Casino Hotels

The Montreal complex sits on Île Notre-Dame in the middle of the Saint Lawrence, in pavilions built for Expo 67 and converted afterwards. That inheritance is the most interesting thing about it architecturally: the interiors step and stack in ways no purpose-built modern property would attempt, and the upper floors give long views back across the water to the city.

Dining is the strongest part of the offer, with several restaurants at different registers, and the site has a long-standing relationship with live performance through the cabaret space. Because the island also holds parkland and the Formula circuit, the surroundings are green and open rather than urban, which is unusual for a property of this type.

Accommodation nearby is arranged around the same island setting, and the whole site is served by metro, so guests without a car are not stranded. The gaming floor is large and clearly signposted, and equally easy to walk past on the way to dinner.

Fallsview is built into the escarpment above the Horseshoe Falls, and the elevation is the hotel's central asset. Rooms on the falls side look directly down at the water, and the public floors are arranged so that the view is available from restaurants and lounges rather than reserved for guests who paid for it.

Beyond the rooms, the resort runs a substantial theatre that books touring acts year-round, a spa, a shopping arcade and a spread of restaurants from casual to formal. In practice a lot of guests treat it as a base for the wider Niagara area — the parks, the wineries down the parkway — and use the hotel mainly at either end of the day.

Service is scaled for volume, with a large front desk operation and the kind of arrival logistics you would expect at a convention hotel. It is busy, particularly at weekends and in summer, and it does not pretend to be a retreat.

River Rock sits on the Fraser River in Richmond, a few minutes from Vancouver's airport and on the light rail line into the city, which makes it one of the more practically located hotels in the region. There is a marina at the back, and the water frontage does most of the work that a view would normally do.

The property includes a theatre used for concerts and comedy, a range of restaurants with a strong showing of regional Asian cooking that reflects Richmond itself, and a large ballroom and meeting complex. Rooms are contemporary and generously sized, with the quieter ones facing the river rather than the approach road.

Airport proximity means a steady flow of guests using it as a first or last night rather than a destination, and the hotel is organised for that: quick check-in, late food, shuttle service. It works equally well for a longer stay, but the short-stay traffic sets the rhythm.

Casino Rama is in cottage country north of Toronto, on the lands of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, and its ownership and setting distinguish it from the urban properties in this group. The resort sits among lakes and woodland, and a good share of its guests arrive from the surrounding summer communities rather than from a city.

Its entertainment room is the best-known part of the site, a mid-sized arena that has hosted touring musicians for decades and gives the resort a profile well beyond gaming. Around it there are restaurants, a spa and conference facilities, plus golf within easy reach.

Rooms are comfortable and quiet, and the low-rise layout means less lift traffic than the city resorts. The First Nation's role in the operation is visible in the building's programming and staffing, and the resort treats that as part of what it is rather than as a footnote.