I was hoping those bad reviews about Caesar's were not true, but much to my disappointment, all the complaints raised in my fellow travelers' reviews ARE true...

My husband and I wanted to treat my mom to a trip to Atlantic City for her 86th birthday. We have been taking her and my mother-in-law to Caesars for the past ten years and this was the first year there would only be 3 of us instead of 4 and we really wanted my mom to have a great time. During all of our 10 years' worth of visits we always reserved a handicapped room never had any problem getting one.

My husband called two months in advance to make the reservation and at that time we requested a handicapped room because my mom needs bathroom assistance (i.e. shower, bars around the toilet area) and we were assured that our needs would be met. I called back twice before the trip just to make sure that the reservation indicated that we had a reserved a handicapped room and was assured that we did. When we checked in I again asked for a handicapped room and again was assured that we did (and that we had a lovely view). Our room was not ready, (at 3:30) and we had to wait until 5:30 to check in (we never waited this long to get into our room before). Bottom line: our room was very nice, the view ok [we could see the Borgata] but it was NOT a handicapped room. When I called the front desk I was told that it had a bar in the shower (which it did, but that really didn't address my mom's needs). I was told we could not be moved because the hotel was oversold (a common problem of late I am seeing from the reviews). I said that we could work around it if they could provide me with a hand-held shower nozzel and a handicapped toilet seat. I got the toilet seat (without a bowel -- I won't go into it, but the whole bathroom experience was disgusting) and they couldn't change the shower head for me. When I called down to housekeeping, I said I could work around that, too, but could I please have a shower cap for my mom to wear. I know you readers won't believe this, but I was told that the hotel didn't have any shower caps. I incredulously asked that in the whole hotel they didn't have any shower caps, and they said there was not one to be had. I again called the front desk and they, too, were surprised that the hotel didn't have any shower caps, but "if they didn't , they didn't." At this point I just gave up in frustration (but magically, somehow, somewhere, they actually were able to find me TWO lone shower caps left in the whole hotel...). The next morning I spoke with the front desk manager who insisted that they were doing their best to help me (but she only succeeded in making me feel unwelcome, a nuisance, and I felt like I was "swimming in mud"). She did, however, leave me a message late that same day (the second day of our stay) indicating that she was holding a handicapped room down the hall if we wanted to pack up and move again (we didn't). However, at 1:55 A.M. the next morning (the third day of our stay) we got a call from someone asking if we were using both rooms. I told her no, we had not changed rooms and were staying in the original room.

The rest of the stay was uneventful (after I quit complaining and just coped with all the inconveniences) but all the frustration made the trip seem a little "off." As we reviewed our bill online we discovered that we were charged for BOTH the room we had reserved AND the room they had put aside for us on the second day. To the credit of the women we dealt with on this issue, she was both pleasant and accommodating and deducted the second room from the bill without any question. Bottom line: if you don't mind a not-so-helpful staff, feeling unwanted and frustrated, stay here. Otherwise, I would suggest looking for a non-Harrah's hotel. (The Tropicana is looking good to us right about now!)

I hope that someone from Harrah's management reads this because the underlying message of this review is that sometimes it is your EMPLOYEES that will make the difference in someone's opinion of your establishment and I think these management people are forgetting that empires are not only made -- but also collapse -- one dissatified guest at a time.

First of all, I have been to most of the boardwalk casino hotels and Borgata's which is off the boardwalk. Of the casino's I have been to, most of them I have rented a room there. The room at Caesar's was very nice and clean. The bed was wonderful! It was in the Temple South. However, there were two people staying in our room and they only gave enough toiletries for one person. Another thing I found to my disliking was that people left plates of food they were finished outside their doors with from room service. The food is usually brought on a roll away cart and should be put outside on the roll away cart. Obviously, they are not leaving the cart there. When you leave plates of food on the floor, you are asking for guests: roaches. Those plates were there from morning to night. The restaurants we ate at Cafe Roma, Gladiator, and Animations were good. They give you plenty of food, so I don't why anyone would want to pay big prices for a buffet. I cannot even eat all the food they serve on my plate in the restaurants. Next, this may or may not bother you but it is rampant in AC and Caesar's is no exception. Most of the workers speak very little English and those who speak it are very hard to understand. We asked for an Italian Hoagie and were served a tuna sandwich. The waitress was very gracious and we liked her very much and tried to show her the difference between a hoagie and a sandwich...and the difference between Italian hoagie and tuna. Her slip even said tuna Hoagie and the cook made a tuna sandwich. He obviously did not know much English either. However, she was very nice and much better than some of the employees who speak very little English we have run into in AC who act like the fact that we speak a different language then they do is our fault. One big problem: beggars. They always have them on the boardwalk, but we encountered them in the casino. The one was very smart. She looked like anyone else. She sat on a casino stool next to my mother who was alone in that section. She chose my mother because she was older (67) and my mother about 10 feet from an exit door and there were no guards there. My mother was playing and she faced my mother's side to intimidate her, instead of looking directly at the machine ahead of her like all other players.....but then she was not playing. She asked my mother for money. My mother told her all her money was in the machine. The girl knew that was not true so she continued to sit there and stare at her. She said I asked the cocktail waitress for a drink but she ignored me. I do not believe that. They give you a drink whether or not you pay. She just wanted my mother's money. If my mother had opened her purse to give her a dollar, she would have ran off with her wallet out the exit door. I came over and my mother asked if I would like to play the machine and she winked at me so I knew something was up. As soon as I sat down the young woman left....nobody asks me for money because I look like Mama from the Movie "Throw Mama From The Train." The second beggar was a muscular man who sat down next to my mother and insisted he play while she put the money in. She was uncomfortable but stayed awhile. Then when the money ran out of that machine, she came to where I was and he followed her and sat in the stool next between us. He suggested since we did not have our Total Reward Cards with us that he put his in our machines...he had two cards. I did not refuse and neither did she...he was a big man. He stood there like a guard dog. Finally, even though we had just had dinner, I told my mother it was time to go upstairs for a bath and get dinner. The next day he was still there looking for someone to do the same thing to. This is obviously rampant. I do not believe that either of those beggars were players. I believe they live in AC and do this on a regular basis. Why didn't we ask for help. Well, with nobody speaking English, we figured they would not understand ...and secondly, those kind of people have time on their hands and they watch you and do worse to you when you are outside on the streets. When the casinos first came out they had many guards all over the place and they did not hesitate to tell people they could not sit there unless they were playing. Now all the guards are speak very little English and there are very few of them doing what they should be doing....circulating. Even the woman who work in the ladies rooms beg for money. When you come out to wash your hands they stand right next to you and look at you waiting for you to put money in the the cups/ashtrays(never used as ashtrays because they themselves put a little money in it so you know what it is for) they have lined up. I went inside two toilets consecutively and no toilet paper. Yet, they cleaning ladies try to look busy outside the bathroom with a floor dustpan. Who wants to vacation in this kind of atmosphere. The slots were also very tight. You will not find this at the Borgata.

I stayed at Cesar's for a conference. The hotel is lovely but if you miss the valet parking it's a long haul to get your stuff into the hotel from the self-park garage. You have to get all the way inside the hotel to get a bellman.

The food they serve to the conference attendees leaves a bit to be desired. I know it's hard to serve that many people at one time but they have to have a better system to get the food to you on time & hot.

The lobby bar is wonderful. The casino bar is smokey. Overall the staff is very nice & they want you to enjoy your stay.

The value for the conference price was outstanding.

I wish they had an indoor pool.

Back in January I wrote a glowing review of this hotel. Boy, how things have changed. I've been there a few dozen times over the last several years. I loved the quick check-in, efficient service, fun slots and my room in the Centurian Tower. As i am not a heavy gambler (mostly nickel and quarter slots) I was sent the lowly Gold Card. So I had to stand in line for a long time with the other plebes and wait for the services of two receptionists while Diamond Club members were promptly checked in by four or so receptionists. (Until a few months ago there were around 8 receptionists who checked in everybody). If there were no Diamond Club members to be checked, their receptionists stood around and took no one. Until last month my room was always comped. This time, I was made to pay. When I requested the Centurion Tower, I was told that those rooms were already taken -- even though it was 11AM, midweek, no convention going on, and judging by the emptinessof the restaurants it was clear that this was not a busy time. Someone wrote a message on the Bally's board that Gold Card members are not given rooms in the Tower. I have a feeling that this is true for Caesar's as well. We stayed in one of those dingy rooms over the lobby. The walls were paper thin. The Virginia City buffet, while still good, also has the two lines. Fortunately that was not a problem for us, as there was no one there. There are separate lines for cashing in tickets. I had to stand on long lines and shuttled from place to place just to redeem a voucher. While waiting for me my husband sat down on the floor of the lobby and was ordered by a security guard to get up. Everywhere were fewer workers and the slots were very tight. Overall, this was not the fun experience I had in the past. We felt very unwelcome there, and if we go back to AC it will be to a non-Harrah's hotel. I only hope that Harrah's does not similarly destroy the former Caesar hotels in Las Vegas.