Postcards from ten memorable stays

Top 10 Casino Hotels

A travel desk's shortlist of ten resorts that happen to keep a casino downstairs. We put them in order by the trip itself, from the view out of the window to the walk you take after breakfast, and the gaming floor counted for nothing. Each row unfolds into a longer review.

See the ten stays How we rank

Ranked as hotels
No paid spots
18+ readers only

Updated: October 2026

Postcard No. 1Galaxy MacauCotai, Macau
Postcard No. 2Atlantis Paradise IslandParadise Island, The Bahamas

The itinerary

Ten stays, best trip first

Facts last checked: October 2026

White sand and a wave pool laid out above the Cotai Strip

Rank 1: Cotai skylineCotai, Macau

Galaxy Macau

Gold-domed towers around a beach and wave pool raised above street level

Pool
Beach
Spa
Shopping

Skytop Wave Pool on the Grand Resort Deck
Raffles, Ritz-Carlton and Banyan Tree share the complex
Free shuttle buses to ferry terminals and the border

Up on the deckWave pool with real sand

Official site ↗

Galaxy Macau, unpacked

Galaxy Macau rises on Cotai, the band of reclaimed land that now fuses the islands of Taipa and Coloane, and its towers wear golden domes that glow once the sun drops. Several hotel brands operate inside the one complex, among them Banyan Tree, The Ritz-Carlton, Raffles, JW Marriott, Hotel Okura and Andaz, so a guest can pick anything from a suite with a private plunge pool to a lively mid-sized room while sharing the same gardens and walkways.

Daylight hours belong to the Grand Resort Deck, a landscaped terrace above the podium where the Skytop Wave Pool rolls onto a strip of white sand and a long lazy river curls between cabanas. When the heat peaks, the cinema and shopping promenade take over, or a short taxi reaches Taipa Village, whose lanes are lined with Macanese bakeries and pastel houses. Complimentary shuttle buses link the resort with the ferry terminals and the border crossing, which keeps arrivals from Hong Kong painless.

Best forPool-loving families who want a resort afternoon and an old-village supper within one short taxi ride.

Rank 2: Island lagoonsParadise Island, The Bahamas

Atlantis Paradise Island

Coral-pink towers wrapped in lagoons, waterslides and open-air marine habitats

Beach
Pool
Dining
Shopping

Aquaventure water park with river rapids and slides
Open-air lagoons holding sharks, rays and reef fish
Bridges cross the harbour to downtown Nassau

Steepest dropThe Leap of Faith slide

Official site ↗

Atlantis Paradise Island, unpacked

Atlantis covers a broad slice of Paradise Island, a slim strip of land facing Nassau across the harbour, and its signature Royal Towers, linked near their tops by a suite that spans the gap between them, stand out long before the plane lands. Lodging is divided among buildings with distinct moods: The Royal for the classic big-resort feel, The Cove for calmer suites closer to the sand, and The Reef, whose kitchen-equipped units suit longer family holidays.

Most visitors come for the grounds. Aquaventure spreads lazy rivers, rapids and slides across many acres, the sheerest of them plunging from a replica Mayan temple, while open-air lagoons and The Dig, an aquarium dressed as a sunken lost city, hold sharks, rays and shoals of tropical fish. Several beaches ring the property, and Marina Village gathers shops and relaxed restaurants beside the yachts. Downtown Nassau, with its straw market and colonial streets, waits a brief ride over the bridges.

Best forFamilies after a water-park holiday where real beaches and sea life share the same grounds.

Rank 3: Smoke-free StripLas Vegas, Nevada, USA

Park MGM Las Vegas

The old Monte Carlo, remade with warm wood, greenery and air free of smoke

Dining
Shows
Pool
Spa

Reopened under its current name in 2018
NoMad Las Vegas fills the upper floors
Eataly Las Vegas food hall on the main level

Indoor airSmoke-free from end to end

Official site ↗

Park MGM Las Vegas, unpacked

Park MGM started out as the Monte Carlo and reopened under its present name in 2018 after a sweeping renovation that swapped faux-European pomp for warm timber, plants and a softer palette. In 2020 the whole resort went smoke-free, still an unusual policy on the Strip and a genuine relief for guests who dislike the stale haze found elsewhere. The top floors run separately as NoMad Las Vegas, a boutique-style hotel with its own lobby, book-lined interiors and private pool.

Eating well is the main argument for booking. Eataly Las Vegas, the Italian market and food hall, opens off the ground floor, and further restaurants nearby range from serious steaks to Korean-inspired plates. Dolby Live, the resort's theatre, hosts long concert residencies by big-name performers. Outside, The Park, a shaded promenade with trees and sculpture, leads toward the boulevard, and both CityCenter and New York-New York are only a few minutes away on foot.

Best forTravellers who want the middle of the Strip without smoke and who plan dinners ahead of shows.

Rank 4: Beachfront cityHaeundae, Busan, South Korea

Paradise Hotel Busan

A seafront hotel looking straight over the curve of Haeundae's sand

Beach
Pool
Spa
Dining

Sits directly on Haeundae Beach
Outdoor pools facing the open sea
Dongbaek Island coastal walk close by

Out the windowHaeundae Beach

Official site ↗

Paradise Hotel Busan, unpacked

Paradise Hotel Busan stands right on Haeundae, the city's most famous beach, so many of its rooms gaze across the sand toward open water and the cargo ships anchored offshore. The property is split between a main building and an ocean-side wing, and a sea-facing room is worth requesting for the sunrise by itself. Interiors are calm and comfortable rather than showy, and the beach promenade begins a few paces beyond the lobby doors.

Outdoor pools overlook the water, and a spa offers a quieter retreat when the sand fills up on summer weekends. Walking west along the shore brings you to Dongbaek Island, where a wooden coastal path circles pine woods and passes Nurimaru APEC House. Haeundae Market, a short stroll inland, is the spot for fish cakes and grilled seafood, and the nearby subway station connects to Centum City and central Busan without any traffic at all.

Best forSeaside city breaks where a swim, a seafood market and a subway ride all fit into one day.

Rank 5: Mediterranean pointSt Julian's, Malta

The Westin Dragonara Resort

Mediterranean on most sides and an old palace for a neighbour

Pool
Views
Spa
Dining

Set on a headland with the sea on most sides
Neighbour to the historic Dragonara Palace
Spinola Bay and the St Julian's seafront on foot

Next doorDragonara Palace

Official site ↗

The Westin Dragonara Resort, unpacked

The Westin Dragonara Resort occupies Dragonara Point in St Julian's, a headland on Malta's north-east coast with the Mediterranean wrapped around most of it. It shares that spit of land with Dragonara Palace, a colonnaded villa from the 1800s where the casino is now based, so the gaming rooms sit in a separate historic building instead of beneath the bedrooms. Rooms are bright and fresh, and the higher sea-view floors take in the bay, the rocky shore and the boats moored nearby.

Outdoor pools step down toward the shoreline, and the resort's lidos give swimmers ladders straight into clear water, which on Malta usually means limestone rather than sand. Spinola Bay, with its painted fishing boats and waterside restaurants, is an easy walk along the promenade, while the late-night streets of Paceville lie on the other side of the resort. Buses run along the coast to Sliema, from where ferries cross the harbour to the fortified streets of Valletta.

Best forMediterranean breaks that mix swimming off the rocks with day trips to Valletta and Mdina.

Rank 6: Swan River calmBurswood, Perth, Australia

Crown Towers Perth

A riverside tower that looks back across the water to Perth's skyline

Pool
Spa
Views
Park

Opened in 2016 on the Burswood peninsula
Lagoon-style pool edged with private cabanas
Riverside paths through Burswood Park

AfternoonsThe lagoon pool

Official site ↗

Crown Towers Perth, unpacked

Crown Towers Perth opened in 2016 on the Burswood peninsula, a loop of land on the eastern bank of the Swan River, and its glassy tower faces back across the water toward the city skyline. It is the most polished of the three hotels in the Crown Perth complex, with generous, quietly elegant rooms, deep bathtubs and tall windows that make the most of the river light. Upper floors frame a particularly fine view of the city as dusk settles.

The pool area is styled as a lagoon fringed with palms and cabanas, and Crown Spa sits inside the hotel for slower mornings. Restaurants across the complex include outposts of well-known Australian and international names. Burswood Park stretches along the riverbank with shaded paths for walking or cycling, and the Matagarup Bridge carries pedestrians over the river toward East Perth. Fremantle, and the ferry out to Rottnest Island, are an easy drive away.

Best forPerth stays with a resort pool by day and a riverside walk into town as the sun sets.

Rank 7: Wine-country baseRohnert Park, California, USA

Graton Resort & Casino

A tribally owned resort at the southern doorway to Sonoma's vineyards

Pool
Spa
Dining
Shows

Owned by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
Hotel tower with an outdoor pool and a spa
Sonoma County wineries within a short drive

Day tripSonoma wine country

Official site ↗

Graton Resort & Casino, unpacked

Graton Resort & Casino stands in Rohnert Park, a small city in southern Sonoma County, and belongs to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, a tribe of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo people. The hotel tower arrived a few years after the casino opened, and its rooms are modern, with roomy beds, neutral tones and windows facing the rolling hills that surround this part of Northern California. San Francisco lies roughly an hour south along Highway 101.

An outdoor pool lined with cabanas and a full-service spa give the property a proper resort rhythm, and live entertainment is booked through the year. The bigger draw is the countryside: Petaluma's old riverfront, the plaza in the town of Sonoma and countless tasting rooms across the Russian River and Dry Creek valleys are within reach, as are the redwoods of Armstrong Woods and the rugged Sonoma Coast. A row of restaurants inside makes a late dinner simple.

Best forWine-country weekends where a pool, a spa and an easy freeway run home matter most.

Rank 8: Pacific garden cityViña del Mar, Chile

Enjoy Viña del Mar

A seafront hotel attached to the stately casino of Chile's garden city

Views
Spa
Dining
Shows

Hotel del Mar adjoins the historic Casino Municipal
The Pacific shore just across the avenue
Valparaíso's hills a short train ride away

Neighbouring portValparaíso's hillsides

Official site ↗

Enjoy Viña del Mar, unpacked

Viña del Mar is the seaside resort city beside the port of Valparaíso on Chile's central coast, and its Casino Municipal, a stately classical building close to the shore, ranks among the town's best-known landmarks. Enjoy's Hotel del Mar is joined to that historic building and looks out to the Pacific across the coastal avenue. Rooms are spacious and classically styled, and the ocean side catches the long evening light over the water and the mouth of the Marga Marga estuary.

Spa treatments, several restaurants and a show lounge keep evenings close to home, yet the city rewards wandering. The flower clock and the gardens of Quinta Vergara, where a celebrated song festival is staged each summer, are within walking distance, and the beaches of Reñaca lie a few kilometres north. The Merval commuter train runs along the shore to Valparaíso, whose painted houses and creaking old funiculars climb the steep hills above the harbour.

Best forCoastal Chile trips pairing a classic seaside hotel with days among Valparaíso's murals and lifts.

Rank 9: Falls-edge viewsNiagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Fallsview Casino Resort

A ridge-top hotel tower with rooms gazing down at the Horseshoe Falls

Views
Spa
Dining
Shows

Falls-view rooms on the upper floors
Spa inside the hotel tower
Falls Incline Railway down to the river walk

From the windowThe Horseshoe Falls

Official site ↗

Fallsview Casino Resort, unpacked

Fallsview Casino Resort crowns the ridge above the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, and its hotel tower is angled so that many rooms look straight along the gorge to the Horseshoe Falls and the mist drifting over them. Rooms with a falls view cost more and are the whole reason to stay; city-view rooms are comfortable enough but miss the spectacle. Inside, the complex connects to a gallery of shops and a generous choice of restaurants.

A spa occupies part of the hotel, and the in-house theatre hosts visiting singers and stand-up acts. The real headline waits outdoors: the Falls Incline Railway runs from the Fallsview district down to the river's edge, where boat cruises carry passengers toward the base of the falls and Journey Behind the Falls leads through tunnels cut in the rock. The Niagara Parkway follows the river north to the vineyards and heritage streets of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Best forA Niagara trip where waking up to the falls outweighs everything else on the plan.

Rank 10: Bushveld gardensSun City, North West, South Africa

The Cascades at Sun City

A garden hotel threaded with waterfalls on the edge of the Pilanesberg

Pool
Park
Views
Dining

Grounds laced with streams, falls and pools
Valley of Waves water park within the resort
Game drives in Pilanesberg National Park

Beyond the gateBig Five safaris

Official site ↗

The Cascades at Sun City, unpacked

The Cascades is one of the hotels inside Sun City, the resort built in the bushveld of South Africa's North West Province, roughly two hours by road from Johannesburg. True to its name, the hotel is set among terraced gardens where streams tumble over rocks into ponds and pools, softening the dry country all around. Rooms are bright and comfortable, many of them overlooking the greenery, and the mood is noticeably calmer than at the resort's busier entertainment centre.

Guests share the wider resort's attractions, including the Valley of Waves, a big water park with a wave pool and sandy beach set beneath the ornate palace of the Lost City. Next door, Pilanesberg National Park fills the bowl of an ancient volcanic crater, and game drives there regularly meet elephants, lions and rhinos. Hot-air balloon flights over the reserve and strolls through the resort's botanical gardens fill the quieter hours between outings.

Best forSafari-and-pool holidays that combine game drives at dawn with a lazy afternoon by the water.

Before you pack

The ground rules of this list

Rated as places to sleep

Every position here comes from what happens outside the gaming hall: the arrival, how the room feels at night, what the window shows at breakfast and how much of the town lies within strolling distance.

The casino gets noted the way a gym or a garage would be, as one amenity in a long list, and it has no say in the ranking.

Nobody bought a spot

Hotels, owners, tourism boards and agencies have no route to paying for a listing or a higher place. Outbound links go only to official hotel websites and carry no referral tags, booking widgets or commission codes.

Answering to no one means we can mention crowded pools and slow check-in queues without hesitation.

Check before you book

Room categories get reshuffled, towers shut for refits and surprise fees land on the final bill. Use each review to shortlist, then ask the hotel which wing your booking falls in and whether any construction will overlap your nights.

Look closely at deposit and cancellation terms as well, particularly around festivals and public holidays, when the best rooms go first.

18+

For adults, and only by choice

Gaming floors admit adults only, and each destination sets its own minimum age. If you decide to play during a trip, fix a sum you can comfortably spend on entertainment, leave cards and spare cash in the room safe, and walk away once that sum is gone. Every hotel above is worth the journey without placing a single bet.

Should gambling stop feeling like a pastime, free and confidential help is available; our Responsible Gaming page shows where to find it.

bonusvoyagenl.com is a self-funded travel guide about hotel stays. You cannot gamble here, we advertise no betting or gaming company, and none of the properties listed pays us anything. Our details come from the hotels' own pages plus public reporting, cross-checked by hand, but resorts move quickly, so double-check whatever matters with the hotel. Hotel names and marks are their owners' property and are used solely to identify each resort.