An Independent Eye on Canadian Luxury
Home Star is a small editorial team with one obsession: finding the handful of Canadian casino hotels that genuinely deserve your weekend.
Who we are
Home Star was founded in Toronto by a group of travel editors and hospitality professionals who kept running into the same problem: most “best casino hotel” lists online are advertising in disguise. Rankings were bought, photographs were a decade old, and the guest experience described in glowing copy rarely survived contact with the front desk.
So we built the guide we wanted to read ourselves. Every property featured on Home Star has been visited by a member of our editorial team, on our own budget, without the hotel knowing a review was underway. We book standard rooms through public channels, eat in the restaurants unannounced, and spend real evenings on the gaming floor before a single word is written.
Our mission
Canada has more than a hundred properties that combine accommodation with licensed gaming. Perhaps a dozen of them offer an experience we would recommend to a close friend celebrating an anniversary. Our mission is to identify that dozen, describe it honestly, and keep the list ruthlessly current — nothing more.
How we stay independent
We do not accept paid placements, sponsored rankings, affiliate commissions from casinos, or complimentary stays in exchange for coverage. Our operating costs are covered by our founders and by readers who choose to support independent travel journalism. When a property slips below our standards, it leaves the collection — quietly, quickly, and without negotiation.
What we are not
Home Star is not a gambling service and not a booking agency. We do not operate games, accept wagers, or process reservations. We are a magazine about places — their architecture, their suites, their kitchens and their theatres. Gaming floors are part of those places, and we write about them the way a food critic writes about a wine list: as one element of a larger experience meant for adults aged 19 and over.
Talk to us
Spotted an error, had a stay that contradicts our review, or represent a property you believe meets our standards? Write to editorial@home-star.info — the inbox is read by editors, not by a marketing department.