Casino Hotels

Expo 67 left Montreal with a small island's worth of unusual buildings, and the French pavilion — angular, tiered, glassy — became the core of this property. The architecture is the first thing most guests notice; few casino hotels anywhere sit inside a world's fair structure.

As a hotel it works on the strength of its setting on Île Notre-Dame, surrounded by the parkland of Parc Jean-Drapeau and the river channels, with the downtown skyline across the water. Restaurants, bars and event rooms fill much of the floor area, and a gaming floor occupies part of the complex as one feature among several.

Getting into the city centre is straightforward, but the island reads as its own quiet zone once the day-trippers leave.

Built into the escarpment above the Horseshoe Falls, this resort trades on one thing above all: elevation. Rooms and public levels look out over the gorge, and the higher floors take in the full curve of the falls and the mist that rises off it.

Inside there is a theatre used for touring concerts, a spread of restaurants from casual to formal, a spa and a pool, plus conference space. A gaming floor sits within the complex. Walkways connect the building to the tourist streets below.

Niagara Falls is a busy, frankly commercial town, and the resort is part of that. What it offers over the alternatives is the view and the ability to stay put in poor weather.

Sitting on the Fraser River in Richmond, just south of Vancouver, this resort has an advantage most others in the region lack: it is minutes from the international airport and directly on the Canada Line rapid transit route into the city.

The property includes its own marina, a theatre that hosts touring acts, several restaurants, a spa and a large amount of meeting space, alongside a gaming floor. Rooms on the river side look across the water and the working channel.

Richmond's night markets and its widely praised Chinese restaurant scene are close by, which gives the location more to offer than the airport connection alone.

North of Orillia, in the lake country between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, this resort stands on the land of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, who own and have developed it. That ownership shapes how the property presents itself and where its revenue goes.

Its entertainment centre is the best-known element — a mid-size venue that has drawn touring musicians and comedians for decades. Around it are hotel rooms, several restaurants, a spa and conference facilities, with a gaming floor forming part of the complex.

The surrounding area is cottage country: golf courses, boating, trail networks and a long summer season. Guests frequently combine a stay here with time on the lakes rather than treating the resort as the whole trip.