Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino – Dream of Gangster
Benjamin “Bugsy” Seigel, the notorious gangster, opened the original Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on December 26, 1946. He named the hotel in honor of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, whose red hair and long legs led to her nickname, “The Flamingo.” Before Seigel opened his classy Cuban-style resort in the middle of the desert, all Las Vegas hotels had used a western frontier theme. After some initial problems, the Flamingo became a success; however, Bugsy Seigel did not enjoy his achievement for long. Unknown gunmen murdered the mobster at Virginia Hill’s home in Beverly Hills on June 20, 1947.
Today the Flamingo Las Vegas is owned by Caesars Entertainment Corporation and has been completely reconstructed. The resort includes more than 3,500 deluxe guestrooms, 77,000-square-feet of gaming, and a large tropical garden that features three pools and a wildlife habitat.
Casino Gaming
The Flamingo Las Vegas boasts over 1,600 slots and video poker machines in the recently-remodeled casino. The 70 table games include Craps, Blackjack, Mini-Baccarat, Roulette, Caribbean Stud Poker, Let It Ride Poker, Three Card Poker, and Pai Gow Poker.
Keno, a perennial Flamingo favorite, has returned. The Chinese invented this bingo-like game more than 2,000 years ago. For wagering enthusiasts, the Flamingo’s Race & Sports Book features nine 36” screens, sixteen 43” screens, and two projection televisions.
It provides similar infrastructure and cultures like sports betting in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and other Asian countries.
Dining at the Flamingo Las Vegas
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville café serves American favorites with a parrothead twist. A Caribbean island atmosphere permeates the restaurant, large gift shop, five bars, two outdoor patios, and nightly live music.
Additional dining choices include Hamada of Japan for authentic Japanese cuisine, Burger Joint for gourmet hamburgers in a sports bar setting, and Tropical Breeze Café for a wide variety of meals. Pink Bean has coffee, espresso, and cappuccino with snacks.
Paradise Garden Buffet overlooks the Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat and offers all-you-can-eat dining for a fixed price. During the summer, the Beach Club serves burgers, sandwiches, and drinks by the pool.
Sin City Brewing Company, serving delicious microbrewed beer handcrafted in Las Vegas, is a nice spot for a break from the action.
Flamingo Entertainment
There is no charge to see the Flamingo’s famous Wildlife Habitat, where visitors wander through winding paths amidst palm trees, waterfalls, fountains, and streams. The lush area is home to flamingos, swans, ducks, koi, turtles, and many indigenous birds.
Flamingo headliners include Donny & Marie Osmond with their musical variety show, the comedians George Wallace and Vinnie Favorito, and magician Nathan Burton.
X Burlesque is an adult revue with topless performers dancing to popular music and comedians entertaining between dance routines.
Treat Yourself at the Flamingo Las Vegas
Guests of the Flamingo Las Vegas enjoy deluxe accommodations, a large casino, excellent dining options, and first-class entertainment. At the heart of the resort is a 15-acre palm garden with three interconnected pools, two hot tubs, the Beach Club, four lighted tennis courts, and the Wildlife Habitat. Bugsy Siegel’s desert dream has become a tropical reality.
Other Best Hotels in Las Vegas
Las Vegas is not simply a place where tourists can get their gambling fill: it’s a town where entertainment, adventure and romance are constantly being taken to a new and amazing level. The incredible casino/hotel complexes that fill Vegas vie for tourist attention by trying to come up with the most amazing exterior designs, live shows and kitsch concepts to pull the crowds in. Here is a list of the must-see locations.
The Bellagio
In terms of luxury and extravagance, the Bellagio is one of the best on the Vegas Strip. This hotel/casino’s spectacular interiors are worth looking at just on their own; they are both rich and intriguing with a natural and modern art feel. To top things off, the Bellagio has one of the most spectacular exterior displays in all of Vegas – the fountain show is brilliant and it’s free for all passersby. Also, Bellagio’s the home of Cirque du Soleil’s underwater spectacular ‘O’, one of the most sought after shows in all of Vegas.
The Venetian Las Vegas
The canals of Venice are here in the desert of Nevada! The exterior and interior of the Venetian Hotel/Casino seeks to replicate the extraordinary canal-based city of Venice, and they do with remarkable detail. Visitors to the Venetian can ride in a gondola down the canals while enjoying the spectacular scenery. This is also part of the largest casino complex in Vegas and is home to ‘The Blue Man Group’, a Guggenheim Museum and a Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
Caesar’s Palace
The grand historic city of Rome is bought to Las Vegas in one of the Strip’s most famous casino/hotels. Caesar’s Palace is particularly notable for the recreation of the Trevi Fountain, along with other Italian historical features, including the Statue of David. Includes an impressive grand circular escalator; the premier feature of the casino’s visually stunning interior.
The Luxor Las Vegas
The Luxor is a huge black-glass Egyptian-themed pyramid, one of the most impressive casino’s when seen at night. The Pyramid has a beam of light shooting from its top – the strongest beam of light in the world, along with a replica sphinx out the front. The interior of the Luxor is equally as impressive; with a more extra terrestrial feel about it, there are bizarre angular elevators, obelisks, hieroglyphics and shows that always seek to appeal to those with a darker sense of adventure.
Excalibur Hotel and Casino
From outside this hotel/casino resembles a fairytale castle in the Disney tradition and really stands out from many of the other buildings on the Strip. The medieval theme throughout is impressive and the main highlight of the casino is the dinner show ‘Tournament of Kings’, giving diners a meal fit for a king along with a performance including jousting, fighting, dancing and fireworks.
New York New York
One of the most stunning exterior facades in all of Las Vegas, the New York New York faithfully recreates the iconic New York skyline, with the Empire State Building jostling for position with the statue of Liberty. The main attraction of this hotel/casino is the incredible roller coaster, where visitors ride around the cityscape of New York in cars that resemble yellow taxicabs.
Paris Hotel and Casino
With its Paris-themed exterior, this hotel/casino has been popular with the punters for ages. The huge Eiffel Tower replica out the front is the obvious drawcard, but other details make this an impressive hotel all up; a replica Arc de Triomphe, La Fontaine de Mers and nods to the Louvre. Visitors can climb up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and get spectacular views of the Vegas strip.
The Stratosphere
This massive hotel/casino tower soars over 1000 feet high and is known as one of Vegas’ more budget hotel options. The Stratosphere tower offers not only great views, but also three terrifying thrill rides: Big Shot, X-scream and Insanity, all which have visitors dangling perilously over the edge of this immensely high tower. In terms of theme-park thrill rides, the Stratosphere is perhaps the scariest and most famous in all of Vegas.
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