FLAMINGO
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Local luxury hotel-casino opens in the middle of the Nevada desert and is a place rich in history and drama
Pink is the color of the Flamingo and the birds that can be admired in the hotel's garden, the Wildlife Habitat. The story goes back to 1945, when a Californian newspaper magnate named Billy Wilkerson decided to build the third hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard on his land. Lacking funds, he turns to the crime syndicate represented by gangster Bugsy Siegel. The mafioso takes the project in hand and decides to give the building the lavish look of a palace on the Sunset Strip of Los Angeles. This is where, for some, the nickname of Las Vegas Boulevard comes from: The Strip.
To carry out this ambitious project, the man convinced his underworld associates to invest $6 million in what would be the first luxury hotel-casino in the area. On December 26, 1946, the establishment, whose emblem was the Florida flamingo, opened its doors in the middle of the Nevada desert. Its concept of a timeless casino, protected from daylight and devoid of any clocks, is the one that still persists today in all casinos in the area. Six months later, Bugsy Siegel was found dead, murdered by his associates, unhappy with the low profitability of the establishment and aware of a misappropriation of money operated by the mafioso himself. Note that, since late 2011, an annex and smaller casino, the Margaritaville, came to extend the grip of the Flamingo on the Strip. The ensemble is a place rich in history and flashy, like the city.
Did you know? This review was written by our professional authors.
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