Casino Rama is the definitive weekend getaway in this guide — a large, First Nations-owned resort on Lake Couchiching near Orillia, an easy ninety minutes north of Toronto, with a big floor, a hotel of around 290 rooms and an entertainment centre that has hosted a who's-who of touring acts.
Rama's floor is genuinely large — a full spread of table games, a busy poker room and a deep bank of slots, well-run and lively at weekends.
It has anchored cottage-country gaming for decades, and the draw is the whole resort as much as the floor: you come for a weekend, not a session.
The hotel holds around 290 comfortable, resort-standard rooms and suites, a short indoor walk from the gaming and the shows.
It is built for the stay-over — check in on Friday, and you need not move the car until you leave, which is exactly what a weekend away should feel like.
There are ten-plus restaurants and lounges, a spa and a well-known entertainment centre that pulls major concerts through the year.
Add the lake, the trails and the small towns of the Couchiching shore, and there is easily enough for two or three days without a dull hour.
Rama sits in cottage country near Orillia, about ninety minutes north of Toronto — far enough to feel like a real escape, close enough for a Friday-night drive.
Value is good midweek and outside the summer peak, and no other weekend resort near the city combines this much casino, hotel and lake in one place.