The Flamingo, Las Vegas

The Flamingo Hotel & Casino

The Flamingo is one of the older casinos on the Las Vegas strip. It was built by Bugsy Siegel, one of the most notorious mob figures in American history, at a cost of $6 million, which was a phenomenal figure at the time, and one of the reasons that he lost his life. At the time, it was known as a luxury hotel, with only 105 rooms. In 1967, it was purchased by a new owner, who tore down the original structure and built it back into the monolith it is today, with over 3,500 rooms, four towers, and covering 15 acres.

Even at 15 acres, the Flamingo can seem small as a casino. Its poker room is substandard when compared to the growth of poker across the country. It’s actually not a poker room, but a poker area, as there are no walls or real separation between poker and the slots. However, it may be kept small because it offers charm that larger rooms in other casinos can’t touch. The other gaming areas also seem small by comparison. The slots are everywhere, though, and since that seems to be the most popular attraction, especially by older visitors, they’ll feel well taken care of.

The showroom is also relatively small by comparison with other casinos, but it’s built well and provides for an intimate setting with the performers. When I was there, the performers were George Wallace and Gladys Knight. At the present time, it’s the home for Donnie and Marie Osmond.

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The Flamingo also has a lot of history. It was the location for the first Oceans Eleven movie starring Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Elvis also made the movie Viva Las Vegas here. The movie Bugsy starring Warren Beatty had many scenes filmed here.

My room was also on the 23rd floor, which offered a great vision of both the city and the mountains. At night, it was a wonderful and spacious view; almost took my breath away. We had paid for a package deal, which offered $15 a day to gamble with and a couple of free meal tickets to the buffet. It also took 7 minutes to get from our room to the lobby or casino area; that’s a big hotel! The buffet was okay, but the rest of the restaurant was pretty nice, as it offered all sorts of meals from Italian to Asian choices.

You will get pumped to take part in one of those time share deals, and they’ll entice you with show tickets and some more free meal tickets. We declined since it would have taken 3 hours out of our day, which was the day we were leaving, but if you get there at the right time, it might not be such a bad deal.

Overall, the Flamingo is a very comfortable casino and hotel, very nice, but one word of warning. If you left anything at home it’s going to cost you at least 5 times what it would cost you in a regular store. So, think about getting a cab and going to a grocery store to get what you need; trust me, the cab ride will cost less than it will, unless you can afford the convenience.

See more:
Wikipedia – Flamingo Hotel History
Bugsy Siegel Biography
The Flamingo Map & Directions