Hotel reviews
Ranked by hotel score. Every review also includes a full, separately scored assessment of the neighbouring casino: its salons, games, limits, dress code and entry rules.
No. 1 · Baden-Baden, Germany
Brenners is the reason many people choose Baden-Baden over any other European spa town, and the Kurhaus casino is the reason many of them stay up late. Freshly reopened after a long renovation, the hotel pairs a serious medical spa with one of the most beautiful walks to a gaming room anywhere.
Best for: Spa-led weekends that end in the Kurhaus salons
No. 2 · Cannes, France
Le Majestic looks straight at the steps of the Palais des Festivals, and inside the Palais is the Casino Barrière Cannes Croisette, the busiest gaming house on the Côte d’Azur. This is the most urban, most sociable pairing in the guide: film-festival glamour by day, roulette and poker by night.
Best for: Riviera energy, beach days and late nights at the Palais
No. 3 · Deauville, France
Le Normandy and the Casino Barrière Deauville were conceived as a pair in 1912, and they still behave like one. The hotel is a cheerful, gabled fantasy of a Normandy manor; the casino, a few steps away, is a white-and-gold palace of chandeliers, slot halls and electronic roulette.
Best for: Seaside weekends from Paris with a casino evening built in
No. 4 · Estoril, Portugal
The Palácio has watched over the gardens of Estoril since 1930, and at the far end of those gardens sits the Casino Estoril, a vast modern gaming house with a full sweep of tables, a poker room and one of the biggest slot halls in Europe. Few hotel-and-casino pairings are this close, or this well matched.
Best for: Golf, Atlantic air and a big, varied casino floor
No. 5 · Velden am Wörthersee, Austria
A yellow Renaissance castle on the shore of the Wörthersee, joined to a sleek contemporary wing and a very large spa, with Casino Velden a short stroll along the lake. This is the summer pairing in the guide, and the one with the most serious poker pedigree.
Best for: Lake summers, spa days and poker festivals
Every casino game in this guide has a built-in house edge, and no system changes it. Decide a budget and a finishing time before you enter, bring your ID, and walk away when either runs out. If gambling stops feeling like a choice, contact Gambling Therapy, BeGambleAware or, in France, Joueurs Info Service on 09 74 75 13 13.