Ground floor, east wing
Mirelac Casino
The casino is one room inside the villa, open in the evening, with nine tables and a bar at the back. It sits in the east wing of the hotel you're standing in, under the same roof as reception.
How you get there
Come in through the front door and stop at reception. The heavy double doors on your left, the ones with the brass plate, open into the east wing. The journey to the casino is eight or nine steps across the hall, under the same roof and never outdoors. Guests in the ground-floor Platane rooms get there without using a stair at all.
The doors stay locked during the day. At 19:00 a member of staff opens them and stands just inside until closing, and that is where the age check happens. There's no entrance from the street, so this is the only way in.
Opening
- Tuesday to Thursday, 19:00–01:00
- Friday and Saturday, 19:00–02:00
- Sunday, 19:00–00:00
- Closed Monday, and closed for two weeks in November
It is one room with nine tables. On a busy Saturday there are sixty people in it and you can still hear the person opposite you.Alain Berthoud, floor manager
The size and the feel of it
The casino was once the villa's billiard room and smoking room, knocked into one in 1974. It measures 190 square metres and has a high ceiling, the original parquet, and shutters that stay closed after dark. The nine tables are French roulette, blackjack, and two for punto banco when there's demand. Along the back wall runs a bar with eight stools, and the waiter there works the floor as well.
The casino opens in the evening only, and the evenings are quiet. Any music is whatever drifts in from across the hall; the walls carry no screens and the floor has no machines of any kind. People come down after dinner, stay an hour or two and go back up, which suits the staff.
What you need to know before you come down
Age: 18, checked every visit
French law sets the age at 18, and the casino applies it at the door on every visit. That includes a second visit on the same evening and guests who have stayed with us for years. We accept photo identification only: a passport, a national identity card or a residence permit, or a driving licence if it carries a photograph. A room key doesn't count.
Dress
A collared shirt or the equivalent is enough, and a jacket is welcome if you have one. Beachwear, sports kit, bare feet and anything still wet from the jetty won't get you past the door. Most nights guests come straight from dinner, and that's the right level. If something isn't suitable, staff will tell you at the door instead of leaving you to find out inside.
Limits are set on the floor
The staff working that night set the table minimums and maximums and post them at each table. They shift with how busy the room is, so ask before you sit down. The dealer or the floor manager will tell you straight away, and nobody minds the question.
Self-exclusion, in person at reception
If you want to be kept out of the room, say so at reception. It's arranged there and then, in person and on paper, with one member of staff who won't discuss it with anybody else. You can choose a fixed period or no end date. It takes about five minutes, and the desk is staffed from 07:00 to 23:00.
No credit, no cash machine
The casino gives no credit and takes no cheques, and there is no cash machine in the east wing or anywhere else in the hotel. Nothing can be charged to a room, so when your money for the evening is gone, the evening at the tables is over.
Breaks and quiet periods
Ask a dealer or the floor manager and they'll arrange a break, holding your table, finding you a chair in the hall and bringing a coffee over. Staff will also agree a stopping time with you in advance, and if you ask them to, they'll hold you to it.
A land-based casino, with a website that only describes it
Everything described on this page happens in one room of a villa in Annecy, with staff on hand and a photograph checked at the door. This website is only a description of a hotel: you can't play on it, place a bet, make a deposit or a withdrawal, or pay for anything, and that won't change. There's nothing to click that takes money, and there is no account to open.
If you'd like to know more before you arrive, ask at reception or write to [email protected]. The Responsible Gaming page also sets out what the staff here can arrange for you.
Questions the desk gets asked
- Do I have to be staying in the hotel? No. Anyone over 18 with photo identification can come in to the casino, guest or not, and since the front door is the only way in you'll pass reception either way.
- Can I settle a room bill from the floor? No. Your room account and the east wing are kept entirely apart, so nothing can pass from one to the other.
- Is there a cloakroom? Yes, just inside the double doors, and it's free. It takes coats, bags and umbrellas, and large bags have to be left there instead of going to the table.
- Can I watch without playing? Yes, for a while, as long as the room isn't full. You still show identification at the door.
- Is photography allowed? Not in that room, at any time, for anybody. The staff treat it as the one rule that never bends.