Casino Hotels

The site is unusual: the casino occupies the former French and Quebec pavilions from Expo 67, on Île Notre-Dame in the Saint Lawrence. The original pavilion architecture — angular, glass-heavy, built for a world's fair — was adapted rather than demolished, and it still reads as a 1960s exhibition building.

Around it lies Parc Jean-Drapeau, with walking paths, the rowing basin and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. That parkland setting gives the property a different rhythm from a downtown hotel; the island empties out in the evening.

Facilities include several restaurants across the pavilion levels, a cabaret-style performance space, and a gaming floor spread over multiple storeys. Downtown Montreal is a short drive or metro ride across the bridge.

• Montreal, Quebec
• Île Notre-Dame, Expo 67 pavilions
• Riverside parkland setting
• Restaurants and cabaret venue

The name is literal. The resort is built into the escarpment above the Niagara gorge, and its upper floors look directly at the Horseshoe Falls — the reason the hotel commands the rates it does, and the reason the tower is oriented the way it is.

Inside, it operates as a large resort hotel: hundreds of rooms, a spa, a spread of restaurants from casual to formal, retail, and a theatre that books touring acts year-round. The gaming floor sits at the centre of the complex.

The Fallsview district around it is walkable, and the falls themselves, the Journey Behind the Falls entrance and the Niagara Parkway are all close. Winter brings the illumination displays along the river.

• Niagara Falls, Ontario
• Direct Horseshoe Falls views
• Hotel tower with spa
• Theatre and dining floors

River Rock sits on the Fraser River in Richmond, minutes from Vancouver International Airport and on the Canada Line rail route into downtown Vancouver. That position — airport-adjacent but on the water — defines how the property is used.

The hotel side is full service, with a spa, several restaurants and a show theatre used for concerts and comedy. A marina on the river adds an element most casino hotels do not have, and the riverside walkway runs past the building.

Richmond's Golden Village, known for one of the densest concentrations of Chinese restaurants in North America, is a short distance away, and Steveston's historic fishing village lies further south.

• Richmond, British Columbia
• Fraser River waterfront
• Near Vancouver airport
• Show theatre and marina

Casino Rama is set in cottage country north of Toronto, near Orillia and Lake Couchiching, on land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation. The setting is rural rather than urban, and the resort was built to be a destination in itself.

Its entertainment centre is the draw for many visitors, hosting touring musicians and comedians in a purpose-built arena rather than a hotel ballroom. Alongside it are a hotel, a spa, a range of restaurants and the gaming floor.

Summer brings the lakes and golf courses of the Kawartha and Muskoka regions within easy reach; winter shifts the emphasis indoors. Toronto is roughly a ninety-minute drive south.

• Rama, Ontario
• Near Lake Couchiching
• Entertainment arena
• Golf and lakeside surroundings