On this date, December 26, 1946 the Flamingo opened on the Las Vegas Strip, which was called highway 91 back then. Mobster Bugsy Siegel and his “partners” opened  the Flamingo Hotel & Casino at a total cost of $6 million on December 26, 1946. Billed as “The West’s Greatest Resort Hotel,” the 105-room property and first “luxury hotel” on the Strip and the third resort to open on the Strip after the El Rancho Las Vegas and the Last Frontier.

Currently the Flamingo property offers a 77,000 sq. ft. casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms. The 15-acre site’s architectural theme is reminiscent of the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne style of Miami and South Beach, with a garden courtyard housing a wildlife habitat featuring flamingos.  The Flamingo is located on the Las Vegas Blvd or the “Strip”  directly across from the Caesars Palace.  Today, the third resort on the Strip competes successfully with the new megaresorts with a health spa, wedding chapel, shops, rent-a-car, fine restaurants, and popular musicals and celebrity shows. The property is now owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment and is the oldest resort on the Strip still in operation today.

Photo By: Wikipedia.com

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