Last but not least, I've often found budget-minded Travelworm to be a better all-around source of Las Vegas casino hotel deals than some competitors like Orbitz.

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Conroe, Tex.: We will be visiting Las Vegas for 3 days and 4 nights the first week in October for my birthday (#38). This will be our seventh trip there. The last time we were there, we had lunch at Bobby Flay's restaurant in Caesars. Is there any other place similar to this in food quality and price? We are not big eaters but we like good tasting food.

Sara Benson: Wow, what a question you've asked! There are so many restaurants to choose from in Las Vegas, one could write an entire book about them—in fact, some people have.

A few top picks on the Strip that you might enjoy: Olives at the Bellagio; Table 10 or Dos Caminos at the Palazzo; Social House at TI (Treasure Island); Tao or David Burke at the Venetian; or Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at the MGM Grand. If you take time to venture off the Strip, you'll often find better bargains serving outstanding food. I'm a big fan of Firefly, Origin India and Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe along Paradise Road east of the Strip. It's worth driving out to Summerlin, far northwest of the Strip, for long-standing locals' favorite Rosemary's Restaurant or newcomer Vintner Grill—but be sure to make reservations before you do, to avoid disappointment.

For the low-down on buffets, see my answer to North Vancouver, B.C., above.

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Union City, Calif.: I am planning a road trip with my mother from Sept 23 thru the 26. My question is: My mother can out gamble me; she can stay up and out all night long. I would like to book a room where I can leave her in the casino and go to bed and not worry about her security. I wanted to spend less money on the room since we only need to sleep and shower but worry that security will not be very good. Also I hear there is some sort of ghost town on the outskirts of Vegas that I am interested in visiting. Do you know anything about this town?

Sara Benson: Thankfully, you don't have to sacrifice security to find cheap sleeps in Las Vegas. If you stay at just about any casino hotel, security guards are omnipresent and "eye in the sky" surveillance runs 24/7/365. For you and your mother, I wouldn't hesitate to reserve a hotel room anywhere along the Strip. For some of my favorite budget choices, see my answer to Port Richey, Fla., above. In downtown Las Vegas, casino hotels around Fremont Street can attract a tougher crowd, but the quaint neo-Victorian Main Street Station and the glitzy Golden Nugget are great choices, especially for women travelers.

Ghost towns? Nevada is full of 'em, but none are too close to Las Vegas. I'd recommend visiting Death Valley National Park, which has several Old West mining ghost towns. Just east of that national park near Beatty, Nevada, is the ghost town of Rhyolite, which has some impressive ruins, including a skeletal three-story bank and a historic miner's house made entirely of recycled glass bottles. But the place you might be thinking of is Calico Ghost Town, along I-15 east of Barstow, Calif., a convenient stopping point about halfway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. It's he most expensive ghost town to visit, with most of the family-friendly activities such as gold panning and riding the historic narrow-gauge railway priced a la carte.

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Byron, Minn.: We are planning a trip to Las Vegas September 4th-7th. Is a day trip to Death Valley worth the trip? This is specifically a hiking, nature-related weekend trip.