Ocean Casino Resort (formerly Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City) is a resort, hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. It is the northernmost casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, located on of land, adjacent to the Showboat Hotel. It is notable for its white sphere structure atop its roof away from the Boardwalk, capable of displaying a wide variety of colors and designs thanks to the LEDs inside it. Revel opened on April 2, 2012, and after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time, closed on September 2, 2014. Revel was the third of four Atlantic City casinos to close in 2014.
Later that month, on September 11, 2014, the casino reached a deal to sell itself to Glenn Straub's Polo North Country Club, a developer based in Florida, for $90 million, a fraction of the cost of construction. The sale plan failed, and Revel was planned to be sold at a September 30, 2014 auction to Brookfield Asset Management for $110 million. On November 19, Brookfield Management reneged on the deal. On April 7, 2015, Revel was sold to Polo North Country Club for $82 million. One of the property's tenants and new management of the property announced plans to reopen Revel under the name TEN.
After multiple struggles of reopening the properties and the anticipated opening dates being announced then delayed, the casino never opened to the public under the ownership of Straub. In January 2018, the sale of the property was announced and it reopened as Ocean Resort Casino on June 27, 2018.
Design and construction
Ocean Casino Resort's hotel tower is the tallest structure in Atlantic City and the fourth tallest in the state of New Jersey at 710 feet high; and is the second tallest casino tower in the United States. Arquitectonica was the design architect of the project. BLT Architects was the executive architect for the entirety of the project and architect of record for 75% of the facility. Tishman Realty & Construction, which served as construction manager for The Borgata, performed the same role at Revel. Scéno Plus, a Montreal-based design firm, aided in the conceptualization and implementation of Revel's casino. In the summer of 2008 the project was officially scaled back to include just one hotel tower with 1,900 rooms due to lack of financing. In March 2009, construction was stopped because of difficulties in raising the financing necessary to complete the project. Revel resumed construction in February 2011 after new financing was secured, and opened with 1399 rooms.
Ovation Hall
Ovation Hall is the 5,500-capacity multi-purpose venue at Ocean. Opened with the building in 2012, it has hosted acts like Maroon 5, Beyonce, Brooks & Dunn, Tom Segura, and Duran Duran.
Amenities
The former Revel Casino Hotel featured two nightclubs, 13 restaurants, two live entertainment venues and multiple swimming pools. The resort featured a landscaped rooftop deck containing outdoor pools, cabanas, fire pits and a "pine grove" (known as Sky Garden) with more than 30,000 live trees and plants. The casino was located six stories above the ocean, and a three-story nightclub overlooked the lobby. Revel was completely smoke-free upon opening, but the resort announced in early 2013 that it would create a smoking area.
Gaming
Revel Atlantic City had of gaming space, more than 2,500 slot machines, and 120 table games. The casino was separated into several areas, including the following:
Poker room (closed in August 2013) Table games – Featured over 120 table games, including blackjack, craps, mini-baccarat, roulette, Let It Ride, Big Six wheel, three card poker, four card poker, Fortune Pai Gow poker, and Spanish 21.
Dining
The resort had three main restaurants and ten less formal dining options.
Events
SportsBoxing and mixed martial arts matches are held at the casino.
Incidents
Construction safety incidents
A tower crane on the Revel construction site collapsed in high winds on March 13, 2010, injuring one person on the ground. On March 20, 2010, the use of welding torches to remove the collapsed crane sparked a rooftop fire. The damage from the fire was minor, and there were no injuries.
Lightning from a brief, intense storm struck three concrete workers on September 15, 2011, killing one. On September 30, 2011, a worker was listed in critical condition with a head injury after falling off a ladder.
Escalator
In August 2012, an English tourist was saved by bystanders after his clothing caught in the escalator at Revel. Besides tattered clothes, he suffered a broken leg.