Casino Hotels

The Montreal property is unusual in its origins: the main structure began life as the French pavilion of Expo 67, on Île Notre-Dame in the Saint Lawrence. That inheritance gives the complex a shape no purpose-built resort would arrive at — angled volumes, tall glazing and long views back towards the city skyline.

As a hotel it functions as a city-adjacent stay set on parkland rather than a strip property. Dining runs from casual counters to a full restaurant programme, and there is a theatre for concerts and events within the complex.

The gaming floor is one facility among several, spread over multiple levels of the pavilion. The island setting is the more distinctive feature: Parc Jean-Drapeau surrounds the building, and the Métro brings you back downtown in minutes.

Fallsview is built into the escarpment above the Horseshoe Falls, and its whole plan is organised around that fact. Public rooms and the largest windows face the water, so the falls are visible from inside the building rather than only from the promenade below.

The resort side is substantial: a hotel tower with several hundred rooms, a spa, a retail galleria and a purpose-built entertainment theatre that runs a steady calendar of touring acts. Dining ranges from buffet-scale operations to a small number of more formal rooms with the view.

A gaming floor occupies part of the lower levels. For most guests the more relevant details are the walkway connections down to the falls and the fact that the tourist district begins immediately outside.

River Rock sits on the Fraser River in Richmond, a short ride on the Canada Line from downtown Vancouver and closer still to the airport — which makes it a genuinely practical hotel as much as a destination one. There is a marina on the river frontage and a large theatre inside the complex.

Rooms are split between a main hotel and a quieter wing, with a spa and pool attached. The surrounding neighbourhood is one of the strongest places to eat in the region, and the hotel makes no attempt to keep guests from it.

The gaming floor is one part of the building among the theatre, the restaurants and the conference space. Airport proximity is the detail most guests actually plan around.

Casino Rama stands on the Chippewas of Rama First Nation land near Orillia, roughly an hour and a half north of Toronto, in the lake country around Lake Couchiching. It was developed with and by the First Nation, and that partnership is reflected in the artwork and naming throughout the property.

The hotel component runs to several hundred rooms with a spa and pool, and the entertainment centre has hosted large touring acts for decades — it is the reason a good share of guests drive up at all. Restaurants cover the range from casual to steakhouse.

Gaming occupies a floor of the complex. The setting is the differentiator: this is cottage country, and the lakes, trails and small towns nearby are part of what a stay involves.