Tropicana Doing $5M Suite Renovation

The Tropicana Casino and Resort is serious about its effort to win the business of big-time table games players in Atlantic City.

The casino is finishing up a $5 million project to create 26 new suites for high-rollers. The rooms will open this weekend.

The Tropicana consolidated 88 regular rooms into 26 luxury suites, with round-the-clock butler and concierge service, wet bars and other amenities.

Tropicana president Tony Rodio says it's all part of the casino's new strategy to go after high-limits table games gamblers.

“It's incumbent upon us to stay competitive in this market,” Rodio told The Associated Press. “To go after the highest level table games players, you've got to offer the amenities and luxuries they want.”

The 14th and 15th floors of the casino's North Tower have been re-done to create the new “Cielo” suites, using the Spanish word for “sky.” The name is part of the Tropicana's old Havana theme that Rodio promises to extend throughout the casino to a much greater degree than it had before.

Most of the rooms will be comped for big-time players, but some will be available to be rented, particularly on weekdays. The top-of-the-line suite could go for $4,000 to $5,000 a night, depending on demand.

All told, the Tropicana will have 400 suites once the work is done.

The rooms range from 450 to 2,170 square feet.

Rodio said the North Tower was chosen for the upgrade because it is the closest to the gambling tables, on the Boardwalk side of Pacific Avenue.

“This is the most desirable tower to gamblers because it's closest to the action,” he said. “It's where they most want to be.”

The Tropicana is trying to become Atlantic City's favorite destination for big-time table games players. That effort has not been without setbacks.

Two tables games players beat the casino for a combined $11 million this spring. But the casino isn't flinching, saying absorbing big losses is just part of the game.

For the first five months of this year, the Tropicana has taken in nearly $108 million from gamblers, a decline of 9.2 percent from the same period last year. It ranks seventh out of Atlantic City's 11 casinos in terms of revenue.