Index / Card 03
Full-service hotels where a gaming floor is one feature among many.
The setting is Île Notre-Dame, in the St. Lawrence. The main building began life as the French Pavilion at Expo 67, and its angular, open structure is still the first thing visitors notice.
Treat it as a hotel stop with a lot attached. There are restaurants, bars and performance space alongside the gaming floor, and the old-city sights are a short trip across the water.
Its location explains the name. The hotel tower stands above the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, and many rooms face the water.
Inside, the resort runs like a small town: restaurants, a spa, a shopping arcade and a large theatre that books touring acts. The gaming floor is big, but plenty of guests come for the view and the shows and barely see it.
River Rock faces the Fraser River in Richmond, minutes from Vancouver International Airport and close to a Canada Line station. That makes it practical as well as a destination.
Rooms and suites fill a hotel block above the complex. A show theatre, several restaurants and a marina sit around the gaming floor. Many guests use it as a first or last night in the region.
North of Toronto, near Orillia, Casino Rama Resort stands on the lands of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation. The drive up is part of the trip.
The hotel tower, spa and restaurants make it an overnight stay rather than a day visit. A large entertainment centre brings in headline concerts, and the gaming floor is one more room in a big building.