BEST BET FOR FAMILIES  Okay, so you've done the unthinkable: you've brought the kids to Vegas. To help make your days, and perhaps long, long nights, a little less risky, check-in at the Desert Rose Resort. Located one block east of the strip, the non-gaming hotel and resort has 284 apartment-size suites ideal for families who want space to spread out. Their one-room, 60-square-metre suites can accommodate up to four (yes, a couple will be crashing on a sleeper sofa) while their two-room suites, which range from about 75- to 90-square metres, can sleep up to six. All include a living room, dining space, kitchen and balcony or patio. If you have tweens who are always fighting for the bathroom, the larger suite may be for you; it's got a bathroom times two. The hotel also has an outdoor pool. Rates start at US$99 for the smaller suite, including breakfast buffet, US$149 for the larger. (800) 811-2450. www.desertroseresort.com

BEST BET FOR ROMANCE  If it's your first time in Sin City and you want to do it in style, consider reserving a room at the Platinum Hotel and Spa. Situated one and a half blocks or a 10-minute walk from the strip, the newly-opened (2006), non-gaming Platinum consists of 17 floors with 255 one- and two- room suites, none of which are smaller than 85 square metres. All of the sleek suites have a living room (there's a sleeper sofa here too), kitchen and balcony. The hotel has an indoor and outdoor pool as well as a spa called the WELL, where couples can indulge in their Pittura Festa, or painting party, using therapeutic mud, followed by a massage. There's also a steam room based on the principles of the Turkish hammam. Rates start at US$189, double occupancy. (877) 211-9211. www.theplatinumhotel.com

BEST BET FOR DINING  Want the best of both worlds? Although The Signature is connected to the MGM Grand, one of the granddaddies of Vegas hotels, The Signature's three towers have their own entrance and sit snugly within a private retreat. What's more, the hotel is non-gaming. Each tower has 576 suites (ranging in size from 50 square metres up to a whopping 140) and an outdoor pool. Its smallest suites include a sitting space and kitchenette. Don't feel like cooking? Why would you when celebrated chef Joël Robuchon set up shops in the MGM in 2005? His namesake restaurant (considered fifth in Gourmet magazine's America's Top 50 restaurants for 2006) is his only fine-dining French restaurant in the US. If US$225 per person for a six-course tasting is too hard to swallow, his informal L'Atelier resto will cost you US$125 per person. Rooms at The Signature start at US$210. (877) 612-2121; www.mgmgrand.com. www.signaturemgmgrand.com