Anthem Lounge

The last club standing at the Tropicana

On the Atlantic City nightlife map, the dance floor that stays open late is a club contained within The Quarter at the Tropicana. Anthem Lounge is positioned as the spot that keeps going at 4:00 AM, when the rest of the city's nightclubs have already closed, playing its anthems from late at night until dawn. Current opening hours are Friday to Sunday from 23:00, with access reserved for those over 21 during regular service. Dressy attire is required for entry: sneakers, hats, boots, sportswear, shorts, and tracksuits are not allowed.

From 32 Degrees to a Las Vegas and Miami hybrid

The room already had history before its current name. In February 2005, shortly after The Quarter opened, 32 Degrees Luxe Lounge opened here, a small, high-profile lounge focused on bottle service, then linked to Cuba Libre. Carrie Washington and Lambros Tsikouras, who had been running that club for years, bought it at the end of 2011, when Cuba Libre decided to leave the nightlife scene in that space to focus on its expansion. They gutted the venue down to the structure, commissioned the interior from SOSH Architects, and reopened it in May 2012 as Anthem: a cross between a Las Vegas-style rock bar and a Miami-style dance club, designed to bring weight back to the energy of the dance floor.

A screen in the center of the room

The renovation pushed back the main walls to accommodate bottle service areas, moved the DJ booth behind the bar, and absorbed part of the second-floor balcony of The Quarter so that the public would not be isolated from the hallway. In the center, they placed a 360-degree cylindrical screen, double-sided, also visible from outside the venue and controlled from the booth, next to a photo booth with live streaming. The scale was a decision: to maintain an intimate atmosphere in a small room. At the presentation, they announced hourly anthem blocks, live bands in the center of the dance floor, and an industry night on Wednesdays in memory of Michael Wamsher, a city police officer and friend of the house.

The after-hours spot that critics kept choosing

That late-closing vocation ended up defining the club. In 2016, it was described as the point where the Tropicana afterparties gathered: a smaller space, with more affordable bottle service than the macro-clubs, which often opened later than the announced 22:00 and continued until 6:00 after Friday and until 7:00 after Saturday, with the cylindrical screen still presiding over the dance floor. The Atlantic City Weekly Nightlife Awards chose it as the best casino after-hours spot in the critics' choice in 2017, 2018, and 2020.

The current operation continues in unit 303 of 2801 Pacific Avenue, with several bars, a VIP area, and catering. In addition to the weekend dance floor, the venue is reserved for private parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and celebrations. The published capacity for the room is 240 people. The night continues to be supported by DJs and a repertoire of anthems and dance floor hits.