Casino Hotels · four resorts in one group
Casino Hotels
4 hotels · 1 group
Four resorts sit here, all of them in Canada, and they are in the guide for the same reason as everything else: a building worth describing and a clear reason to stand where it stands. All four stand at the edge of water, which is what makes them a group. The gaming floor is not described and not judged anywhere on this site.
Casinos are for adults only. In Canada the minimum age is 19 in most provinces and 18 in Québec; elsewhere it depends on where you are.
04
FOUR IN CANADA, ALL BESIDE WATER
What they share
Four Canadian resorts that each stand at the edge of water: an island river, a waterfall gorge, an arm of the sea, a lake.
Where they differ
The water differs in kind, and so does the setting around it: an exhibition island, a tourist gorge, a suburban shoreline, First Nation land.
4 hotels in this group
Hotel 11
Île Notre-Dame, Montréal, Québec · Canada
Montreal Casino & Hotel
Expo 67 pavilions on an island in the St Lawrence, still in use as a resort
The picture
The building began as the French pavilion of Expo 67, a stack of angled aluminium fins, joined later by the Québec pavilion beside it. It stands on Île Notre-Dame, a made island in the St Lawrence, with the river on every side and the Montréal skyline across the water. Inside, several levels are linked by open galleries, with restaurants and a hall that carries a regular live programme.
Shared with the group
Water surrounds it completely. The island was made for a world exhibition in the middle of a river, and the approach crosses a bridge whichever direction you come from. There is no dry route on to the site.
Its own
It is the only one of the four that reuses an existing landmark rather than a resort built for the purpose, and the fin facade dates from the exhibition that put the island on the map.
Getting thereMetro to Jean-Drapeau and then a short walk or shuttle across the island; parking exists, but the bridge road is slow on event days.
Checked · March 2026
Hotel 12
Niagara Falls, Ontario · Canada
Fallsview Casino Resort
An early-2000s resort on the cliff above the Niagara gorge, its glass turned to the water
The picture
The resort was built at the start of the two thousands on the high ground of the Fallsview district, above the gorge on the Ontario side. It is a large horizontal block in stone and glass, with a tower behind it and a broad glazed front turned towards the water. A theatre for touring names, a spa and several restaurants sit inside. Below the cliff the river runs on towards the whirlpool.
Shared with the group
The water here is the falls themselves, and the building was placed to face them. The site is the top of the gorge wall, and the drop begins a few hundred paces from the entrance.
Its own
It is the only one of the four that stands above its water rather than beside it, and the only one whose surroundings are a visitor district built almost entirely around the same view. The gorge does the framing for it.
Getting thereNiagara Falls, Ontario, about ninety minutes by road from Toronto; trains and coaches serve the town and the district is walkable.
Checked · March 2026
Hotel 13
Richmond, British Columbia · Canada
River Rock Casino Resort
A resort on the Fraser arm at Richmond, with its own marina at the door
The picture
The resort stands in Richmond, on the middle arm of the Fraser River, a few minutes from Vancouver's airport. It is a long low complex in glass and pale stone, with a hotel tower at one end and a marina below the terrace where boats tie up. A show theatre, restaurants and a spa are inside. Across the water the flat delta runs out towards the strait, and float planes pass overhead.
Shared with the group
It sits directly on a river arm, close enough that the marina belongs to the property, and the terrace, the moorings and the water read as one continuous piece of the site. Boats pass at about the level of the terrace.
Its own
It is the only one of the four inside a metropolitan area, minutes from an international airport and on the city's rapid transit line, so the setting around it is suburban rather than scenic. Roads and rail run right past the door.
Getting thereCanada Line from central Vancouver to Bridgeport, then a short walk; the airport is a couple of stops away on the same line.
Checked · March 2026
Hotel 14
Rama, Ontario · Canada
Casino Rama Resort
A resort on Chippewas of Rama First Nation land beside Lake Couchiching in Ontario
The picture
The resort stands on the land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, north of Orillia and close to the shore of Lake Couchiching. Low buildings in timber, stone and glass spread across the site, with a hotel block, a large concert hall, restaurants and a spa. Woodland and lake ground surround it, and a golf course lies nearby. Ojibwe design work runs through the public rooms.
Shared with the group
The lake is the reason the site reads as it does. The ground falls away in woodland towards Couchiching, and the resort was laid out low and wide instead of upward, so that it sits within that ground.
Its own
It is the only one of the four on First Nation land, owned and run within that framework, and its public rooms carry Ojibwe design work rather than the standard finishes of a city resort.
Getting thereAbout ninety minutes by road north of Toronto near Orillia; a car or a scheduled coach is needed, as no train reaches the door.
Checked · March 2026
Groups are our own reading, not an official classification: no hotel belongs to one by any rule but ours. Everything else comes from published material, re-read by hand, with the month of that reading at the end of each entry.
The other sections: Art Hotels · Capsule Hotels · Ice Hotels.
