On the boardwalk itself, Nobu Hotel Atlantic City inside Caesars brings a more refined atmosphere to the casino scene. The Japanese-inspired interiors feel intentionally serene compared to the energy downstairs, making it one of the more luxe-feeling escapes. Ocean Casino Resort remains one of the most well-known and visually striking properties on the boardwalk, largely thanks to its high concentration of floor-to-ceiling windows, where guests have sprawling ocean views. Given its more recent opening in 2018, the resort feels newer and brighter than many of AC’s legacy casinos, with an Exhale spa (rife with amenities), expansive rooftop pool deck, and one of the best beachfront locations in town. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City is an ever-buzzy property, constantly active with live entertainment, multiple bars, award-winning restaurants, and one of the more energetic casino floors in the area.
For travelers interested in surrounding themselves with AC nostalgia, Resorts Casino Hotel holds significance as the first legal casino hotel outside Nevada, having opened in the 1970s. While more classic in its feel, it’s firmly connected to all of the action thanks to its location right off the boardwalk. For something newer, The Seahaus Hotel, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, just opened in 2025, and blends a more contemporary coastal design (with no casino) that keeps guests close to both the beach and the city’s classic attractions.
Where to play
For the most part, Atlantic City sits at the opposite end of the kind of travel I usually gravitate toward: nature, mountains, quiet. But there’s something so undeniably magnetic about this city—and beneath the neon excess is something pretty instinctual: the innate human need to let loose, escape, and connect. This is precisely where my attraction to glamorous, spectacle-driven travel began.
AC has always been a city built around play, and what makes it compelling is just how many forms that can take. The Boardwalk is where all of it comes together—stretching past beach entrances, arcades, saltwater taffy shops (the candy originated here in the 1880s), pizza counters, souvenir stores, and tram cars before leading directly into casino floors and hotel lobbies. Walking it feels like moving through different eras of Atlantic City at once—older stretches are lined with classic storefronts while newer resorts and beach club openings rise alongside them. In the summer, the space takes on a classic East Coast beach-town energy: families spending all day on the sand, kids running between the ocean and arcade games, music spilling out onto the boards, and the smell of sunscreen, fried food, and salt air everywhere. Steel Pier still anchors much of its amusement culture—stretching over the ocean, the historic site is filled with midway games, rides, carnival lights, and the Observation Wheel, which gives wide views over the shoreline, casinos, and boardwalk. Right nearby, Island Waterpark at Showboat has become one of the city’s biggest family attractions, with indoor waterslides, pools, surf simulators, bars, and cabanas under a retractable glass roof. Less than 15 minutes away from the boardwalk, visit the Absecon Lighthouse, which is the third-tallest lighthouse in the country; on your way in or out of town, get your pictures of Lucy the Elephant, a six-story elephant-shaped historic landmark constructed in 1882.
