Golden Nugget Atlantic City is a hotel, casino, and

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

located in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. Opened in 1985 as Trump's Castle, it was renamed Trump Marina in 1997.

Landry's, Inc. Landry's, Inc., is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining, hospitality, entertainment and gaming corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. Landry's, Inc. owns and operates more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and entertainme ...

purchased the casino from

Trump Entertainment Resorts Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. was a gambling and hospitality company. The company previously owned and operated the now-demolished Trump Plaza and Trump World's Fair (both in Atlantic City), the now-closed Trump Marina, Trump Casino & Hote ...

in February 2011, and the sale was approved in late May. Landry's took control of the property on May 23, 2011.

Complex

The resort sits on a property and contains a casino; 717 guest rooms; seven restaurants; a nightclub; a 462-seat theater; a recreation deck with a health spa, outdoor heated pool, hot tubs,

cabana Cabana, cabanas or cabañas may refer to: *Cabana (structure), either a small hut built with a thatched roof, or a recreational structure with at least one wall open at a beachside or poolside club Places * Cabana, Peru, capital of the Cabana D ...

s, tennis and basketball courts, and jogging track; of meeting and function space; a nine-story parking garage with direct walk-through into the complex; and the 640-slip Frank Farley Marina (a public facility owned by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry and managed by Landry's). The Sportsbook is a sportsbook at the resort that offers sports betting. The third level is the main area of the property. At its center is a long reception area from which point every amenity—the casino, ballrooms, restaurants, showroom, or meeting rooms—is within a short walk.

Entertainment

The resort's 2000-seat ballroom and 462-seat theater have played host to a wide array of entertainers including Prince,

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, Steve Martin,

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

, The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Crystal,

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

, Peter Allen, Connie Francis, Air Supply and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

. On Memorial Day weekend in 2013 Haven nightclub opened. Boxing and mixed martial arts matches are held at the casino.

Dining

*Chart House *The Buffet *The Deck Bayfront Bar & Restaurant *The Poolside Cafe *Vic & Anthony's *Michael Patrick's Brasserie *Grotto Italian Ristorante *Lillie's Asian Cuisine *Bill's Bar & Burger

History

Trump's Castle (1985–1997)

The casino was built as the Atlantic City Hilton by Hilton Hotels, at a cost of $275 million. However, when the resort was nearly complete, that company was denied a gambling license by the State of New Jersey due to alleged ties to organized crime and sold the complex to Donald Trump. It opened in 1985 as Trump's Castle, later rebranded slightly as Trump Castle. In 1988, the casino became one of the settings for the game show version of ''Yahtzee'', and in 1990 it was the setting for the game show '' Trump Card''. Revenues at Trump Castle took a sharp decline in 1990 due to competition from its newly opened sister property,

Trump Taj Mahal The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (formerly Trump Taj Mahal) is a casino and hotel on the List of boardwalks in the United States#Atlantic City, Boardwalk, owned by Hard Rock Cafe, Hard Rock International, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. ...

, as well as broader economic factors such as the Gulf War and the

early 1990s recession The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incu ...

. A payment to bondholders was made in December 1990 only with the help of a $3.5 million purchase of casino chips by Trump's father, Fred Trump, which was later determined to be an illegal loan, for which the casino paid a fine of $30,000. Unable to make its next payment on $338 million in bonds, the Castle began

debt restructuring Debt restructuring is a process that allows a private or public company or a sovereign entity facing cash flow problems and financial distress to reduce and renegotiate its delinquent debts to improve or restore liquidity so that it can continue ...

negotiations in May 1991. Hilton offered to repurchase the property for $165 million, which Trump rejected. A deal was ultimately reached to give the bondholders 50 percent ownership of the Castle, in exchange for reduced interest rates and forgiveness of $25 million of debt. The plan was filed as a prepackaged bankruptcy in March 1992. Trump reacquired full ownership of the Castle in a refinancing deal in December 1993. He then sold the property in September 1996 to his new publicly traded casino company,

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. was a gambling and hospitality company. The company previously owned and operated the now-demolished Trump Plaza and Trump World's Fair (both in Atlantic City), the now-closed Trump Marina, Trump Casino & Hote ...

, for $130 million in stock plus $355 million in assumed debt. Trump then began negotiations to sell a 50 percent stake in the property to the

Rank Organization The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

for $325 million and convert it into a

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...

. Discussions fizzled in December 1996, and Trump said he would look for a new theme, saying he "never liked the castle theme." Trump next announced an agreement to sell a 51 percent stake in the Castle to Colony Capital for $125 million, which would be used to construct a new hotel tower and re-theme the property as Trump Marina. The sale and expansion were canceled, however, in March 1997.

Trump Marina (1997–2011)

The Castle was renamed Trump Marina in June 1997. Trump Entertainment Resorts agreed in May 2008 to sell Trump Marina for $316 million to New York-based Coastal Development, who planned to rebrand the property as a Margaritaville casino in partnership with singer

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

. Despite a later price reduction to $270 million, Coastal was unable to find financing, and the agreement was terminated in June 2009. Negotiations continued while Atlantic City casino values plunged, with Coastal offering $75 million for the property in February 2010, but no deal was reached. Bondholders who had taken over Trump Entertainment Resorts after its 2009 bankruptcy remained eager to sell Trump Marina and focus on the company's two other casinos.

Golden Nugget (2011–present)

Landry's purchased the property for $38 million, taking control on May 23, 2011, and renamed it the Golden Nugget Atlantic City. Landry's then spent $150 million on renovations that were completed in spring 2012, opening new restaurants and clubs and a new outdoor pool and modernizing the resort; the marina was also renovated. On December 16, 2013, the Golden Nugget launched a real-money online casino site. Despite its late entrance into the market relative to competitors, by 2017 the online site had grown substantially, becoming the first New Jersey online casino to offer 400 games and earning more revenues than any other New Jersey online casino each month since December 2016. The growth of Golden Nugget's online venture continued through 2018. The site consistently leads the market in revenues, and in March became the first U.S. legal online gambling site to offer 500 unique games. In June 2022, UNITE HERE Local 54, a union representing hospitality workers in Atlantic City, encouraged its members working in the casino industry to go on strike. This strike lasted for over a month and involved almost all of the city’s gambling businesses, including Golden Nugget Atlantic City. On July 28, 2022, the Golden Nugget AC reached an agreement with the union promising higher wages, better healthcare and pension plans among other benefits. Golden Nugget was the last casino in Atlantic City to strike a deal with its employees after Tropicana, Hard Rock, Caesars, and Borgata decided to sign the contracts.

Ocean Casino Resort Ocean Casino Resort (formerly Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City) is a resort, hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is the northernmost casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, located on of land, adjacent to the Showboat Hotel. It i ...

and Bally’s also accepted these terms. On August 5, 2022, the Resorts & Golden Nugget Ratification vote approved the new contract. 99% of the union members voted Yes. The ratification vote covered nearly 1,000 employees of Golden Nugget and Resorts.

Radio transmitter

The roof of the Golden Nugget currently houses the transmitter tower and broadcast facilities of

WWFP WWFP (90.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian radio station based in Brigantine, New Jersey. It is owned by Hope Christian Church of Marlton, Inc.. It serves the general Atlantic City metro area. The station's main transmitter is located atop the ...

90.5 FMMap of WWFP-FM Transmitter site
Yahoo Maps which is licensed to

Brigantine, New Jersey Brigantine (or simply The Island) is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the city's population was 9,450,Liberty University's WVRL in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

References

External links

Official Site
{{Atlantic City casinos Skyscraper hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey Casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey Boxing venues in Atlantic City, New Jersey Mixed martial arts venues in New Jersey Resorts in New Jersey Hotels established in 1985 1985 establishments in New Jersey Casino hotels