Two with Option of Dining Credit or Lobster Buffet at Boomtown Reno

Family-Friendly Casino-Hotel near Downtown Reno

Each September in Reno, the sky is taken over by more than 100 hot air balloons of various shapes and sizes. They take flight at sunrise during The Great Reno Balloon Race at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, a three-day spectacle that also features homemade miniature balloon races. The skyline is bright and colorful just south of the park in downtown Reno, too. The city is lined with side-by-side casinos, whose lights flicker well past sundown.

Roughly 10 minutes from downtown you can find Boomtown Reno, which offers plenty of its own entertainment. At the onsite casino, you can try your luck at any of more than 500 slot machines, a poker room, and a sports book. The hotel also has a family fun center, which keeps youngsters entertained with arcade games, an antique carousel, a flight simulator, and a Ferris wheel decorated like a covered wagon.

Before heading up to your south tower classic room, you can fill up on prime rib at Cassidy's Café, or consider the limitless lobster buffet. There are also several bars and lounges on site where you can enjoy a nightcap and play video poker amid snakeskin walls and Old West decor.

Reno, Nevada: Casino City with Arts and Outdoor Adventure

Reno lives up to its billing as “The Biggest Little City in the World" thanks to its flashy casinos, cultural centers, and restaurants worthy of a much larger metropolis, all packed together on Virginia Street.

If you need a break from courting Lady Luck at the big gaming palaces, head to the Truckee River Arts District to explore the Nevada Museum of Art and the National Automobile Museum.

Because of its location at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and just east of Tahoe National Forest, the city also puts visitors within reach of rushing rivers and high mountain ranges for hiking, rafting, and gold-rush reenacting. Further south, North Lake Tahoe