With SugarHouse all but a lost cause, now would be a good time to devise a backup plan for liberating yourself of those pesky excess dollars. Locally, you could turn to Harrah’s Chester and Philadelphia Park (or whatever it’s called now), but you’re probably bored with those already. A little over an hour away, the flashy new Bethlehem Sands Casino sings its siren song, but at that distance, would you be better off just heading down to good ol’ standby Atlantic City? Let’s take a look…

The Sands just opened last Friday on the site of the old Bethlehem Steel factory, so everything about it is totally shiny and new, with dramatic ceilings and lighting. On the upside, the seats at the 3,000 slot machines haven’t yet had time to take on the indentations of hardcore gamblers’ bottoms, and the cigarette smoke probably hasn’t become permanently enmeshed with the carpeting. The downside is that there have been problems with staff preparedness and traffic/parking. Another major draw at the Sands is dining at Emeril Lagasse’s Chop House, although more modest dining options are available at the food court, the Cobalt Café, and the St. James Gate Irish Pub. Building on the steel theme, two lounges, Coil and Molten (wasn’t one of those the name of the nightclub the witches owned on Charmed?), are there for your relaxing and drinking pleasure. Molten and St. James Gate are also scheduled to have live bands performing.
Ultimately, the Sands makes for a fine day trip, but for a whole weekend (or week), Atlantic City remains a better option. The on-site hotel at the Sands has yet to open, and there is not currently an on-site mall a la the Pier Shops at Caesars, though there is one in the works. Although the Sands offers video versions of table games, for the real thing, you’ll have to go to Atlantic City. In AC, you can try your luck at a variety of casinos; in Bethlehem, it’s the Sands or bust. With buildings dating to the 1700s, downtown Bethlehem is scenic and historic, but Atlantic City has the sun and shore vying for your time spent outside the casino, until you realize that you would never in a million years lay out on the beach in AC. AC can also boast pretty frequent big-name musical acts passing through, but the entertainment at Bethlehem is, erm, not as well-known. Unless you’re an avid Emeril enthusiast with a burning desire to eat at one of his branded restaurants, heading down to AC seems like the better bet for now, but given more time for additional development, the Sands may eventually prove to be a solid destination for an entire three hours.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 3:18 pm.