My husband and I just returned from our annual vacation in Las Vegas. This year's hotel was the Flamingo (formerly the Flamingo Hilton). If you have read any of my previous reviews (Sahara, Riviera, Golden Nugget), you'll know that we stay in a different hotel each year. Here's our lowdown on the Flamingo.

First off, definitely use the airport check-in feature if you are flying into LV. My husband was able to check in while I picked up our bags and the whole thing only took 15-20 minutes, as opposed to standing in the neverending line at the hotel. (I swear, the only time there wasn't a line to check in was in the middle of the night!)

However, when we arrived at our room, we were greeted by a room that had not been cleaned. At all. Mind you, we were checking in at 6:30 PM. And my husband had been told that it was a king n/s with a pool view. It was a king n/s all right, but with a view of the roof and Bally's. So, we called the front desk and requested a new room. The guy at the desk was determined to keep us in this room, saying that someone would be up to clean it in an hour or so. After a bit of haggling, and discovering that there were no more king n/s rooms available, we settled for two doubles with a beautiful view of the pool and wildlife habitat.

We ate at Lindy's, the resident coffee shop, a few times and found the food to be pretty good and decently priced. We never had the buffet, although we were given a couple of 2-for-1 passes when we checked in. You do get several coupons upon check-in, some of which are really good, and not all of them are for the Flamingo.

We gambled quite a bit in the casino, as it was pretty big and treated us fairly well. We signed up for the player's club, which let us earn points at the Flamingo, Bally's, Paris, and Caesar's. I think I read that you get a point for every $10 spent, which is good, considering you get a point for every $75 spent at the Golden Nugget.

The pool area was nice, but could be a bit crowded. We went around 11:00 one morning and couldn't find two seats together at any of the five pools. So, we camped out on towels. Security does a good job of making sure only guests are visiting the pool.

Overall, we'd probably stay here again if we got a good deal. The rooms were good size and clean for the most part. Unfortunately, I think the reduction in staff was a little obvious here. But, we didn't have a bad stay, and I'd have to say this is our second favorite stay so far.

Recommended: Yes