February 21-26, 2005

Stayed with my fiancee on the eighth floor of the Claridge Hotel in the Bally's Hotel complex. Also located on the eighth floor is a small yet beautiful pool and spa free for hotel guests, yet undiscovered by most.
Claridge room had an ocean and boardwalk view, comfortable King bed, nice furniture and television, overall very nice! We also used the pool and jacuzzis at bally's at no charge, which I must tell you are just magnificent!

There is also a fantastic show called 'Legends' in the Claridge Nightclub,
at $20 a ticket no two shows are alike as they change the performers,
but I must tell you the Elvis impersonator, James Lafferty, is absolutely fantastic! For the price, this show is a steal. If you are staying at Bally's, see this show, which is offered twice a day.

There are alot of nice restaurants and bars, in particular the Blue Martini Bar at Bally's is nice in the evening. Pickle's is a nice deli towards the back of Bally's. Gold Rush Restaurant in the Wild Wild West portion of the casino
has very good food. I would recommend trying all of the different restaurants, rather than taking a package which limits you to one menu at one restaurant. We did this and found we were happier eating at different places for diversity's sake.

Please note: There is a connecting tunnel off the second floor of Claridge to the Sands, although there are no signs. The Atlantic City boardwalk is beautiful, but you will have to walk two blocks outside to reach it. When you come back, and an automatic treadmill 'tunnel' on the boardwalk will bring you back to Claridge casino.

I don't gamble, and for the curious the Atlantic City Historical Museum, north of the boardwalk (walk to the boardwalk out of the Claridge and turn left, far north) about five boardwalk blocks has free admission. There is also Abescon Lighthouse nearby ($5 per person, and you walk up ten flights of stairs to a great view). To the right on the boardwalk from Claridge is the unique Rainforest cafe. Take the number 3 Jitney bus at $1.50 per person in front of Bally's to visit the Borgata-which has a five star buffet. Take the number 1 Jitney bus in front of Bally's south to the Tropicana's new Latin Quarter shopping area-with music, restaurants, and shops. Go left on the Boardwalk for Ripley's Museum-admission costs abit, but this is great for kids. Go two blocks straight out the front entrance of Bally's to 'The Walk' shopping center and complex, consisting of several blocks of all kinds of stores for your lady-there is also a reasonable IHOP
restaurant there as well close to the Claridge-Bally's complex.

Claridge seems more serene than Bally's and Caesar's, probably because there are more day buses coming in with crowds of people. Claridge gets five stars, because the maid service and the hospitality is fantastic.
Clearly, Caesar's management has surrounded its facility with good people, and that counts for something. The boardwalk air makes you feel good when you breathe it-clearly Atlantic City's sights outside the hotel you are staying can be best enjoyed when the weather is warmer-Bally's would be described as 'the center of the action' for the all-inclusive types.

Yuk! Have gambled here on occasion but never stayed here! Now I know why. I had a room reserved at Bally's, but they overbooked due to a boxing match. I was put in the Claridge Tower. Never again! The rooms were old, threadbare and TINY! The bathroom was so small my husband (a normal sized person!) could barely squeeze in. The window was dirty, which helped to block the view of a filthy rooftop covered with trash and broken items. The room, hallway and elevators reeked of smoke. Even through the room was comped it was an insult to be put there. I will NEVER stay in the Claridge again, and I haven't yet forgiven Bally's for sticking us there. It was not worth the drive to AC - believe me stay elsewhere!

My Husband and I stayed at Bally's two nights in December 2003. Between Christmas and New yrs. We had a comfortable room with a King bed, small fridge and safe. I liked being able to leave my coat in the room and walk from casino to casino and not go outside. We never got back in our car until we checked out. We saw a great comedy show at the IMPROV at the Rivera. We just walked up the boardwalk. The spa Bally's was fantastic, my husband had a terriffic massage, and I enjoyed a wonderful facial at the salon. The prices were reasonable and we had no trouble scheduling appointments. The fitness facitlity is well appointed and only $10 per person per day unless you use a spa service, then it is included in the price.

ON the down side, check in was very slow. We arrived well before the 3:00 check in and were able to reserve a room and check our bags, later all we had to do was get in line for a key, and retrieve our bags. This still took some 20 minutes, but far faster than those standing in the very long check in lines late in the afternoon.

Unfortunately me and some of my girlfriend planned a ladies week at Bally's not knowing that some of the employees were on strike. We asked for adjorning rooms and did not get, but we were assured at the front desk that they were adjourning only to get up stair and realize that we were across the hall from one another. The Hall smelled of smoke, most of the eating places were closed. Our room was nice and our spa experience was nice but I would advise anyone traveling to Bally's right now to wait until the strike is over so that you can receive the full experience of what they have to offer.