Four-Star Hotel with AAA Four Diamond–Rated Restaurant near Niagara Falls

A giant milk bottle, towering at three stories high, is situated at the entryway of the Sterling Inn & Spa. The bottle, along with the building’s unassuming, slate-gray exterior, is left over from the inn’s origins as a creamery, built in 1928. Inside, though, Sterling Inn & Spa feels more like a stylish retreat than a former industrial complex. You’ll find natural-stone tile floors, exposed wood beams, and crackling fireplaces throughout, plus a luxurious steam shower in each traditional room.

Chandeliers glitter in the dining room of AG Inspired Cuisine, the inn’s AAA Four Diamond–rated restaurant. You can use the included $50 dining credit toward seasonal entrees made with local ingredients. Choices range from whitefish wrapped in prosciutto to roasted venison with crispy espresso spätzle. In addition, the restaurant serves wines from nearly two dozen Ontario wineries. You can sample even more local vino with wine-tasting passes to five Niagara wineries, included in this getaway.

During your stay, you can make a quick jaunt across the Niagara River and the international border to the Seneca Niagara Casino for an evening of penny slots and live-action poker. For a bit of pampering, use the included $50 credit toward a massage, mani-pedi, or other treatment at The Spa at Sterling Inn.

Niagara Falls, Ontario: Panoramic Views of the Falls near Vegas-Style Casinos and Water Parks

At Niagara Falls—considered by many to be one of the world’s seven natural wonders—water thunders downward from a height of nearly 200 feet, crashing onto craggy boulders below. The falls straddle the border between Canada and the United States, with segments located in both New York and Ontario, but the Canadian side of the Niagara River is universally hailed as the finest vantage point to take in all three of Niagara Falls’ photogenic brinks: American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe Falls.

Hornblower cruises ferry raincoat-clad passengers around the base of the falls from April through October, depending on the river’s ice conditions. Year-round, Journey Behind the Falls grants a glimpse behind the curtain of Horseshoe Falls—board an elevator that descends 150 feet into the bedrock, then stand at an observation deck steps away from the cascading water.

A 10-minute walk from the falls, you’ll see the neon glow of the Clifton Hill neighborhood. Its Fallsview Boulevard has plenty of Vegas-style kitsch, including glitzy casinos, indoor water parks, restaurants, and soggy Elvis impersonators.

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