Where we like to stay...

To start, let me say this - yes, there are many other hotels that are more modern, more luxurious, more hip, more everything than the Flamingo. The Flamingo is our pick for reasons that aren't on the top of everyone's wish list in a fabulous 5-star property. If you have been to Vegas enough times, you will realize that the hotels are basically all the same, just some are waaaaaay more expensive and they still have the same inherent problems as some of the more reasonably priced hotels.  For example: scary rooms (yes, even in the Bellagio), spotty or snotty service, obnoxious guests, noisy, smokey, etc. That being said, I will now explain why we like staying at this [don't shudder] 3-star property...

We have stayed several times at the Flamingo and the best feature of the hotel is its location. It's central - mid-Strip – the best place to be - with entrances that are right at the Strip's edge. You literally walk out the doors & hit the sidewalk on the Strip. At one door the Deuce bus stop is right in front of you. Unlike those HUGE resorts/casinos that want to encourage you to stay on the property, at the Flamingo you don't have to walk forever to get through the hotel/casino & then walk even more to get to the Strip.
They have 'Deluxe Rooms' & the 'GO Rooms' (a play on the word 'FlaminGO'). We used to stay in the Deluxe rooms which are nothing special and getting really dated (see the Twilight Zone at the Flamingo). On our last visit we stayed in the very mod GO rooms for around $60 a night (a deal at the time!). The GO rooms are equipped with mini-fridge, a very large plasma TV, Denon DVD system, curtains that open & close at the push of a button, & a telly invisibly embedded in the mirror in the loo! You'll have to check out the room photos on the website.

Do your homework on the various hotels and shop around. We like to read reviews on TripAdvisor for the latest news on the different properties.

We stayed off-Strip in October 2008 at the Orleans. It was great. We stayed for 5 nights & it was around $300 for the 2 of us. There is a free shuttle bus that runs every 20 minutes or so between the Orleans & Bill's Gambling Hall (right next to the Flamingo) from 9:30AM to midnight. Tip the driver $1 per person for each ride (less than a 15-minute trip one-way). Sometimes the shuttle will veer off to the Gold Coast Casino (a nearby sister hotel) but that's no big deal. The rooms here are very spacious and clean. The casino is huge and by the 5th night we were still finding areas that were previously undiscovered on our early slotting ventures.  The liquor store on the premises is small but has an impressive selection of wine, beer & spirits.  The prices are excellent too.  After a few hours of schlepping up & down the Strip or shopping, we'd often grab some cold beers from the store to take up to our room & enjoy while we freshened up for our next 'expedition'.

Dial ahead to the economic melt down of 2009 in the US. During our Oct 2009 trip we noticed that word seems to have spread about the deals on rooms at the Orleans and the benefits of the free shuttle. We paid $240 US for 6 nights! We also experienced line ups for the shuttle and laughed (grumbled) about having learned to ‘queue up’ in an orderly fashion as school children but that as adults, we have apparently lost this skill. Since the shuttle only holds 24 people at most (less if there are wheelchairs or scooters onboard) you have to stand your ground if you have arrived early enough to be waiting among the first 24 passengers. People seem to make up their own line and when the shuttle arrives, the rubes try to barge in front of those who have been waiting longest. Arghh! It appears that the shuttle drivers are aware of this and try to give preferential boarding to the head of the line. Also some of the Orleans clientele have definitely slid into the trashy category. However, if you enjoy people-watching this is a veritable buffet of the good, the bad and the ugly.