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Talk about a summer glow-up:
The 79-year-old Flamingo Las Vegas continues a multi-phase transformation with the debut of the new $20 million GO Pool complex just in time for peak pool season on the Strip.
The historic resort received a $90 million room refresh in 2017, kicking off this recent wave of renovation. In the last few months, restaurants Gordon Ramsay Burger, Lisa Vanderpump’s Pinky’s and Havana 1957 moved in, joining the pool makeover in raising the profile of Caesars Entertainment’s oldest Las Vegas property.
“It was kind of the last of the properties to get any capital in, and somewhat by design,” says Dan Walsh, senior vice president and general manager of Flamingo. “We’ve always been working on a master plan, trying to figure out how do you position this property? What does it need? Where do you start? Where do you end?”
Walsh says the Caesars team realized the Flamingo’s expansive Strip frontage was “severely underutilized,” corrected by celebrity eateries from Vanderpump and Ramsay taking over two sleepy corners of the casino floor.
The addition of Miami-based Cuban restaurant chain Havana 1957 speaks to the Flamingo’s rich history and tropical inspirations.
“Opening three restaurants at the same time is kind of crazy, but once we started … we said let’s continue to look at the rest of the property,” Walsh says. “Probably one of the most compelling assets that we had for the longest time was that pool.
“We have this very unique habitat out there with four acres of tropical paradise. I’ve walked people out there and they’re blown away. They never knew this even existed—the waterfalls, the palm trees, the flamingos. That pool ... was built probably almost 30 years ago.”
The new GO Pool has been completely redesigned. To make the most of the oasis-like space, the main pool was reduced while adding a wet deck, 33 cabanas and new night lighting. Around 90 palm trees and other tree varieties were relocated to create a new perimeter around the outdoor complex, producing a private oasis with three new pools.
That brings the total number of pools to five, including a fabulous grotto. Other additions, like a portable 30-seat swim-up bar and a DJ booth located on top of a 50-foot-wide rain-curtain waterfall, will also amplify the scene, producing what Walsh calls “the show-stopping moment.”
And locals receive complimentary admission to GO Pool, set to open later this spring. Adults-only night swims are also in the works.
It feels like the dawn of a new era for the Flamingo. “We want to make it nice and new and modern and beautiful, but we also want to make sure we’re respecting the traditions of the property and providing something that carries that brand history with it,” Walsh says. “In talking with other leaders in our company ... they all say they’re more excited about the Flamingo than any property that we have right now. We keep saying it’s the year of the Flamingo.”
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