Bugsy Siegel's Legacy on the Las Vegas Strip
3555 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Age
All Ages (casino floor 21+)
Cost
$$$
Hotel room rates vary widely by season; casino access is free. Check caesars.com for current rates.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Fully paved, flat casino resort complex
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1946 · Organized Crime History · Las Vegas Strip Founding · Mid-Century Architecture
On December 26, 1946, Benjamin Siegel opened the Flamingo on a stretch of old Highway 91 that Las Vegas real estate promoters had begun calling the Strip. The casino was the most lavish the desert had seen — carpeted floors, real crystal chandeliers, linen napkins. Siegel had borrowed the project from Billy Wilkerson, founder of The Hollywood Reporter, who had purchased the land in 1945 with similar ambitions before Siegel's associates effectively absorbed the venture.
The opening was troubled. Rain kept celebrities away and the hotel wing wasn't finished. The casino lost money and closed within two weeks. When it reopened in March 1947, business improved slowly. By spring, the Flamingo was finally profitable. That was not enough for the syndicate, which had watched costs spiral far beyond projections.
On June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot multiple times through the window of the Bel Air home he shared with girlfriend Virginia Hill. He died in the living room. His associates had taken control of the Flamingo within hours.
The property changed hands many times over the following decades, and the original Bugsy Building — a four-story structure behind the pool that also housed Siegel's Presidential Suite with its distinctive pistachio-green bathroom fixtures — was demolished on December 15, 1993, during a high-rise expansion. The site where the original hotel stood is now a timeshare complex within the broader Flamingo property.
In 2010, a simple stone plaque was installed in the Flamingo's Wildlife Habitat garden, in front of the Garden Chapel, acknowledging Siegel's role in founding the resort. Today the Flamingo is operated by Caesars Entertainment and is one of the most recognizable addresses on the Strip.
Sources
The reports cluster around two locations: the pool area and Wildlife Habitat garden where the Bugsy Siegel memorial plaque now stands. Multiple accounts describe a figure near the pool in the late evening, when crowds have thinned — someone who appears briefly and is gone. Pool attendants have reportedly heard whistling and the sound of a pool table being struck from inside locked rooms.
A frequently cited account describes a housekeeper at the original hotel encountering a figure in a hallway that matched descriptions of Siegel. She did not finish her shift. The story circulates in Las Vegas hospitality circles and has been repeated in local media without further verification. The original Bugsy Building where she worked was demolished in 1993; the stories persist through the current resort's staff folklore.
Ghost City Tours and vegasghosts.com describe the memorial garden as a location where visitors have reported a sense of being observed, particularly after 10 p.m. The plaque, installed in 2010, sits roughly on the footprint where the original hotel once stood.
None of these reports have been formally investigated by a paranormal team with published findings. The Flamingo itself does not market these accounts, and the casino's official communications focus on its entertainment and hospitality offerings rather than its mob-era history.
Notable Entities
Book a room at the oldest continuously operating resort on the Las Vegas Strip. While the original Bugsy Building (demolished 1993) no longer exists, the property remains a mainstream Strip resort with a documented Siegel history. The Wildlife Habitat garden and pool area, where visitors have reported unexplained encounters, are accessible to hotel guests.
Walk the Flamingo Wildlife Habitat, a garden of flamingos, waterfalls, and tropical plants that occupies part of the site where the original 1946 hotel once stood. A stone plaque installed in 2010 in front of the Garden Chapel honors Benjamin Siegel. The habitat is free and accessible to non-hotel guests during daytime hours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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