Sown on the ground floor · 4 entries
Casino Hotels
Four hotels that happen to house a gaming floor. Read them as hotels first: rooms, restaurants, theatres, and a casino among the facilities.
Entry 01 of 04
Montreal Casino & Hotel
Montreal, Quebec, CanadaA former Expo 67 pavilion on an island in the Saint Lawrence, parkland on every side.
Montreal's casino occupies one of the more unusual buildings in the category — a former Expo 67 national pavilion on Île Notre-Dame, in the middle of the Saint Lawrence. The exterior is late-sixties modernism, all angled glass and cantilever, and it has never been disguised.
Approached as a hotel property, the draw is the island setting. Parc Jean-Drapeau surrounds it, the river is on both sides, and downtown Montreal is a short drive across the bridge. Dining runs from casual counters to a full restaurant programme, and the building holds a cabaret-style performance space.
The gaming floor is one facility among several, spread over multiple levels of the pavilion. Guests who come for the architecture, the park or the restaurants are not obliged to pass through it for long.
Who it suits
Anyone with an interest in sixties architecture and a free afternoon in the park.
Worth knowing
The island location means a bridge crossing to and from the city centre.
Entry 02 of 04
Fallsview Casino Resort
Niagara Falls, Ontario, CanadaCut into the escarpment above the Horseshoe Falls, with a concert theatre at its centre.
The name is literal. Fallsview is cut into the escarpment directly above the Horseshoe Falls, and a substantial share of its rooms look straight at them. That single fact organises the whole property.
It is a full resort hotel: several hundred rooms, a spa, a retail galleria, a range of restaurants and the Avalon Theatre, which runs a steady concert and comedy schedule. Interior walkways link it to the tourist district, which matters in a Niagara winter.
The casino floor sits at the centre of the plan, but the building is used by plenty of guests who are there for the falls, a show or a conference. Book early for a falls-facing room; they are the part of the inventory that goes first.
Who it suits
Falls visitors who want the view from the room and a show in the evening.
Worth knowing
Falls-facing inventory is limited and goes first — the view is the whole point.
Entry 03 of 04
River Rock Casino Resort
Richmond, British Columbia, CanadaA Fraser River resort minutes from Vancouver's airport, with a marina and a touring theatre.
River Rock sits on the Fraser River in Richmond, minutes from Vancouver International Airport and on the rapid transit line into the city. For a transiting guest that combination is hard to beat.
The hotel splits across two room blocks, and the property includes a marina on the river, a large show theatre used for touring concerts, and a spread of restaurants covering Cantonese, steakhouse and casual formats — a reflection of Richmond's own dining scene.
Gaming is housed in its own wing. Guests using the hotel as an airport base, or as a quieter alternative to staying downtown, can treat the rest of the resort as a straightforward business hotel with unusually good food.
Who it suits
Early flights, late arrivals, and anyone eating their way through Richmond.
Worth knowing
Two room blocks of different vintage — worth checking which one you are booking.
Entry 04 of 04
Casino Rama Resort
Rama, Ontario, CanadaA lakeside resort on Rama First Nation land, with the region's main touring concert hall.
North of Orillia, on the shore of Lake Couchiching, Casino Rama Resort stands on the land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, which owns it. That ownership is visible in the property's commissioned artwork and its programming.
The hotel runs to a few hundred rooms with a spa and pool, and the Entertainment Centre is the region's main touring venue — a genuine concert hall rather than a lounge stage. Dining covers a buffet, a steakhouse and several casual rooms.
Cottage country is the wider context. Guests use Rama as a base for the Muskoka and Kawartha lakes in summer and for the concert calendar year-round; the gaming floor is one department of a resort that also functions as a lakeside hotel.
Who it suits
Concert-goers, and summer visitors using the lakes as the real itinerary.
Worth knowing
Programming drives demand here; check the Entertainment Centre calendar first.
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