Informational content only · Gaming age 18+ or 19+ depending on province · Please gamble responsibly
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A modest gaming floor attached to a 310-room hotel directly on the Halifax boardwalk — the location does most of the work, and it does it well.
A Halifax city break where the hotel happens to have a gaming floor and the boardwalk starts at the door.
Casino Nova Scotia sits on the Halifax waterfront with the boardwalk running past the door and a 310-room hotel attached. The gaming floor itself is modest — about 30,000 square feet, 600 slot machines, 25 tables — and nobody should travel to Halifax for it.
The location, on the other hand, is among the best of any property in this guide. The boardwalk, the Maritime Museum, the Seaport Market and the entire downtown restaurant district are within a ten-minute walk, and the Citadel is a short climb behind. Halifax is one of the best small cities in Canada for a weekend and this is a well-placed base for it.
Judge it as a waterfront hotel with a casino attached rather than the reverse, and the value proposition becomes clear. The floor is a pleasant option on a wet evening; the city is the reason to come.
Around 600 slot machines occupy most of the space, in a mix that has been refreshed in recent years without becoming extensive. Denominations run low and the room is comfortable rather than exciting.
About 25 table games cover blackjack, roulette, baccarat and a handful of carnival games at modest limits. There is no poker room. The pit is small and the professional dealers are relaxed and used to visitors, which makes it an easy place to try a game for the first time.
The sports lounge is a decent room and fills for major fixtures, particularly hockey. The high-limit area is minimal. This is a floor calibrated to hotel guests and locals rather than to serious play.
The adjoining 310-room hotel is a solid full-service waterfront property with good rooms, a pool and a fitness centre. Harbour-view rooms are worth the difference — the working harbour, the ferries and the Dartmouth shore make a genuinely good view, and the upper floors get it cleanly.
Cruise ship days are the thing to check. When two ships are in, the boardwalk, the hotel lobby and the casino floor all fill at once, and the property becomes a considerably less pleasant place to be.
A restaurant, a sports bar and a casual outlet on site, all reasonable and none essential. The point of staying here is that Halifax's restaurant scene — the best in Atlantic Canada by a wide margin — begins about two minutes from the door. Argyle Street and the Seaport are both a short walk.
A showroom programmes music, comedy and East Coast acts on a regular schedule, and it has a decent local reputation. Beyond that, the waterfront hosts festivals through the summer, the Halifax live music scene is genuinely strong, and everything is walkable. The property does not need to do much and sensibly does not try.
Check into a harbour-view room and walk the boardwalk south to the Seaport Market.
Dinner on Argyle Street rather than in the hotel, then the showroom or the floor on the way back.
The Citadel and the Maritime Museum, both within fifteen minutes on foot.
The ferry to Dartmouth for the harbour view back, or Peggy's Cove if you have a car.
Book it as a Halifax hotel and enjoy the casino as a bonus. The floor is modest and the city is excellent, which is the right way round for a weekend here. Take a harbour-view room, check the cruise schedule, and eat everywhere except the property.
Moncton / New Brunswick
A 126-room hotel, a spa, a 2,000-seat event centre and a compact gaming floor, built as one project on the Moncton exhibition grounds.
Niagara Falls / Ontario
The original Niagara gaming floor, two blocks from its enormous younger sibling — smaller, cheaper, considerably less polished, and more fun than its score suggests.
Langley / British Columbia
A 178-room hotel, a convention centre and a busy local gaming floor in the middle of Langley — the Fraser Valley's only complete casino hotel.