Flamingo has really gone downhill

I just spent a couple of nights at the Flamingo and have never been so disappointed. I have stayed there many times before but I think that will be my last time. Everything was broken and the customer service is lacking, I'm guessing because they are getting so many complaints they just don't care anymore. We were promised a comped go room and since we had choices at most of the CET hotels we chose Flamingo because they have a nice pool. When we got there, there was an extremely long line for check in, okay, I wasn't surprised as I've read all the stories so I was mentally prepared. But when I got to the front, No go rooms! Stuck in a Fab room, okay not the end of the world. Fab room was old but clean, but everything was broken. plugged my phone in to charge it and the next morning my phone was dead, yep the outlet was broken. When I looked closer I could see it wasn't even screwed into the wall right. Same thing with the elevator button by the habitat, literally hanging off the wall. The elevators were so old and sounded bad, I felt I was taking a bigger gamble in the elevators than I was in the casino with their tight machines! I kept telling myself it's only two nights, then we'll stay downtown at the D and I know those rooms are decent (and they were). So the second day I went up to the room after breakfast and my key wasn't working, neither was my husbands. We know about keeping your key card away from cell phone (it will deactivate it) so we were careful about that. Went downstairs to tell them and yep, a long line. I went up to ask if we could talk to someone about a key not working without standing in that long line and was told to wait in the key line, also a very long line. The computers for self check in were not working so long lines everywhere. This is where I had had enough. I told her I didn't think I should have to stand in a long line again because of something that is their fault. She told me "All these people are waiting for keys or have lost keys" I said "We didn't lose our keys they stopped working and it's the hotel's fault" She was pretty adamant and had an I don't give a crap attitude so I left and kept checking the line all day. Finally after midnight the line went down. We talked to a casino host who apologized after I told her I was not able to access my room all day, and she waved the resort fee.
I wish I had picked another hotel, We liked Paris I've stayed there before and the casino is nice, so are the rooms and pool, and as it turned out, we never went to the pool at Flamingo because we decided it wasn't worth it to stand in line to get in and risk not getting a lounge chair anyway. Bottom line, I'm done with Flamingo. My advice to anyone wondering about a stay there, don't!

 

The key card thing is very annoying. When key cards were new and I didn't know how they worked, I stayed at a motel in Arkansas where I had to go and get my card fixed for the first three days of a four night stay. I accepted it, because I don't expect much from motel staff in BFE Arkansas. I'd expect more from the Flamingo. Maintenance wise, everything I hear about all CET properties is that they're running on a shoestring since the financial crisis and their bankruptcy woes. Older properties suffer the most when maintenance is cut to the bone. The issue is made worse by cutting staff down and trying to extract more and more work from the people who remain.

 

The Flamingo has been a dump for years now.

 

Too bad they are letting things go down this much. I wonder if some of their resources have been allocated to those hotels getting updates?

As to the line for keys - totally sucks. But, no reason any one person should get taken care of before another person. I know it was not your fault, but they apparently were not willing or able to serve everyone at once. People pushing to front of line complaining actually slow down the process. Again, it is not the customers fault, but....

 

Maybe a separate place for special circumstances should be set up. I just don't see any reason someone should be locked out of their room all day or spend that much time waiting in line. But then again they probably are cutting staff, no other reason for the long lines as there were many spots at the counter with no staff where there could have been.

 

I'm at the Flamingo right now and while my expectations were low I've had the opposite experience for the most part. I haven't stayed here in many years but this trip is a group trip of 14, ages 21-80 and the location/price works best.

We got here about noon on Sunday. Short check-in line. All 7 of our Go rooms were ready. Did a $40 sandwich instead of my usual $20 since there were several rooms. Worked fine and we were upgraded to high floor strip view. Obviously there are nicer rooms on the strip. But our room is fine. Our safe didn't work, we called and 7 minutes later the guy showed up and took care of it.

I keep hearing horror stories about the elevators but we're on day 3 and have never waited more than a minute going up or down.

Casino is fine. Nothing fancy.

Pool area is great of course. Crowded but not overly crowded. The extreme temps have something to do with it I'm sure.

We're here Sunday-Thursday before moving to the Palms. As I said at the beginning my expectations were low so maybe that's part of why I'm pleasantly surprised.

In my future trips I'm sure we'll be going back to staying off strip but the Flamingo worked out well this time.

 

Flamingo used to be my choice some 20 years ago due to it's location and reasonable costs. The last few years it's been headed to Imperial Palace territory, low cost property drawing lost cost tourists.

 

Horrible experience I am sorry to hear that. I would not have put up with that as well. Thanks for letting us know.

 

The only think I noticed on this last trip is that the (main) elevators are not as quick as they used to be. Still much quicker than at the old IP. The (main) elevators seemed to be newer and/or recently renovated. The room (just west and north of the main elevators) was nice but nothing special. No problems with anything not working.

I'm still semi-down on them, however, for taking out most of the machines I like.

 

I would assume your better experience is in part due to Sun-Thurs. Because of the stupid call buttons, the elevators get exponentially worse the more people are there, and naturally so would the lines.

 

Definitely. That's the case at every casino, they have big crowds, and more problems, than weekdays. That's why I rarely go over a weekend. Just went to both pools, chairs available at 10:15. Adult pool a lot nicer than family pool.

 

This is sad because the Flamingo is my favorite casino, for some reason I just always have a good time gambling there. Next trip I'm thinking staying at Bally's, or is maybe Paris a good alternative, is there a big price difference for rooms?

 

My stay was Tuesday and Wednesday night checking out Thurs morning. I was hoping that staying those days i would avoid the long lines but maybe during the summer everyday is like a weekend. If I had been assigned a Go room like I thought I was going be in, maybe my experience might have been better. If I had realized from the start that that's where I was going to be, I might have tried the 20.00 sandwich but like I said it was two days and I didn't want to ruin the trip griping about a room I was going to be in for such a short stay. From the way it sounds, the elevators by the habitat are for the Fab rooms so nothing has been updated and the elevators for the Go rooms aren't as bad? I just wish I could have a do over, I'd pick one of the other hotels.

 

I've never stayed at the Flamingo but visited many times to go to shows, or to gamble while in route to other places on the strip. It looks run down but it still appears clean but it's always crowded.

What I don't like about the Flamingo and won't stay there is the fact that the time share salespeople are everywhere and very bothersome and annoying. My wife and I like to hold hands while walking around and this is like a magnet to them. We are on vacation and don't like to be bothered. If we want to buy something we'll go to you, you don't have to come to us.

 

Huh, didn't get any timeshare pitches there (have seen them other places)

Nevertheless, the strategy is the same .... don't break stride, don't be polite. Time share people are not people.
If you are holding hands go in for the clothesline.

Ok, kidding about that last part.

 

Even though I stay at MLife properties I play lots of craps at Flamingo. The casino is smelly and dirty so probably will never stay there because of that...but I always seem to win something there (last trip $5 fire bet and the guy hit every number). Plus, the tables are definitely more lively than the Aria. I've met some really fun interesting characters at the Flamingo.

 

There are definitely a ton of timeshare people here but they are in virtually every casino. Just played some $5 craps. Pool more crowded today than Monday or Tuesday (as expected). Although my experiences have differed from those of the OP this place is definitely in need of the upcoming redo. It will be interesting to see the details of what those changes will be. And the corresponding price increases.

Every hotel has stories of bad experiences, including Wynn, Cosmo, etc... Certainly they are more prevalent at the Flamingo. When reading reviews, here and elsewhere there's no doubt my positive experiences this week are the exception.

 

I hear you, but I've found the annoying salesdweebs to be less thick at Flamingo than at many other properties. Only recent exception was a VERY annoying lady who was usually in the door of the "Lotions and Potions" shop. Very pushy! At least she called me "miss", which happens less and less frequently anymore.

Last trip at Bally's they were very thick in the mall area that leads to the sports book and Monorail.

Worst in recent history has to be the Westgate! Timeshare salesdorks EVERYWHERE, even at the main hotel entrance! They were even hitting on solo women, something they seldom do!

 

Happy when I saw a $5 craps table last night at 7. It was a fun table, some Australian guys that were a hoot. At 8:00 pit boss said it was now a $10 table. No grandfathering. Everyone left. That pissed me off. I told the pit boss there was a full table having fun and now an empty table and she shrugged. Most of us were betting more than $5 anyway. But we were ticked off

 

Vega$ is on Buzzr TV in NYC now. Boy, is it fun to see old Vegas. SWAT was pretty good too, but Bob Urich wasnt a star in it.
Too bad he died so young.