Ahhh The Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas. First time here, will probably be the last and let me tell you why:\n\n1. The car park is around the back of the hotel, with no front entrance that I saw. Given the huge increase in LV traffic, good luck in finding the parking garage if you get stuck on the strip. Do what I did: turn right onto Flamingo Blvd. and then cut across 5 lanes of traffic into The Cromwell's parking garage and, from there, cut a sharp left into a back alley, and drive until you find (accidentally, completely by chance) the back entrance to the Flamingo's parking garage. Extra points if you do NOT get a ticket, hit a taxi or drive the wrong way down a one way street. Of course, now that I've been to the Flamingo, I know the score. Grade: D.\n\n2. Arrive at check in, after a long car drive, and be greeted by the biggest A$$hole the Flamingo's HR department could find. Benjamin the desk clerk, a short, chubby, balding, snippy jerk with darting reptilian eyes, will make you feel super welcome and not at all turned off by his bitchy behavior. If you're lucky, he might even condescendingly insult members of your party too! Right to their faces!! Although I would have to say that Benjamin's the lucky one here ..... the men in the party wanted to kick him in the nuts.... but I wouldn't let them. I will, however, say that the next two desk clerks I dealt with were both very nice ladies. Benjamin, however, succeeded grandly in angering 2 members of our party which basically put a damper on the entire 3 days we stayed .... initially, people wanted to immediately go find another room in another hotel but that wasn't possible. Thanks solely to Benjamin, I give the check in process a ...... Grade: F. Thanks to you, \"Ben\", we probably will never return.\n\n3. ROOM PROS: The bathtub drained well. Plenty of towels and supplies. Strong water pressure, painful like a fire hose. Comfortable beds made up with decent sheets, etc. Hardly heard any noise from adjoining rooms which was nice ..... no flushing toilets, running water, stomping, yelling, etc. Great mirror coverage in the bathroom ..... big mirror above the sink, fabulous full length wide mirror on the far end bathroom wall. Very comfortable air conditioning ..... breezy.\n\nROOM CONS: Our rooms were dirty. I can say with certainty, the floor probably wasn't vacuumed properly or mopped for at least 2 weeks. Lots of dust and hair on the floors, behind the TV cabinet, desk and armchair ..... floor was quite grotty in fact. Rug, although grey and black, was obviously stained and grubby. Bathrooms in dire need of an upgrade ....... above our bath was a metal rusty stained trap door of sorts .....hardly up market. Lousy free TV selection. Lampshades with big holes in them.\n\n4. Very expensive snack shops ..... you will pay $4 for a can of Coors and $3.50 for a bottle of water. Elsewhere in the hotel, I paid $6 for a can of Coors.\n\n5. Crappy pool ..... it's a trek to get there too, at least from where Benjamin put us, way the heck back in the hotel with nothing but a brick wall for a view. Grade: D\n\n6. Elevators that kept breaking down. On the occasions that we actually stepped into an elevator without a maintenance man in it, the sounds coming from the elevator shaft were enough to bring on panic attacks and sudden frights. The last thing I want to hear while riding an elevator is loud CLANGS, THUDS and other strange noises. Everyone riding with us was freaking out. Grade: F\n\nCONCLUSION: I wanted a hotel right in the middle of the strip for a decent rate. I got the location, and I paid around $70/night per room. I wasn't expecting decadent luxury but I DO expect a clean room and a nice bathroom. The Flamingo gives off an old and tired vibe ...... dentures and stale cigarette smoke sort of vibe. I guess I can live with that but I CAN'T live with rude A$$hole customer 'service'. Benjamin really did ruin our first night in Vegas with his nasty manner because it was so unexpected. Dude, if you hate your job that much, LEAVE. No one will miss you. And, solely because of you, my next trip to Vegas will be spent at either The Cromwell, Harrah's, Paris or Planet Hollywood.\n\nOVERALL GRADE: 5 OUT OF 10
places reviews