Cheap hotels, every kind of food you can imagine. Plenty of sizzle, spectacle, first-rate theatrical productions, giant red rocks for climbing and water playgrounds.

Welcome to Las Vegas (www.visitvegas.com), where room prices average just over $130 a night -- and drop a lot lower in summer. (Rooms, as a rule, are cheaper Sunday through Thursday, if there isn't a big convention in town). There's just one problem: ''We don't market to families,'' said Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Erika Pope. In fact, Las Vegas may be the only city in America not rolling out the red carpet for families this summer.

But that's not keeping families away. Why is it we always pine to be a member of the club that doesn't want us? Despite the decidedly adult ''What-happens-in-Vegas-Stays-in-Vegas'' ad campaign, 10 percent of the more than 39 million visitors last year reported that someone under 21 was in their group, according to Las Vegas tourism officials. That's nearly 4 million underage visitors in Sin City!

I admit I'm not a huge Vegas fan, but I've been here often because my family lives here and it seems every trip, I see more visiting parents and kids.

It's obvious what draws vacationing families here -- besides the chance for parents to gamble or golf. Where else can you take a ride on a gondola, see the Eiffel Tower and Cirque du Soleil -- all in one place? Let's not forget shopping till you drop and sampling all kinds of food -- even in the middle of the night.

Along the strip, I see parents and kids gawking at the ersatz New York skyline and sphinx-shaped hotel or splashing in the giant hotel pool complexes. Check out the newest water attraction, the 53,000-square-foot Wet Republic, scheduled to open this month at the MGM Grand (www.mgmgrand.com).

WHERE TO STAY

Consider staying off the strip with the kids. It will certainly be more relaxing. There's Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa (www.redrocklasvegas.com), opened just two years ago on 70 acres near the Red Rock Mountains, 10 miles west of the strip. The guest rooms are some of the largest in Vegas hotels and there's a four-acre pool area, a 16-screen movie theater and a 72-lane bowling alley. The teens will like the summer concert series.

In suburban Henderson, a short drive from the Strip and the airport, there's the Green Valley Ranch Resort, Spa and Casino (www.greenvalleyranchresort.com) where we stayed last summer. Besides the big pool, my kids loved The District, a hip restaurant-shopping area connected by pedestrian walkway.

Head 17 miles south to MonteLago Village Resort at Lake Las Vegas (www.montelagovillage.com), which boasts a manmade lake and an ambiance designed to make you feel like you are in a Mediterranean village -- sort of anyway. Take a gondola ride, kayak, or play golf. There are free movies by the lake every Thursday night in the summer and a Saturday night concert series.

Also at Lake Las Vegas, the Ritz-Carlton (www.ritzcarlton.com) offers ''nights without neon'' with everything from moonlight spa treatments, dive-in movies, bike rides and ''Stars and S'More's,'' a tour of the stars with telescopes, followed by s'mores. (Ask about the Youth Spa.) You can also opt for a Loews Resort or a roomy condo.

WHAT TO DO

Wherever you stay, there is a lot to do besides stroll up and down the Strip and splash in the pool. Kidding Around Las Vegas by Kathy Espin (www.huntingtonpress.com) and The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas by Bob Sehlinger are good resources.

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