Casino Hotels

France's and Quebec's Expo 67 buildings were joined and converted into this complex on Île Notre-Dame. The angular glass-and-aluminium forms remain its signature.

Inside: several restaurants, bars, a cabaret stage and multi-level gaming areas. Outside: Parc Jean-Drapeau, cycling paths and the Gilles-Villeneuve racing circuit.

Old Montreal is a short drive across the bridge. A shuttle links the island with the metro.

Fallsview's tower stands on the Ontario bank, high over the river. Its rooms, a spa and an indoor pool are the core of a stay; a theatre with touring headliners and a long shopping galleria fill the evenings.

Gaming occupies its own large hall. Walkways lead into the Fallsview district, and the cataracts are ten minutes away on foot, downhill.

River Rock looks out over the Fraser's middle arm. The Canada Line station at Bridgeport sits beside it, so downtown Vancouver and the airport are both reachable by train.

Guests choose between a standard hotel and an all-suite tower with river outlooks. There is a show theatre, a pool, restaurants and a small marina. Gaming has its own wing.

It makes a livelier alternative to a plain airport hotel.

The resort stands on Rama First Nation land close to Orillia, between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. Its hotel tower anchors a stay, with spa treatments, a handful of dining rooms and an entertainment centre that books major touring acts.

Gaming runs around the clock in a separate hall. Beyond the doors lie cottage country, shoreline trails and small lakeside towns worth a day trip.