3 of the best: Casinos
Forget about museums on your next city break: visit one of these casinos and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get more than just a souvenir pen
CASINO DE MONTE CARLO
Place du Casino, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Ever since confidence trickster Charles Wells broke the bank here, the Casino de Monte Carlo has been synonymous with big spending.
Do Speculate to accumulate. The casino will lay on all sorts of freebies if you spend enough money, although they’re far too discreet to go into details.
Don’t Come here if you’re local. Citizens of Monaco (even the royal family) are banned.
Spend your winnings On tickets to Monaco’s most famous event, the Grand Prix, which kicks off next month. Book into the Presidential Suite at the Hôtel de Paris for the duration; during May, one night will set you back a mere €8,500.
CASINO BADEN-BADEN
1 Kaiserallee, Baden-Baden, Germany
From Queen Victoria downwards, Baden-Baden’s casino has always attracted its fair share of illustrious guests. Rudy Giuliani and Bill Clinton (who christened Baden-Baden “the town so nice they named it twice”) have both played here; while during the 2006 World Cup the England team was, much to its chagrin, expressly forbidden to go.
Do Dress up. Gentlemen are expected to wear a jacket and tie, although you can hire these at the door if you forget.
Don’t Spend all your money, like idiotic Dostoyevsky, who managed to blow his entire literary fortune here.
Spend your winnings At the palatial Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe. It has a Michelin-star restaurant and a bar with some extremely expensive cognac.
PHANTOM CASINO
2/18 Petrovskii Linii, Moscow
Presumably Moscow has got a pressing need for casinos, what with all those oligarchs flopping about in outrageous luxury. The Phantom’s one of the city’s more opulent establishments, all heavy chandeliers and marble pillars.
Do Book dinner. The Phantom was once a theatre, and you can still take your meal in one of the boxes.
Don’t Get stage fright. The proprietors have retained a dramatic feel here by elevating the gambling floor to stage level, arranging the seats in tiers around it.
Spend your winnings At (where else?) Moscow’s Millionaire Fair. Among other essentials, you’ll be able to pick up some diamond-encrusted hubcaps, a snip at €674,000.
Cocktail corner
Louis XIII Cognac
Because sometimes, common or garden cognac just isn’t enough. Like when you’re Queen Elizabeth II and you’re visiting Versailles. Or when you’re Winston Churchill and you’re celebrating your election victory. That’s when you reach into the back of the drinks cabinet and dust down your trusty bottle of Louis XIII from the House of Rémy Martin. Blended solely from Grand Champagne grapes, aged in limousin oak barrels and served in a fetching crystal decanter, it can be yours for €1,600. Just don’t go drinking it with Coke.
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