Crown & Cordial is an independent guide to Canada's hotels with a genuine casino behind their own doors. Here is exactly how we choose the hotels and score them.
Every hotel in this guide has a real, licensed casino on the property — that is the entry ticket. From there we stay where we can, walk every gaming floor, eat in the restaurants and judge each hotel against the same four measures, so a score means the same thing across the guide.
Our ratings are an editorial opinion, not an average of user reviews, and we take no payment for a place in the ranking or a higher score. Room counts, casino sizes and other figures are approximate and change often — always confirm the current details with the hotel before you travel.
How the gaming actually plays once you sit down — the spread of tables, the temper of the high-limit room, the patience of the dealers — rather than how loud the marquee outside happens to be.
Whether the hotel would still be worth the trip with the casino locked shut: the weight of the linens, the quiet of the corridors, the sort of service that remembers your name by the second morning.
The dining room worth dressing for, the bar that pours a proper nightcap, the spa and the show — the things that stretch an hour of cards into a real weekend away.
Where it stands, how gladly you'd make the journey again, and whether the bill feels fair once the last chip is cashed and the coats are fetched.
Scores run to one decimal out of ten. Above nine, in our view, is a genuine destination worth planning a trip around; the low eights are still strong stays where the casino is one good reason among several. We re-score as hotels renovate, expand or change hands.