CasiNotes: Dog-friendly rooms debut at Showboat

THIS COLUMN is far too sophisticated to stoop to such cheap wordplay as "Showboat is going to the dogs," or "Showboat is throwing pet owners a bone." So we'll just report the facts: Showboat has become the first Atlantic City casino-hotel to welcome guests' canine companions.

The gaming hall introduced its "PetStay" program a couple of weeks ago, and it already appears to be, ahem, a howling success: Joe Domenico, the property's general manager and senior vice president, reported that 36 reservations were booked by dog owners the first week.

PetStay utilizes nine rooms in the New Orleans tower that have been set aside for guests with dogs (maximum two per room), weighing 50 pounds or less. A $40 fee is added to the hotel-room rate.

All registered dogs receive a gift bag whose goodies include a Showboat bowl and treats. An outside area has been set aside where the hotel's four-legged patrons can do what dogs do when they are outside.

When not in their rooms, dogs must be leashed at all times, and they are pretty much restricted to the hotel lobby and ground-floor concourse.

The Showboat borrowed the idea from several corporate sisters in Las Vegas. "We saw an opportunity to serve a large segment of our market," said Domenico, who added that, so far, he and his staff have received no negative feedback from non-dog lovers at the hotel.

According to Domenico, if PetStay maintains its early popularity, the concept will likely expand to the other three local casino-hotels owned by Caesars Entertainment Inc. - Bally's Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.

For more information and reservations, go to showboatac.com, or call 800-621-0200.

While we're at the Showboat, be advised that its House of Blues concert hall has been ranked 20th on the list of the top 100 club venues of 2010 compiled by Pollstar magazine. It's the fourth year in a row that the auditorium on the 'Boat's second level has been so honored, thanks to the 90,000 show tickets sold there last year.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow for the Atlantic City solo debut of superstar singer-composer Paul Simon, May 28 at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa.

Although Simon and Art Garfunkel played Boardwalk Hall in 2003 and were scheduled to hit Trump Taj Mahal last year (as part of a tour that was canceled when Garfunkel developed throat problems), Simon has, until now, resisted offers from AyCee casinos.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are scaled from $175 to $95. Go to theborgata.com or call 866-900-4849.

Now that Charlie Sheen has signed with concert-promotion behemoth Live Nation, the buzz along the Boardwalk is that The Most Important Person in the World is a veritable shoo-in for an Atlantic City appearance.

Insiders have been indulging in nonstop rounds of "Where Will Charlie Gig?" with the Borgata an obvious favorite thanks to its long association with Live Nation and its popularity among the glitterati.

But it says here that this is exactly the kind of booking for which Don Marrandino, Eastern region president of Caesars Entertainment Inc. and a nationally recognized marketing and entertainment whiz, was brought to town by his corporate overlords.

And the fact that CEI can offer Sheen a Las Vegas/Atlantic City package deal could also weigh in the company's favor.

Stay tuned.

Atlantic City is a continent away from Hollywood, but if all goes according to plan, an announcement should be made next week about a Motion Picture Hall of Fame coming to the Claridge Tower at Bally's Atlantic City. The blueprint reportedly calls for the repository to offer a slew of movie memorabilia as well as high-tech, interactive exhibits.

So far, there's been no public explanation on why such a facility is being considered there. Other than hosting the occasional location shoot through the decades, AyCee has hardly been what you'd call a film hotbed.

Should the Hall of Fame come to fruition, it wouldn't be the first time movies were paid tribute by an Atlantic City business: In the mid-1990s, a Planet Hollywood restaurant opened inside Caesars and operated there for a number of years.

And in the late 1980s, the then-owner of the since-demolished Sands Casino & Hotel proposed building a Hollywood-themed gaming complex on the Boardwalk-fronting site that once held the old Traymore Hotel, a parcel of land just across Park Place from the Claridge.

Chuck Darrow has been covering Atlantic City and casinos for over 20 years. Read his blog www.philly.com/Casinotes. E-mail him at darrowc@phillynews.com. And listen to his Atlantic City reports

Saturdays at 1:45 a.m. with Steve Trevelise on WIP (610-AM) and 3:05 p.m. on Atlantic City's WOND (1400-AM) with Marc Berman.