by KYW's Paul Kurtz
The ribbon has been cut on another new Atlantic City hotel that caters primarily to those looking for a vacation with little or no gambling.
Developer Curtis Bashaw combined two old hotels on Chelsea Avenue -- the Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson's -- into a single luxury resort he calls the Chelsea, the first non-gaming hotel to open on the Boardwalk since the early 1960s.
"So we view this as an oasis for folks that want to be near gaming but not living in it. There are two big restaurants, both run by Steven Starr. There's a spa with ten treatment rooms and an indoor Florida room, which is a social sauna with a huge saltwater jacuzzi. There are two swimming pools. There's a15,000-square-foot rooftop deck."
Bashaw says if Atlantic City wants to continue to grow, it must return to its roots as a family destination:
"The casinos have slot machines everywhere and you're constantly hearing that din. You know, Atlantic City was a resort for a hundred years before it was a gaming town, and it boasted some of the finest hotels in the world, where the main thing they were doing was selling rooms, not trying to get you on their gaming floor."
There are 331 guest rooms and suites at the Chelsea, plus a rooftop pool and a fifth-floor night spot aimed at a hip, young crowd made up of casual gamers and those who don't want to gamble at all.
Last month the Borgata opened the Water Club, another Atlantic City hotel without an attached casino.
(Artist's rendering from thechelsea-ac.com)
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