Forty million people have it all wrong.
There are 47 million adults living within a six-hour drive of Atlantic City, and only 15 percent consider the East Coast gaming capital a destination option. Kevin DeSanctis is hoping to put a serious dent in that number.
When DeSanctis opens his $2.4 billion Revel — Atlantic City’s first new casino in nearly nine years and only the second new casino in 21 years — his priority is to grow the market by proving Atlantic City is a viable destination resort.
And Revel — not Revel Resort or Revel Casino, just plain Revel — will be a destination within a destination.
“Revel was really designed as a fully-integrated destination resort,” said DeSanctis, president and CEO of Revel Entertainment. “Each aspect of the resort is designed for (a) particular guest experience.”
During a New Year’s Day appearance on Curtain Call - The Radio Show on News Talk 1400 WOND, DeSanctis stuck to a mid-May debut of the gleaming new building that towers 710 feet over the Atlantic City beach at the east end of the Boardwalk. However, he said that construction is about a month ahead of schedule, and sources inside Revel said the build-out and finishing work is progressing so well that the 20-acre property could be ready to open as early as the third week in March.
“The one thing we don’t want to do is disappoint people and say we’re going to open on a certain date and then open later than that,” DeSanctis cautioned. “So we’ll be a little bit cautious about (the opening date).”
Atlantic City’s first new gaming property to open since Borgata in 2003, “Revel was designed to incorporate a variety of destination experiences for its visitors and guests,” said DeSanctis, whose Atlantic City experience includes a stint as president of Trump Plaza in the early 1990s.
Other than the requisite slot machines and gaming tables in its 150,000-square-foot casino, everything about Revel screams different.
Even something as simple as its entrance swims against the stream. Unlike every other Boardwalk casino, Revel will be the first property whose front door faces Atlantic City’s two greatest natural resources: the beach and the ocean.
“We are very pleased with the design,” he said. “Our architect did a terrific job in making sure that Revel was built in such a way that it really couldn’t be built anywhere else. Revel is all about embracing its natural environment. We thought it would be a great idea to deliver the guest right to the ocean as they arrived at our property.”
Once inside, guests will have a variety of resort options from which to choose, DeSanctis explained.
“We like to think we are a combination of a gaming model, a resort model and a cruise ship model,” he said. “The difference with the cruise ship model is that cruise ships do something that gaming and lodging models don’t do very well. They pair experiences.”
“For instance, if a guest is a “foodie” and also likes fashion—and also wants to try their luck on the gaming floor—the components will be in place at Revel to “pair” those experiences,” he said.
Referred to as “experiential” visits, Revel is divided into a variety of levels that will each be focused on a particular experience.
The “resort” level of the property will offer a sky garden, swimming pools, fire pits, a spa and other amenities, all with a breathtaking view 130 feet above the beach and surf. Guests looking for a party atmosphere will find it on the “revelry” level, which will feature two nightclubs, a two-story center bar with live entertainment, a speakeasy and a gaming floor DeSanctis described as “theatrical.”
Major entertainment will be presented in two venues. The property boasts a 5,500-seat multipurpose room known as Ovation Hall, and DeSanctis is expecting to book the world’s top concert attractions and sport events.
A more intimate showroom with seating for approximately 1,000 guests is also part of Revel’s entertainment options.
“Clearly, we want to go after the type of artist that can draw 5,500 people,” he said, “and when you get into that genre…there (are) probably only about 20 acts that can do that.”
Revel will also include more than a dozen restaurants and will feature eateries owned by two of the TV Food Network’s “Iron Chefs”—Marc Forgione and Jose Garces—bringing to four the number of Iron Chefs in Atlantic City, including Bobby Flay from Borgata and Geoffrey Zakarian from The Water Club at Borgata.
DeSanctis said that Revel is targeting four distinct markets.
First is the group or convention business, which he said has been an “underserved” market in Atlantic City. Next is the leisure customer looking for a destination resort experience, followed by the overnight and day-trip gaming visitor.
In spite of Atlantic City’s four-year-plus slump in gaming revenue, DeSanctis is bullish on Atlantic City and its future, even as more states bring gaming into play and increase the competitive pressure on Atlantic City.
“When you look at Atlantic City as a whole, there is no other destination that has the critical mass of retail, dining and entertainment that Atlantic City has in the northeast,” he said. “That’s a huge asset that we ought to leverage upon, and that’s where Revel comes in. When we come to market by adding the amenities and assets that this property brings to Atlantic City, combined with what’s already existing, Atlantic City has a new dynamic in place.”
