The most luxurious casino in the world is the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco, followed by the Kurhaus Casino in Baden-Baden and Bellagio in Las Vegas.
We rank ten casinos by heritage, architecture, build cost and gaming floor, and we dropped two entries from the old list: a duplicated Venetian Macao line and a hotel casino in Ibiza we could not confirm.
| Rank | Casino | Location | Key fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casino de Monte-Carlo | Monaco | Opened 1863, expanded by Charles Garnier in 1878 |
| 2 | Kurhaus Casino, Baden-Baden | Germany | Kurhaus designed in 1824 |
| 3 | Bellagio | Las Vegas, USA | Opened 1998, built for $1.6 billion |
| 4 | Wynn Las Vegas | Las Vegas, USA | Opened 2005 |
| 5 | Marina Bay Sands | Singapore | Opened 2010, S$8 billion |
| 6 | The Venetian Macao | Macau, China | Opened 2007, 550,000 sq ft of casino space |
| 7 | Wynn Palace | Macau, China | Cotai resort of Wynn Resorts |
| 8 | Resorts World Las Vegas | Las Vegas, USA | Opened 24 June 2021, $4.3 billion |
| 9 | Casinò di Venezia | Venice, Italy | In Ca’ Vendramin Calergi since 1959 |
| 10 | Sun City | North West Province, South Africa | Opened 7 December 1979 |
1. Casino de Monte-Carlo
Monte-Carlo is the benchmark every other luxury casino is measured against. The building was completed in 1863 and was transformed and expanded in 1878 and 1879 to designs by Charles Garnier, the architect of the Paris Opera. The complex also houses the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
The Société des Bains de Mer, in which the Monaco government and the princely family hold a majority stake, runs it. Monaco citizens are forbidden to enter the gaming rooms. The main casino has themed rooms with their own entry and dress codes, and the nearby Café de Paris casino is the lower-minimum alternative.
The oldest and most architecturally significant room on the list.
2. Kurhaus Casino, Baden-Baden
The Kurhaus was designed in 1824 by Friedrich Weinbrenner, who gave it a grand entrance of Corinthian columns and a frieze of paired griffins. The casino achieved international fame from the mid-1830s, after gambling was banned in France and gamblers crossed the border.
Dostoyevsky’s novel The Gambler was inspired by his visit to the casino, and Marlene Dietrich reportedly called it the most beautiful casino in the world. Pick it for 19th-century grandeur over modern scale.
Second only to Monte-Carlo on heritage, and still a working casino in a Black Forest spa town.
3. Bellagio
Bellagio opened on 15 October 1998 with 3,005 rooms and a price tag of $1.6 billion, then the most expensive resort ever built. Today it has 3,933 rooms on 77 acres, a 156,000 sq ft casino and the Fountains of Bellagio on an 8.5-acre lake.
Blackstone owns it and operated by MGM Resorts, and has been marketed under Marriott’s Luxury Collection since 2024. The casino includes a high-limit poker area and Villa Privé, a private 2,600 sq ft room for high rollers introduced in 2013.
Scale, build cost and a high-limit offering that still sets the Strip standard.
4. Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn opened on 28 April 2005 on the site of the old Desert Inn, with 2,716 rooms and a casino of 111,000 sq ft. At the time its 45-story tower was the tallest building in Nevada.
Its project cost had reached $1.8 billion by mid-2002, which topped the $1.6 billion Bellagio. Its sister resort Encore opened next door in December 2008. The property also includes a golf course built on the Desert Inn’s original course.
Design quality and service at a smaller gaming scale than Bellagio.
5. Marina Bay Sands
At its 2010 opening Marina Bay Sands was deemed the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion (US$6.88 billion). The Moshe Safdie design has three hotel towers with 1,850 rooms, joined at the base by a four-storey casino atrium.
The 200 metre-high Sands SkyPark is longer than the Eiffel Tower. Owner Las Vegas Sands announced in October 2024 a US$8 billion expansion, Marina Bay Sands IR2, with 570 luxury suites, due by 2031.
Architecture and cost, but the youngest design icon in the top five.
6. The Venetian Macao
The Venetian Macao opened on 28 August 2007 on the Cotai Strip. Its 10.5 million sq ft is among the largest buildings in the world by floor space. It has 3,000 suites, an indoor canal, and 550,000 sq ft of casino space with 3,400 slot machines.
Its Paiza Club is the premium section for top players, with private gaming rooms named for Asian cities such as Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore. This is the biggest gaming floor on the list.
Scale more than refinement.
7. Wynn Palace
Wynn Palace is the second Macau resort from Wynn Resorts. Wynn Resorts invested about US$2.2 billion in the Cotai project by early 2015, before opening. It has more than a thousand rooms and is the second Wynn resort in Macau.
It was built with space for 500 gaming tables, though it opened with far fewer.
Modern luxury with a large investment, and a more conservative table count.
8. Resorts World Las Vegas
Resorts World Las Vegas opened on 24 June 2021, the first new resort on the Strip since The Cosmopolitan in 2010. At $4.3 billion it is the most expensive resort ever developed in Las Vegas.
It has a casino of 117,000 sq ft, a 59-story hotel, a 5,000-seat theatre and a five-acre pool complex. Genting developed it on the site of the unfinished Echelon project.
The newest large property on the list, and the most expensive in Las Vegas.
9. Casinò di Venezia
The Venice casino occupies Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, a palace on the Grand Canal designed in the late fifteenth century. The city council bought it in 1946 and the casino has run in it since 1959, as the winter home of the Venice Casino.
The setting is the reason to go, not the scale. The palace also houses the Wagner Museum.
A Renaissance palace setting that no purpose-built resort can match.
10. Sun City
Sun City is a luxury resort and casino about 140 km northwest of Johannesburg, developed by hotel magnate Sol Kerzner for Sun International and opened on 7 December 1979. The resort includes the Palace of the Lost City and two golf courses designed by Gary Player.
Sun City is best known as a family-and-golf resort with a casino, and hosts the Nedbank Golf Challenge each year.
An outlier: lower on gambling prestige, high on resort scale.
Keep reading
- 10 celebrities who started as models: the original list’s link, for the celebrity crowd these casinos attract
FAQ
What is the most luxurious casino in the world?
By heritage and design, the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco, completed in 1863 and expanded by Charles Garnier in 1878.
What is the oldest casino on this list?
The Kurhaus in Baden-Baden was designed in 1824, and its casino was part of the building from the start. Monte-Carlo opened in 1863.
Which casino is the most expensive ever built?
Marina Bay Sands was deemed the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at its 2010 opening at S$8 billion (US$6.88 billion). In Las Vegas, Resorts World ($4.3 billion) is the most expensive.
Which casino has the biggest gaming floor?
The Venetian Macao, with 550,000 sq ft of casino space and 3,400 slot machines.
Can anyone visit the Monte-Carlo casino?
Visitors can, but citizens of Monaco are forbidden to enter the gaming rooms, and the themed rooms have their own entry and dress codes.
Is the Bellagio still the top Las Vegas casino?
It is the top Strip entry on our list. It has a 156,000 sq ft casino and a private high-roller room, Villa Privé.
How we put this list together
We ranked these casinos by heritage, architecture, build cost and size of the gaming floor, using the figures published for each property. Facts such as opening dates, floor areas and costs are as reported by October 2026.
Last updated: October 2026.
