Golden Nugget Atlantic City is a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

, and marina located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Opened in 1985 as Trump's Castle, it was renamed Trump Marina in 1997. Landry's, Inc. purchased the casino from Trump Entertainment Resorts 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, cabanas, 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 In the state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is an administrative division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In its most visible role, the Division is directly responsible for the management and ...

and managed by Landry's). The Sportsbook is a

sportsbook In the United States, a sportsbook or a race and sports book (sometimes abbreviated as book) is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, ...

at the resort that offers

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...

. 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 A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

, Johnny Cash, Sting,

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

, Andy Williams,

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

, Perry Como, Peter Allen,

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

Air Supply Air Supply is a soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. It consists of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight top-five ...

and Aretha Franklin. 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 Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

, 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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. 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 ''Trump Card'' is an American syndicated game show that aired from September 10, 1990, to May 24, 1991, hosted by Jimmy Cefalo. Debi Massey served as hostess and Chuck Riley was the announcer. The show was produced by Telepictures Productions, ...

''. 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 Boardwalk, owned by Hard Rock International, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The casino, originally known as the ''Trump Taj Mahal,'' was inaugu ...

, as well as broader economic factors such as the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and the early 1990s recession. 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 Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...

, 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 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 Pre-packaged insolvency (a "pre-pack") is a kind of bankruptcy procedure, where a restructure plan is agreed in advance of a company declaring its insolvency. In the United States pre-packs are often used in a Chapter 11 filing. In the United King ...

in March 1992. Trump reacquired full ownership of the Castle in a

refinancing Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under a different term and interest rate. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic ...

deal in December 1993. He then sold the property in September 1996 to his new publicly traded casino company, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, 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, distrib ...

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 DigitalBridge Group, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure investment firm. The company owns, invests in and operates businesses such as cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Digita ...

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 "Margaritaville" is a 1977 song by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett from the album '' Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes''. This song was written about a drink Buffett discovered at Lung's Cocina del Sur restauran ...

casino in partnership with singer Jimmy Buffett. 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 UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 by ...

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 Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is a hotel, casino, and spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The casino hotel features 2,798 rooms and is the largest hotel in New Jersey. Borga ...

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 90.5 FMMap of WWFP-FM Transmitter site
Yahoo Maps which is licensed to Brigantine, New Jersey and is owned by the Calvary Chapel of Marlton. The station broadcasts a Christian music format. Formerly WWFP was used as a relay of

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia ( Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Lib ...

WVRL WVRL (88.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian format. Licensed to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Roanoke Rapids area. The station signed on in February 2003. The station is current ...

Elizabeth City, North Carolina Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It ...

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