live music, DJs, and food and beverage programming. The 2026 edition was announced by the resort in spring of that year as part of broader summer programming.

Spa and Wellness

The Spa at Borgata is a full-service facility spanning over 36,000 square feet and offering a range of treatments including Swedish and deep-tissue massage, body wraps, facials, and hydrotherapy. It operates as one of the larger day spa destinations in the region and is open to hotel guests and outside visitors alike. The spa includes sex-segregated relaxation areas with steam rooms, saunas, and whirlpool facilities, as well as a full-service salon offering hair, nail, and skin care services. A fitness center with cardiovascular and strength equipment is available to all hotel guests.

The BetMGM Hotel at Borgata tower has its own separate pool and fitness facilities, providing guests in that building an alternative to the main resort's amenity spaces. Together, the two towers give the property one of the more comprehensive wellness and recreation offerings among East Coast casino resorts.

Accommodations

The Borgata tower contains approximately 1,250 guest rooms and suites across its 43 floors, with rooms beginning above the resort's podium-level amenity spaces and offering views across the Marina District, the back bays, and — on higher floors — the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The BetMGM Hotel at Borgata adds approximately 800 rooms under a separate hotel brand within the same property. Room categories range from standard king and double-queen configurations to multi-room suites with butler service. The resort caters to both leisure travelers and business groups, with over 70,000 square feet of meeting and convention space that can accommodate large conferences, trade shows, and corporate events.

Economy

The Borgata is one of the largest private employers in Atlantic City and has been among the top-grossing casinos in New Jersey consistently since its opening. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reports gaming revenue figures for all Atlantic City properties on a monthly basis; Borgata has finished first or near the top of that ranking for most years of its operation, reporting annual gaming revenues that at various points have exceeded $700 million when combined with online gaming and sports betting.

The resort directly employs several thousand workers in departments including 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 spanning March 30 through April 2 to fill summer seasonal and full-time positions ahead of the summer tourism season, reflecting the resort's continued role as a major employer in the regional hospitality industry. The hiring push was reported as part of a broader surge in Atlantic City tourism ahead of the 2026 summer season.

Tax revenues generated by the Borgata flow to both Atlantic City municipal government and the state of New Jersey through the