At the helm of Atlantis Paradise Island: Audrey Oswell's journey to the top. (Image: Courtesy of Atlantis Paradise Island Resort)

“Paradise” is a largely theoretical concept, but not only does it exist, it actually has a queen.

That would be Audrey Oswell, the president and managing director of Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, the high-end retreat located in The Bahamas.

For the past seven years, the 68-year-old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native has reigned over the family-oriented pleasure dome that sprawls across some 400 Caribbean acres on the compact, palm-lined stretch of land called Paradise Island. 

Her purview includes an almost 65,000-square-foot casino; 4,000 rooms and suites spread out over five hotel towers; dozens of food and drink outlets; more than 60 retailers; and a marina at which are berthed super yachts. There are also numerous water-oriented amenities, including 14 swimming pools, a 200-foot-high water slide, three-million-gallon aquarium, and “swim-with-the-dolphins” activities.

The lush, sun-kissed tropical playground is a far cry from Oswell’s roots in the northeastern U.S.

Career Decision Becomes A Life Changer

Born and raised in a solidly middle-class section of Philly, colloquially known as “The Great Northeast,” Oswell certainly had no inkling of the career path she’d wind up traveling. After all, until she was in her early 20s, Nevada—a couple thousand miles from her hometown—was the only place where legal gambling was offered.

Oswell graduated from Philadelphia’s Temple University with a degree in childhood education. But what was supposed to be a temporary job after her 1978 graduation turned out to be a life-changer.

“Every year while I was in college, a group of friends of mine, like 10 of us, rented a big house in Atlantic City, and we'd go to the Jersey Shore for the summer--like all of us Philly kids did,” she recalled during a recent interview in her somewhat modest office in the Atlantis complex.

“And one of my girlfriends said, ‘Let's get a place and try and get jobs for the summer [of 1979].’ So she got a job dealing at Resorts [International, now Resorts Casino-Hotel] and I got a job in food and beverage [at what was called the Boardwalk Regency in April 1979 and Caesars Atlantic City since 1987]. I was a cashier supervisor. It was my first job.

“I had intended it to be a summer job,” continued Oswell, who, after graduation, tore an ACL while skiing and was pretty much out of commission for some eight months. “But by the end of the summer, I had gotten promoted. I think I was making $10,000 a year, and I thought I was rich.”

During her early days at Caesars, a career in teaching was still her goal, but the promotion and raise, coupled with a dearth of full-time teaching jobs in Philadelphia, made staying at Caesars an easy decision. Another factor was how much she found herself enjoying the gaming industry.

Oswell found a new passion at Caesars in Atlantic City, rising through the ranks to become the property's president and COO, a journey that spanned 21 years. (Image: John Van Decker/Alamy)

“Back then, I had never been to Las Vegas, so I had never been in a casino,” she said. “I had already started working at Caesars, but back in those days, if you didn't have a gaming license, you weren't even allowed to walk through the casino. And I still remember the first time Nat Hart, who was the corporate head of food and beverage, walked me through the casino and explained everything. It was fascinating to me. And I never looked back. I loved the business. I loved the people.”

Back in those days, Atlantic City’s casinos were limited by existing legislation to operating from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. weekdays and to 6 a.m. on weekends while today the gaming spaces in the town’s nine hotel casinos are open 24 hours a day, year-round. 

She remembered, “Back then, the industry was not as widely accepted and looked upon as favorably as it is today. I remember there were banks that would not give us accounts for payroll and that didn't want to do business with casinos. It was a different time.”

Oswell obviously enjoyed working at Caesars, staying there for 21 years, moving through the ranks from the food-and-beverage department to finance to marketing. In 1999, she was named the property’s president and chief operating officer, making her only the third woman to assume the top position at an AyCee gaming hall.

A Meteoric Rise Continues

However, less than a year later, Caesars was purchased by Park Place Entertainment Inc. and even though it was on her watch that the Boardwalk-based adult playpen had its best year to date revenue-wise, she was removed from her position. 

Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, where Audrey Oswell presides over a piece of Bahamian haven. (Image: Peter Treanor / Alamy)

And while Caesars was done with Oswell, Oswell wasn’t done with Atlantic City. She wound up being named president of Resorts, famously the first legal casino in the United States outside of Nevada. A year later, “CEO” was added to her title. Not wholly coincidentally, the Kerzner family, which owned Atlantis (now a Brookfield Hospitality holding), owned Resorts at the time.

Oswell left her mark on Resorts: During the time she was the property’s top executive, its name was changed to Resorts Atlantic City. She also oversaw its largest expansion project ever, which included construction of the 27-story Rendezvous Tower, boasting 420 standard rooms and 42 suites. Interestingly, it was during the Resorts hiring process that she first sat in what is currently her office.

“I remember coming down to [Atlantis]. It's so funny because this office was actually Sol Kerzner’s office originally,” she said, referring to the legendary South African hospitality-industry developer who died in 2020 at age 84.

“His son, Butch, came to Atlantic City to interview me. And he said, ‘Okay, before I can finalize this, you have to come down to the island and meet my dad.”

“So I still remember [arriving there] the first time and just walking around and seeing the beautiful, lush landscaping. They had just opened the Royal Tower two years earlier in 1998; this was early 2000. It was just an incredible experience. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.”

During her tenure at Resorts Atlantic City, Oswell oversaw the property's largest expansion, including the construction of the 27-story Rendezvous Tower. (Image: Backyard Productions/Alamy)

“So I came in and interviewed with Sol Kerzner. He came into the room, he was in a T-shirt and jeans, and he didn't introduce himself. He just came in, shook my hand, and said, ‘Hi, how are you?’ He didn't even ask me any business questions. And then he walked out. And I said to Butch, ‘Who was that?’ He goes, ‘That was my dad.’

“It was comical, but they were great people. It was a great time. I loved working for them.” said Oswell on Kerzners.

Oswell remained at Resorts for six years, then headed west to serve as president and COO of the then-under-construction Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Following the real estate market collapse of 2007-’08, she left and moved down the Strip to take the helm of another under-construction hotel-casino, the Fontainbleu.

Leave-a Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas, Oswell went into consulting, working with various gaming industry clients. 

“One day—this would have been 2009 or ’10, I got a call from the head of human resources for [the Kerzners] who said, ‘Sol thinks he has a problem in the casino and wants to know if you’d be willing to consult for him for a few months. Can you go up to New York in the next couple days and meet with him? He's up there for a week.”

“So I went off to New York. We had breakfast together. It ended up being a three-year job, full-time living on the island—a lot different than the original call that was for ‘a few months.’ But I came to Atlantis as the chief gaming officer.

Oswell left Atlantis in 2013 to helm the Seneca tribe’s properties in New York State, ultimately assuming the title of CEO. But her destiny was obviously Atlantis. 

In 2016, the CEO there, who was the one who brought her to Fontainbleu, invited her to return to Paradise Island as COO. A year later, her boss left, and she assumed the title of CEO, which she has happily and gratefully held since.

Main entrance to Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island features the iconic Pegasus fountain. (Image: Joe Eldridge / Alamy)

“The best thing about Atlantis by far is definitely the people,” insisted Oswell, who in her spare time enjoys exploring the many nearby islands with her husband Marc and visiting with family in The Bahamas or the States. 

“I have never worked anywhere in all of my career where the employees, the team members, have such a great passion for the success of the business. They're so passionate about making sure the customers are having a great time, making sure that the business is successful, making sure that everything's going right, and telling me if something needs attention, needs fixing, or whatever.”

“It's just so different from anywhere else. The employees are great. I always operate under the philosophy that 99 percent of the people come to work and do the right thing. There's always that one percent—maybe that doesn't, but you get that anywhere. But it's just a different passion and loyalty to the company here.”

Audrey Oswell: A Trailblazing Woman in a Male-Dominated Industry

As a pioneering woman in an industry whose executive population—at least in North America—remains overwhelmingly male and white, Oswell is quite aware of the disparity that seems anachronistic in a year when a woman of Black and Indian heritage is about two months away from possibly becoming the most powerful person in the world. But, she proudly noted, it’s different on her turf.

 “I don't know why gaming is so slow to catch up,” she offered. “But here at Atlantis, we're really proud that more than 51 percent of our VPs and above are Bahamian. And 51 percent of our SVPs and above are female. We’ve made a concerted effort to make sure that we're a diverse group.”

Nonetheless, there is an aspect of diversity that she admitted is lacking at Atlantis.

“The one thing that I have learned here at Atlantis is that diversity of experience is the most important thing,” she reasoned. “It may not be the same as ethnic and gender diversity, but diversity of experience, that's the one thing that is a challenge here: So many of our team members have not worked anywhere else.

“I've picked up things along the way from working at Caesars, Resorts, and Cosmopolitan. You pick up best practices along the way, but her employees lack that experience from other businesses.

“But the exchange for that is their loyalty and passion, which counts for a lot.”