OK. The Flamingo Is Offcially Cursed!

Power to part of the Flamingo on the Las Vegas Strip was knocked out for hours today (8/9) as a result of ongoing construction at the adjacent Gansevoort, a company official said.

The outage was reported at 9 a.m., according to NV Energy spokeswoman Kelley Mulroy, and as of noon, crews were still working to restore power.

According to Flamingo spokeswoman Debbie Munch, the outage started at 8 a.m., and the cause was related to construction at the Gansevoort, formerly Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, next door to the Flamingo.

Caesars Entertainment, which operates the Flamingo, confirmed power was lost in one of the hotel towers and said it was working with NV Energy on the problem.

“(T)here was an electric power interruption to one of the six hotel towers at the nearby Flamingo Resort,” Munch said in an email. “The outage...has affected casino-level retail and other areas connected to that tower. Flamingo is assisting affected guests, has arranged to install a generator while repairs are in progress and hopes to restore power to affected areas mid-afternoon.” --Las Vegas Sun

One of the Sun columnists tweeted that the power was out in two towers and the casino. Appears the construction crews at the Gansevoort cut a power line. Had a great stay at the Flamingo in June. So glad I left before someone put the evil eye on the property!

 

Yikes that would suck! Hopefully with it being Friday people were at the pool or still sleeping.

 

Friends are heading there in October, non-refundable payment. If it remains bad, I'll tell them about the problems. No point over stressing worry warts. I hope all is well by then. This has been bad.

When CEt loses money they have to recoup it somewhere. You and me?

 

Are they losing money, or spending money they don't have on LINQ?? Probably both.

 

I sure hope noone set the electric alarm clock to catch a flight...

 

Just looking out of the window
Watching the asphalt grow
Thinkin' how it all looks hand me down
Good Times.......

 

I wouldn't say the Flamingo is cursed. It's just an older property that needs some work. And it's stuck in the middle of a construction sandwich right now.

 

I was thinking they are losing money from the customers who aren't staying and/or playing during this plumbing mess and the compensation for folks who lost electricity and AC during this construction error. Also you and I will(indirectly) pay for that repair.

Heck, we pay for all their financial boo boos.

 

Other Flamingo problems

Besides the power outage, the old hotel is experiencing other problems with its infrastructure too. The food court has been closed for three weeks while an old sewer line is replaced. The employee dining room was shut down by the health department and is currently located in one of the banquet rooms on the third floor. After they built the new receiving area on the east end of tower six, they realized that no bathrooms were planned for employees. They are forced to walk the entire length of tower six and use facilities in Margaritaville.
They also didn't build freight elevators for the new receiving area. All product received is transported down the entire length of tower six and transported up two passenger elevators to the 1st and second floors. Needless to say, these elevators bread down literally on a daily basis because there not built to handle these types of loads. What a shame Hilton doesn't still own this property. They knew how to treat guests and employees and they knew how to make money for the property. When a corporation is 23 billion dollars in the red, it only means bad times for the guests and employees.

 

I have always wondered what happens to all the slots when a casino loses power

When the power comes back to you still have are your credits in the machine?
If you were playing a bonus while its shuts off are you just SOL ?

 

I'm pretty sure they have some failsafe memory or something that remembers your credits. Could you imagine if 3000 slots all lost power and the credits were irretrievable? I'm sure that everyone would have had over $5000 in those keno machines alone. I know I would.

Back in 1988 I was driving out to California and stopped at Lake Tahoe for the night. I was at a $5 BJ table and all the lights went out for probably just under 10 seconds. Really weird. When the lights came back on, everyone at the table looked at each other, then at the racks of chips in front of the dealer, then back at each other again. Funny moment.

 

It does not make sense to pay for flights and/or long drives to stay at this property.
There are plenty of other options on the strip in the same price range that are not a mess like this place.
If you have non refundable reservations,I would call the place you made them and ask for a change.
This place was a dump before the most recent string of issues.It is not going to get better with CET heading deeper in debt.Chapter 11 on the horizon.

 

They should. At the Circus Crcus many years ago the power went off during a major summer thunderstorm. There was a brief blip. All the unimportant lights and music were off. It was during the days of coins. Without all the extraneous noise, it was errie playing with just the bang of coins.

Lots of other things may break in a hotel, but I bet they have dozens of fail safes to know how much money you do or don't have in those machines.

 

I hope most if not all of these problems are fixed come November!

 

VERY insightful. Great post.

 

That whole side of the strip is going through construction it's tough to manage but it's all for our entertainment so you have to read up and see what's going on before you go really.

 

I was in the Cosmo some time after it opened and the power went out. The slot attendants came around paying cash for what you had tied up in the machines since no tickets would print.

 

As for the Flamingo, I feel sorry for anyone who books a room. Caesars is more than 23 billion in debt, probably closer to $30Billion. Instead of upgrading existing facilities, they put money into a dumpy old dept store in Downtown Cleveland and a worn out racetrack called Thistledown. Of course the slots are so tight at both places, people will not continue to patronize them if they never leave ahead.

 

It is too bad that the issues are ongoing, but to turn the thread upside down (especially for those who have reservations and are gulping) I have never had an issue with Flamingo. I always have a GO Room booked and me and my friends always enjoy the pool.

It is obviously not the place you go to if you are going to judge every carpet stain, judge service speeds, or judge food quality. It is a budget option with arguably the best location on the strip and one of the most fun pools on the strip that you do not have to pay to get into. It is right on par with Harrah's with a less sleepy atmosphere (not counting the few hours Piano Bar and Carnival Court are rocking).

If you are really worried, pony up a few bucks more and book either MGM or Mirage. Sometimes they can run at a similar or slightly higher rate as the GO Room but you get a much more polished property along the same budget lines (they also offer frequent food and beverage, buffet, or view upgrade promotions at both places, keep your eye out).

 

I couldn't agree with you more Wishman.

I stayed there in June,before all these recent problems. I wasn't looking for a 5 star hotel or expecting one. If you are use to paying triple the cost,and expect 5 star accommodations then this is not the place for you to come "slumming".

My stay was great.The staff could not do enough to keep or make me happy...and I'm not a High Roller in any way. I was treated with respect.
I played in both casinos and did ok. OK being...I would put a 20 in and cash out at 100-150. I had a great time at Flamingo and have no issues with booking my next stay there.

What I don't get is why people pay 200-400 a night for a room when they spend very little time in the room and even less time gambling in the casino where they are staying. Must be a reason?