As of July 2024, Delaware is one of only seven states in the US that allows residents to play at online casinos, making it a top choice for gaming enthusiasts.
Despite the variety of online options, Delaware only has three main land-based casinos: Delaware Park Casino in Wilmington, Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Dover, and Harrington Raceway & Casino in Harrington. While there’s room to expand these offerings, the current casinos are quite impressive.
All three casinos are state-regulated, with Delaware legalizing gambling in 1976 through the state lottery. Delaware Park, originally a thoroughbred racetrack since 1937, added slots in 1995 and table games in 2010.
Even with just three casinos, the industry is thriving, generating $507 million in gross gaming revenue in 2023, according to Statista.
Curious about which of Delaware’s casinos is the most luxurious, we thoroughly investigated all three. Along the way, we also discovered which one might not be quite as fancy—a necessary, if unfortunate, part of our research.
For each state, we follow a consistent method: digging through Tripadvisor reviews and picking out keywords that scream luxury—think "luxury," "luxurious," "comfort," "magnificent," and similar terms.
While this doesn’t give us a rock-solid measure of how posh a casino truly is, it does give us a sense of whether real-life visitors felt like they experienced a touch of extravagance—or maybe just a bit of good fortune.
So, while these results aren’t the final say on luxury, they do offer a glimpse into how lavish these casinos seem to their guests. Take them with a grain of salt, but they just might reflect the level of elegance you’re hoping for.
Casino Name | No. 4/5 Star Reviews | No. Reviews | Total Keywords | Luxury % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bally's Dover Casino Resort | 795 | 1056 | 77 | 7.29% |
Delaware Park | 165 | 305 | 18 | 5.90% |
Harrington Raceway & Casino | 212 | 301 | 17 | 5.65% |
Delaware doesn’t have many casinos, but out of the three in our study, all had plenty of visitor reviews, with a minimum number of 165 presenting a fair sample set among all establishments.
And with that said, we can reveal that Bally’s Dover Casino Resort, located in Dover, claims the number one spot with a 7.29% score on our luxury index. Alongside this impressive score, it’s also the most highly reviewed casino in the state, with 1,056 total reviews, with 795 of them being either four or five stars.
Keywords such as "luxury," "comfortable," "fancy," and “impressive” were plentiful, but what did patrons have to say?
“Michelle's, the fancy restaurant, has a great Sunday brunch & ladies night on Thursdays! Hotel rooms were nicer than expected," wrote one visitor, while another added, “The hotel is outstanding - always clean with solid amenities and a very nice, attentive staff. The bed linens are wonderful!”
Next up was Delaware Park, with 5.9% on the luxury scale. “The casino also offers valet parking. The place is comfortable and you feel very safe," said one visitor. Feeling safe would be a minimum requirement of luxury, but we’re glad to see it there nonetheless.
Finally, in last place (or third, depending on which way you want to look at it), was the Harrington Raceway & Casino, having just edged out of second place, coming in at 5.65% compared to 5.9%. Out of all three casinos measured in this study, the Harrington Raceway & Casino had the most mentions of "fancy," despite having the least amount of reviews!
“There is a little bit of every kind of food. From Chinese to Italian to comfort food. Fancy desserts," said Janice. There you have it; if you head here, try the desserts!
Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with luxury to determine the most and least luxurious casinos in the state of Delaware. We calculated the percentage of luxury-rated mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews from the keywords mentioned below.
Only casinos with the requisite number of reviews were chosen for this study in order to represent a fair data set. For Delaware, the minimum number of reviews was 160.
Keywords tracked: luxury, luxurious, magnificent, delightful, comfort, comfortable, impressive, pleasure, indulge, extravagant, fancy, exclusive, satisfied
This data was collected in September, 2024.
The data and graphics on this page are free to use as long as proper credit is given by linking to the original article.
The data in this article is intended for entertainment purposes only. Casinos.com does not claim any one casino to be more “luxurious” than another. Please don’t use the information presented in this article as completely factual but rather a representation of real visitor reviews left on Tripadvisor.