The first night of the trip was at the Flamingo in one of the newly renovated "Fab" rooms. After about a 15 minute wait, I get to the front deak and am told that they don't have the view room I had booked and have to settle for a pool view. It's kind of hard to believe considering it's the Tuesday before Christmas but no problem, its just one night. However, this is just the first of the disappointments over the next 24 hours. I proceed to the far elevators near the buffet and find only 1 of 8 working with about 25 people waiting. After about 10 minutes, they get a second one running and finally make it up to the room on the 17th floor.
The first thing that hits you as you walk into the room is the flamingo pink scattered about the room. In a 2 queen room there was a single night stand, small TV Stand/Armiore, desk and work chair plus a funky, pink polka dotted lounge chair. The new flooring, at first glance, appears to be wood but is really just linoleum. They placed a black and pink throw rug on the floor in front of the beds but it had no backing it and slide around. It actually was a little dangerous after a few drinks! The bathroom appeared to have not been renovated at all with old ceramic tile floor and even still have the old-school tissue holder/bottle opener/razor disposal unit built into the wall. There is just a single sink and a shower/tub combo.
Even putting aside the fact that they completely ignored the outdated bathroom, this has to be the worse "remodel" I have ever seen in my life. The night stand, armiore and desk were all old and beat up (see room pics.) The 1980s headboards remain above the bed and if they weren't going to change the wallpaper, they could have at least cleaned it. Really all that remodeled was the floor, bedding and a new flat-screen TV. Outside of the room, the Flamingo experience wasn't much better. The hallways leading to the "new" rooms haven't been repaired in ages with torn and stained carpet and I think that room service tray from next door may still be there. The elevators never were fully working and the ones that were working were filthy. One had a completely busted control panel that barely stayed closed. Perhaps I have been spoiled staying at the latest and greatest Vegas has to offer but if this was my once in a lifetime trip that cost me top-dollar, I know I wouldn't be planning my return trip to Vegas anytime soon. In a town that should be all about top-notch hospitality, this was quite frankly an embarrassment. It is not confined to Flamingo either. This is my second stay at a Caesars Entertainment property in the last month and Rio was in a similar state of disrepair. This company spends big bucks constantly ripping up their casino floors to add and remove restaurants but have completely ignored basic routine maintenance. You can add every trendy tropical themed restaurant in the world but your guests are subject to a disgusting experience, they are not coming back. It's plain and simple but it wouldn't be the first time an MBA running a casino didn't see the obvious.
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