Ocean Casino Resort Review: Decent Value, If You Skip the Suite

The short version: Ocean Casino Resort has a cool, modern room, a huge building on the quiet end of the Atlantic City boardwalk, and a spa that’s genuinely nice. But almost everything good about it costs extra: the nicer pool, the spa, even a check-in line that doesn’t take 30 minutes. The free pools are too crowded to find a seat, and the staff is stretched thin. In a standard room, around $170 a night all in, it’s still a decent value, and even if you don’t gamble it’s worth a night or two for the room, the view and Amada. The suite I had came to about $655 a night all in, about $785 once you add my food and drinks, and that’s too much. Skip the suite, and know what’s an add-on before you book.

I stayed at Ocean for six nights, from July 30 to August 5, 2023, driving in from Philadelphia. We booked a standard room and paid to upgrade to a suite. The stay was not sponsored. I didn’t gamble.

Pros

• The suite: wide, modern, quiet, with corner windows over the ocean and the inlet
• A huge, modern building you can wander around, with pools, restaurants, shops and views, the way hotels in Las Vegas and Asia work
• Amada, and the jamón ibérico in particular
• The quiet end of the boardwalk, so it’s calmer than the rest
• An easy drive from Philadelphia, and close to Cape May
• A lively place with a lot going on, if that’s what you want

Cons

• A lot is two-tiered: paid pool, paid spa, priority check-in. The best version of the hotel costs extra
• The free pools are too crowded to get a seat, and even the paid pool is busy
• The staffing feels lean, and check-in can take a while if you’re not a casino cardholder
• Some wear and tear, basic furniture in places, and the toiletries aren’t great
• The ribeye cap at Ocean Steak: expensive, and more like a hanger steak
• Atlantic City itself is a little depressed, and I wouldn’t walk far beyond the boardwalk

The boardwalk, the Steel Pier and Ocean’s curved tower

Arriving

Ocean is on the coast at the north end of the Atlantic City boardwalk. From Philadelphia it’s about 60 miles, roughly an hour and a quarter down the Atlantic City Expressway, and it works as a quick one-night weekend trip. From New York it’s about 130 miles, around two and a half hours down the Garden State Parkway. From Washington, DC it’s about 180 miles, closer to three and a half hours. Cape May is 50 minutes south.

A bit of context first: Atlantic City is a little bit of a depressed city in some ways, and the area right around the hotel isn’t that nice. My tip is to stay in the boardwalk area. Don’t go past the road behind the hotel. There’s nothing there, and honestly it isn’t nice either.

Check-in is the first thing that could be improved. There are two lines, one for “VIPs,” which as far as I could tell means casino cardholders, and one for everyone else. We were in the everyone-else line, and it took 30 minutes or more.

The room: 7.5 out of 10

The room was one of my favorite parts of the hotel. We paid to upgrade to a suite on a high floor with corner windows, looking out over the ocean on one side and the inlet and Brigantine on the other. It’s a cool room: wide, expansive and modern.

It was quiet, with no smoky feel, which matters in a casino hotel, and I had no issues at all. The AC worked, and I slept well. What holds it back are the details. Parts of the room, and the hotel generally, are starting to show a little wear, some of the furniture looks a bit basic, and they’ve saved money in a few places. The toiletries, for example, are lower quality than you’d expect at this price.

Would I book the suite again? No. It’s far too expensive, and once you add everything up, it’s way too much. A standard room is where the value is.

Service: 4.5 out of 10

Check-in takes too long, the staff isn’t especially helpful, and there just aren’t enough of them. The hotel feels crowded for its size, and the staffing feels too lean for the crowd. At one point we joked that we’d never run a business with a model that lean.

That said, the score isn’t lower because nobody was ever rude, and we had no real mistakes. The issues were the long check-in, watching how lean the hotel runs, and some areas showing wear and tear. It’s more absent than bad.

The pools and spa

There are two pool areas. The main pools are free and open to anyone: they’re big, part of the area extends indoors, and there are little passages where you can swim underwater from one side to the other. That’s fun, and it has a lively feel. But they’re too crowded, and it’s very hard to get a seat.

The pool deck, with the Steel Pier in the distance

When I went, there was a second pool that cost extra. It overlooks the ocean, and it’s the nicest of them. Here’s the tricky part: if you want any semblance of space, you really have to book it. And even the paid pool is crowded. One caveat: that was 2023, and it may no longer be a separate paid pool, so check before you book.

The spa is the same story. Exhale is quite nice, with a bathhouse of hot pools and a lounge under the arches, and the massage was pretty good. But the bathhouse is only for people who pay for it. That’s not really common in the US. It’s more of a thing you see in Mexico. Today a bathhouse day pass is $99 for hotel guests and $120 for everyone else, and a 50-minute massage runs somewhere around $250 a person.

Put it all together and it can feel a little bit like a bait and switch. They draw you in with a pretty good room rate, and then the sauna, the hot tubs, the better pool, and even the faster check-in line are all upgrades. It’s two tiers of hotel in one building.

The food: 7 out of 10

Amada carries the score. It’s the Spanish restaurant, my favorite at the resort, and I recommend the jamón ibérico, one of my favorite dishes anywhere. I still miss it now.

Linguini by the Sea wasn’t too memorable, but it has a nice modern setting with a view of the sea. Ocean Steak was the same, not too memorable, and the ribeye cap was disappointing: very expensive, and more like a hanger steak. If I went back, I’d skip the steakhouse and just go to Amada. To be fair, every restaurant has a beautiful view and looks modern.

Breakfast is à la carte. There’s no buffet, except on weekends and special occasions.

The setting: 6 out of 10

It’s right on the water, in a modern building that still feels modern. The main things to do are gambling and the boardwalk, plus the other casino hotels nearby. Atlantic City isn’t a fancy city. It feels a little depressed, there isn’t a lot to walk around, and I wouldn’t recommend walking far beyond the boardwalk.

The Steel Pier from the boardwalk

I’m not really a fan of the boardwalk itself, either. It can get a little crowded, and some of the people there are a little rowdy. The good news is that Ocean is at the very end of it, so it’s much quieter than the middle.

The beach is all right. There’s no direct access from the hotel; you go out the front and cross the boardwalk.

What I do like is the size. The hotel is huge. It reminds me of hotels in Asia and Las Vegas that are so large you can just walk around and have restaurants, pools and whole areas at your disposal, without ever leaving. There’s even shopping in the hotel, a small mall area with shops.

If you don’t gamble

The casino is large, fairly modern, and loud, but not too much. I didn’t gamble, and it’s very easy to stay at the hotel without going near it. You can avoid it completely.

Is it still worth it? For a night or two, yes, for the room, the view and Amada, and because the building is big enough to spend a day in. Just go in knowing that the free version of the hotel is the crowded one, and budget for the paid pool or the spa if you want space.

Cape May

A great thing to do nearby is Cape May, about 48 miles south, roughly a 50-minute drive. It’s a lot quieter, more upscale and more relaxing: you can walk the beaches and the promenade there. I went on a separate trip and stayed in an Airbnb, but I’d recommend it, or even splitting a weekend: one night at Ocean, one night in Cape May.

What it cost

The suite was $584.10 on the Sunday, $494.10 a night Monday to Thursday, and $719.10 on the Friday, which comes to $3,279.60 for six nights, about $547 a night before fees. On top of that there’s a $25.08 resort fee and $7 a night in other charges, plus Atlantic City’s hotel taxes of about 13.6%. All in, that’s roughly $655 a night for the suite, or about $3,930 for the six nights, calculated with Atlantic City’s 9% luxury tax, 3.625% sales tax and 1% state fee.

Add my share of the food, drinks and snacks, about $780 over the week, and the stay came to roughly $4,710, or about $785 a night all in.

Everything else, per person, over six nights:

• Food and drink at the hotel’s restaurants: about $733. Most of that went to Ocean Steak (three dinners, about $627 total) and Amada (about $479 total). Zhen Bang Noodle, Dolce Mare and the casual spots made up the rest.
• Coffee, snacks and the lobby shops: about $46.

So around $780 a person on top of the room, or about $130 a person per night. That’s the useful number: if you eat at the hotel’s restaurants the way I did, budget roughly $130 a night per person on top of whatever your room costs all in. Parking is $5 a night to self-park or $15 for valet, which I think is reasonable. I couldn’t find the massages or the paid pool as separate charges on my statements, so I assume they’re folded into one of those lines.

Value: 4 out of 10

I’m scoring what I paid, and I paid for the suite. At about $655 a night all in before food, the add-ons don’t go away, and the service and upkeep don’t rise to match. That’s a 4.

In a standard room it’s a different story, more like a 7. For a standard room, it’s honestly a good value. Standard rooms often go for around $120 a night on a quiet weeknight, which is about $170 all in with the resort fee and tax. Kayak shows deals from about $80, a weeknight average near $190, and July averaging over $400. Add the $130 a night per person I spent on top, and you’re at about $300 a night. For that you get a modern hotel with multiple restaurants, a casino, the boardwalk out front and the beach across it. That’s hard to beat. The only thing docking the score is all the paid add-ons.

Even at the standard-room price, though, the service could improve, so could the upkeep of the property, and there’s too much that costs extra.

Who it’s for

Obviously, people who want to gamble, or who want a lively environment with a lot going on. Beyond that: couples, people visiting Atlantic City for a quick weekend from Philadelphia or New York, and anyone who wants a good room with an ocean view without a huge price. Book a standard room, not a suite.

Skip it if you want a more exclusive environment. It’s fairly crowded, with a lot of big families and crowds, and obviously it’s a casino. Skip it too if you want quiet pools, warm service, or a resort that includes what it advertises. I wouldn’t go back myself.

Tips if you go

• Drive. It’s about an hour and a quarter from Philadelphia and two and a half hours from New York, and parking is $5 to self-park or $15 for valet.
• Stay on the boardwalk side and don’t walk past the road behind the hotel.
• If you’re not a casino cardholder, expect a long check-in line. We waited 30 minutes or more.
• If there’s still a paid pool, book it if you want any space. Even then it’ll be busy.
• Eat at Amada and order the jamón ibérico. Skip the steakhouse.
• Budget about $130 a person per night on top of the room if you’ll eat at the hotel’s restaurants.
• Book a standard room. The suite isn’t worth what it costs.
• Spend an evening on the quiet end of the boardwalk, right outside, rather than in the middle.
• Add a night in Cape May, 50 minutes south, for the quiet, upscale beach town Atlantic City isn’t.
• They have smoking rooms, so make sure you book accordingly.
• There’s a $100 hold at check-in, and the rooms have smoke sensors.

Verdict: 6 out of 10

Honestly, I think it’s a decent hotel. The room was comfortable with no issues, aside from some minor wear, there’s a good selection of restaurants, and it’s a large, modern hotel with a lot to do without leaving. The main drawbacks are the service and the long list of paid add-ons. Even with those, it’s still a decent value in a standard room: around $170 a night all in off-peak, closer to $300 in peak season, before food. Just don’t book the suite, and don’t expect the hotel to feel exclusive.

FAQ

Is Ocean Casino Resort worth it if you don’t gamble?

For a night or two, yes: the rooms and views are the best thing about it, and the building is big enough to spend a day in. Just expect to pay extra for the quieter pool and the spa.

Does Ocean Casino Resort have a resort fee?

Yes, $25.08 a night plus about $7 a night in other charges, plus about 13.6% in Atlantic City hotel taxes, on top of the room rate. My suite averaged about $547 a night in late July and early August before those, about $655 all in.

Are the pools at Ocean free?

The main pools are free and very crowded. When I went, the nicer pool over the ocean cost extra, and even that one got busy. That may have changed since 2023.

How much is the spa at Ocean Casino Resort?

The Exhale bathhouse is $99 a day for hotel guests and $120 for non-guests. Massages are extra, roughly $250 for 50 minutes.

How much is parking at Ocean Casino Resort?

$5 a night to self-park, $15 for valet.

What’s the best restaurant at Ocean Casino Resort?

Amada, the Spanish restaurant. Order the jamón ibérico.

Is Ocean Casino Resort on the beach?

It’s across the boardwalk from the beach, at the quiet north end. There’s no direct beach access from the hotel.

Would you stay at Ocean Casino Resort again?

No. The room and the view were great, but between the crowds, the add-on charges and the service, I’d try somewhere else next time, or spend the night in Cape May instead.

How far is Ocean Casino Resort from Philadelphia and New York?

About 60 miles and an hour and a quarter from Philadelphia; about 130 miles and two and a half hours from New York.

How far is Ocean Casino Resort from Cape May?

About 48 miles, or roughly 50 minutes by car.