Sarah Feldberg
Pull up the website for a Las Vegas hotel and book a room for a party of six. Go ahead, I'll wait.
The Caesars Palace booking module's drop-down only goes up to four, and a handy note informs potential visitors that there's a max guest occupancy of four per room. Ditto on the drop-down for the Bellagio Las Vegas. At the Cosmopolitan, where the booking
option goes all the way up to six, a single room type pops up for a sextet of visitors. At $870 per night, the 1,615-square-foot, two-bedroom City Suite offers one king bed, two queens and a living room and sounds like a relative bargain.
Despite the dearth of group accommodations, Las Vegas is a destination where visitors often roll deep. Bachelor and bachelorette parties, family and college reunions, spontaneous weekends with a carful of friends yelling "Vegas, baby!" along the Interstate
15. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's 2017 Visitor Profile study, 5% of guests come to the city in a party of five or more. Based on last year's total visitation statistics, that's more than 2 million people.
"We're getting all these requests from groups who want to stay together in one suite," said Eileen Moore, regional president of the Flamingo Las Vegas. The hotel hasn't been able to serve them — until now.
As part of phase two of the 70-year-old Flamingo's room renovation, which has cost $156 million to date, the casino-hotel is debuting bunk-bed rooms and suites with two queen beds each topped by a full-size bunk.
"It's brand new for us, and really it's designed to go after small groups," said Moore. "They can sleep six adults comfortably."
The Flamingo's 14 new bunk-bed rooms and three bunk-bed suites, which offer 1,000 square feet including a living room and kitchenette, are bookable online now for trips beginning Feb. 1. They're the next iteration of a concept that debuted at the Linq
hotel and casino, another Caesars Entertainment property, in 2016.
"We sell those rooms out regularly. We probably could add some more at some point," Moore said, adding that the Linq caters to younger customers in its room design and square footage. "The Flamingo suites are taking it up a notch."
The suites and rooms feature a contemporary design of neutral hues punctuated by pops of pink that's also being deployed throughout the resort. By the time the Flamingo renovations are completed in fall 2019, all of its approximately 3,400 hotel rooms
will be updated with the fresh look.
Pricing on the group accommodations starts at $115 for the bunk-bed rooms and $310 for the bunk-bed suites. Split six ways between a wedding party or fantasy football draft group, Moore said, "you're able to put on an amazing gathering at a really reasonable
price."
Which leaves one all-important question: Who wants the top bunk?