This small splurge is a one-week-only option. The Borgata in Atlantic City is offering a spa week featuring special deals at their Spa Toccare and the Immersion Spa at the Water Club. The Toccare Package includes a Borgata classic room and your choice of a bamboo lemongrass scrub, almond body buff, or the Grand Master B conditioning wrap for $210 + tax. For a bit more of a splurge you can opt for the Immersion package which includes a room in Borgata's Water Club plus a choice of an aromatherapy massage, personalized facial, or a Shirodara Ayurvedic treatment for $250. The Spa Toccare and Immersion Spa Week runs from May 17th to 22nd.

Just yesterday I wrote about the troubles facing the Las Vegas Sands and now here comes news about another big casino company, this one in Atlantic City. Businessweek reports that the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, the most lavish and successful casino resort in New Jersey's gambling oasis, has just laid off 400 workers due to the worsening economy. The cuts represent five percent of the Borgata's work force, leaving around 7,000 employees. Spokesman Rob Stillwell says these were the first layoffs the Borgata had made. The company expanded recently, opening The Water Club i a $400 million, 800-room hotel this summer.

Times are tough for casino workers in Atlantic City. The four Atlantic City casinos operated by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. have also laid off employees in recent months Over the past year revenues have been slowly falling and September saw the worst-ever monthly drop in revenues, a decline of 15.1 percent. A bunch of ambitious building projects are slated for the area but some may not make it to fruition if the overall economic picture doesn't improve.

The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey seeks to draw foodies to the resort with "Savor Borgata", a culinary event that will include a reception with celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Mina, Geoffrey Zakarian, Michael Schulson and Thaddeus DuBois and a five-course meal prepared by all five chefs (each chef is responsible for one course). The event begins with a cocktail reception around The Water Club's indoor pool followed by the five-course meal paired with wines from Robert Sinskey Vineyards. The event costs $235 per person. The hotel is offering the "Savor Borgata" package which includes two tickets to "Savor Borgata" and accommodations at The Water Club in a Club Room. Prices start at $795.

The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, the resort that has made Atlantic City popular again has announced the second phase of its two-part expansion project. The  $325 million hotel tower will be called The Water Club at Borgata. The new location has views of both the Atlantic Ocean and the bays and will have four pools. The hotel includes 800 rooms and suites, three residences, retail shops and a two-story, 36,000-square-foot "spa in the sky" with 25 treatment rooms. The tower is planned to open in the fourth quarter of 2007. The first phase of Borgata's expansion is a $200 million extension of the casino, a new nightclub, a food court called The Cafeteria and three fine dining restaurants. The three restaurants are Bobby Flay Steak which will be a Western steakhouse with a Lobster Bar that features a handmade cast glass bar front and lobster tanks. Wolfgang Puck American Grille which will offer Puck's classic comfort good gone luxe including sandwiches, pizza and pasta. Michael Mina will be making his East Coast debut with Seablue, a fish restaurant that will include "whimsical versions of classic American dishes" such as Maine lobster pot pie with truffled lobster cream and seasonal vegetables, lobster corn dogs with whole grain mustard, and desserts like Lemon Pudding Cake with creamsicle float and Chocolate Molten Cake with root beer float (sounds like a strange menu to me). The new restaurants will open later this year.