Coin & Cathedral is an independent guide to Canada's grandest hotels with a real casino on or beside 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 the casino performs at scale — the sheer size, the depth of the table pit, the high-limit salon, the poker room, the slots — and whether all that grandeur is well-run and enjoyable or just cavernous and loud.
Whether the hotel stands up to the floor it serves: the quality of the rooms and suites, the beds, the views and the service you'd remember even if you never placed a bet.
The steakhouse, the arena, the spa, the pool, the show — the big-ticket extras that turn a night at a grand floor into a full-scale weekend.
Where it sits, how far you'll travel, and whether all that scale is honest value once the weekend is paid for and 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.