Baize & Ballroom is an independent guide to Canada's hotels with a real casino on the property. 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 good and how well-run the gaming is — the table mix, the high-limit room, the poker, the slots — and how it actually feels to play there, not just how big the sign is.
Whether the hotel is a destination in its own right: the quality of the rooms and suites, the beds, the views and the service you'd remember without a single hand of cards.
The restaurants worth booking, the bars, the spa, the pool, the show — everything that turns a night at the tables into a proper weekend.
Where it sits, how easily you reach it, and whether the whole trip is worth the money once the chips are cashed.
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.