With my children's hectic sports schedule, which only lets up slightly during the summer months, and my husband's beginning a new job after everybody else had put in for their vacations, we found ourselves with three days in which to take a short vacation. Friends of ours had told us that there are plenty of children's activities in the Atlantic City area, and my parents often take two or three day trips there, staying at the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, so we joined them.

The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort is located at the end of the Boardwalk, which has its good points and bad points. The restaurants inside, and beach and boardwalk area outside tend to be a bit less crowded than similar areas at other casinos which are more centrally located on the strip, but it is quite a distance (more than two miles) from the fun spots such as the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum and the Steel Pier amusement area.

Upon arrival, we parked in the self-parking multi-level garage, which is a $10 per day fee. It is a lengthy walk from the parking area to the lobby via a glass enclosed Skywalk area. This is wheelchair accessible, though luggage carts are not available here, so if you have a large amount of luggage, I suggest to drive to the main lobby entrance and use the valet parking and the services of the bellhops, who do have luggage carts. A hallway on the opposite side of the lobby from the Skywalk area leads to the boardwalk.

The Hilton's casino is open all day and all night, and features a variety of table games and slot machines. Unlike some of the other hotel/casinos, here, you do not have to walk through the casino area to get to the lobby. One of the entrances to the casino is located next to the lobby, but it is set back a bit and you do not have to walk through it.

The lobby, while warmly decorated, it very business-like. The employees are very helpful and courteous, but as this hotel also has a casino, they want you out of the lobby and into the gambling area as soon as possible. No tables or chairs can be found here, and all of the restaurants are on the second floor, so that there is less reason to remain in the lobby area.

Check-in at the hotel was easy and straightforward. The hotel's official check-in time is 3:30 pm, and though we had hoped to be able to get our room earlier, that was not possible. Our room was a nice size, with two double beds, a nightstand, a desk, an armoire which housed a television and high-speed internet connection, a refrigerator, a sectional couch which sat six comfortably, a coffee table, a desk, and another table with two armchairs. There would have been plenty of room for a rollaway bed, but we decided against getting one, when we saw a couch in the room, which one of the children could sleep on instead.

The high-speed internet was connected behind the television, which was opposite the foot of the beds. The wire was just long enough to reach to the nightstand or the desk, if it was stretched across the room at about knee height. With the bathroom on one side of the wire, and the sitting area and refrigerator on the other, while connected in this manner, I had to constantly remind my children to be careful of the wire. It would have been nice if the desk were right next to the armoire, or if the wire were longer.

Though the room had eleven light fixtures, it never seemed bright enough at night, even when they were all illuminated. The bathroom was spacious, with plenty of counterspace and mirrors, but again, very dimly lit. With our visits to the indoor pool and beach, I found myself wishing there were more hooks or places to hang wet bathing suits and towels, but we made do with putting them over the side of the bathtub and on the shower curtain rod. This hotel room did not have a "sauna" setting on the light switch, which would have helped in drying some of the clothing as well.

Depending on the season, there are up to nine eating establishments located on the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort property. For dinner only, visit Caruso's for Italian fare, Peregrine's for contemporary American dining, or The Oaks which is a steakhouse. For lunch or dinner, there is the Cornucopia Buffet or Chinese food at Empress Garden. Note that if you plan on eating dinner at the Cornucopia Buffet, make your reservations as early as you can that morning. A television screen above the reservation desk indicates the time they are currently taking reservations for, and on two days, by noon, the only reservations left were for 11:45 pm.

Most of our meals were eaten at Horizons, which is a 24-hour diner-type restaurant. It serves everything from pancakes to hamburgers to a turkey dinner. Twice, much to my children's joy, we returned to Horizons late in the evening to have a late night snack. The dessert menu offers huge portions of cakes, pies and ice cream creations, all priced around $5 to $8 per item.

The Dizzy Dolphin Beachfront bar is located inside the hotel, with a view of the boardwalk and beach. During the warmer months, the Beach Bar is open, which is located right on the beach and offers a drink and a snack menu, along with nightly live entertainment. The stage is set up perpendicular to the ocean and the boardwalk so that those who are over 21 and are inside the bar area, as well as those younger who are on the boardwalk, can dance and sing along with the band.

The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort features a spa, massages and a salon, along with a 9,000 square foot indoor pool. Children under 18 are required to be with an adult in the pool area, which on the third floor and is glass-enclosed, so that there is a beautiful view of the ocean, along with an outdoor sun deck. The pool area was kept clean, with plenty of fresh towels and there were many chairs available, with some far enough from poolside for spectators who did not want to get splashed. The one drawback was that the pool closed at 8:00 pm, which meant that we usually did not have time to swim after eating dinner.

Due to the fact that Atlantic City is a 24-hour a day business, people can be seen checking in and out of their rooms at just about any hour of the day or night. To ready the rooms for the next occupants, housekeeping carts were in the hallways almost every time I walked through them. Unfortunately, no employee thought to pick up the room-service tray that was left on the hallway floor near our room for many hours. It was there when we first got to our room at about 3:45 pm and it was still there around 11:30 pm that night when we retired for the evening. At least it was gone by the time we left the room in the morning. Housekeeping did meet our needs by leaving us extra towels and pillows, without having to ask for them.

Our short vacation to the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort was quite enjoyable. Being right on the beach/boardwalk, having an indoor pool and having a 24 hour restaurant available was all that it took for our children to enjoy their stay. The high speed internet connection, variety of restaurants and pleasant employees made our stay nice for the adults. Now, if we had only won some money in the casino!



Recommended: Yes