Realistic review of this Budget Hotel/Casino
Written: Oct 01 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Location, Cost
Cons: Below average in virtually all areas.
The Bottom Line: Avoid if you want somewhere with style, class or charm & if you want fine dining and shopping. Okay if Budget & strip location are priority.
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| imaginetr's Full Review: Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino |
Price = A, Room = C, Casino = D, Location = B, Check-in = B, Dining = C, Pool = D, Stores = D, Appearance/Style = F, Sports Book = F.
Okay, to put this into perspective. I did a lot of research on the Imperial Palace (IP) prior to going so I had an idea of what to expect. So my review/grades are not due to being disappointed because of unrealistic expectations. For an additional review and complete breakdown of the IP try visiting www.cheapovegas.com. Myself and two old college buddies made reservations and stayed at the IP Sept. 26th -28th, Sunday-Tuesday. I booked through expedia.com and my regular room price was $65/night. This compared to $129 for a "cheap" theme hotel like the Aladdin or $200++ for the really nice places during this time period.
OVERALL APPEARANCE: This is NOT a "theme" hotel despite it's name "Imperial Palace" and general Asian decor of dragons, rice paper walls, Asian style lettering etc. That is just decor. It's nothing like the "Paris" or "New York, NY" etc. where the insides are that of Parisian streets and shops, or NY streets and signs etc. The IP is just an older, plain multi-story hotel and boxy casino. It doesn't even display well from the front of the strip. So don't expect to be impressed by it's outward appearance.
CHECK-IN: I arrived at about 11:50 a.m. Sunday. There was a HUGE line winding through ropes at check-in but I'm happy to say it progressed quickly and my entire check-in experience took just 10-15 minutes. My buddies arrived a couple hours later and said it took them more like 30+ minutes but also said once at the counter, the desk clerk knew their business and was efficient, as was mine.
ROOM: I knew prior to arriving that for a $20 I could "upgrade" to a newly remodeled room which I and one buddy did. One did not. I followed the recommendations of 'cheapovegas.com' and requested the "first tower". This put be on the 11th floor. I actually paced off the room and place it at 12' x 27' so 324 sq. ft. I call it a very standard room, nothing unique or special. My room had two queen size beds with once night stand between them. There was a lamp and basic alarm clock on the stand. The lamp switch needs replacing as you had to jiggle it to get the lamp on. BEDS: Were okay. pillows smallish and too soft for my liking. AC: the room air conditioner worked very well and kept my room as cool as I liked it, probably cold by other standards. Each room has a balcony. I don't think too many have much of a view though. Also, my sliding door did not lock properly. An Iron and ironing board are provided. The room only has one deadbolt lock in addition to the door knob. There is NO chain or slide lock as most hotels have. There is a peep hole viewer in the door. There is a dresser with a lamp, a separate sitting table and two chairs and a floor lamp. A TV on the dresser, I'd say 32" screen. The TV had a poor picture and the basic channel selection was limited. Pay movies and Nintendo were available as was account review and checkout. I used the checkout feature. There was also a listing for "survey" but it was not working at the time.
BATHROOM: Was okay. The tub/shower was a one piece fiberglass unit so no grout lines or seams. Two handle faucet , the shower head was high enough and the water pressure was EXCELLENT. There was plenty of hot water always. The bath floor was made up of 8"x 8" ceramic tile and was clean. There was one sink, single-handled faucet, with plenty of open space for my toiletries and bag, I'd guess 60" wide. A hair dryer was mounted on the wall at the side of the sink and worked well. The towel rack was also mounted on the wall by the sink but I would say it should be mounted above the toilet, next to the shower for easy reach from the tub/shower, no biggy. All neutral (beige and off white) colors. Shampoo, lotion, soap are provided as well as a shower cap, individually wrapped/sealed plastic cups. The mirror fogged up every time I showered and no wonder why because the exhaust fan was located UNDER the sink top just about 12" off the floor. It makes no sense what so ever.
My one buddy who did NOT upgrade said his bath had that "nice homey touch of black mildew" along the top of his shower. Ewww. I never made it to his room but he said it was just okay except for the bathroom.
ELEVATORS: worthy of mention here. As I said, I requested the "first tower" at the recommendation of cheapovegas.com. The main elevators for this tower start on the main floor but skip floors 2-5. So it runs 1, 6-18. This turns out to make a HUGE difference. I never once had difficulty getting an elevator up or down.
Now, I did need to use the elevator in another tower to get to the pool on the second floor. The elevators there served all floors 1-18. I should say, I didn't actually use them because after 15 minutes of waiting, I gave up and walked downstairs and over to my tower. I spoke with a woman who had to use those elevators and she said it was really BAD all the time.
CASINO: The casino is just a large rectangular room. That's it. Fairly low ceiling compared to those other grand theme casino's. I'd say the IP ceiling is about 15-20' high versus say Caesar's or the Venetian or NY, NY or any of the nice places whose ceilings are probably 30'-50' high. This makes a difference when people are smoking. The IP is much smokier than any other casino I visited. Also, the casino has just two main aisles for people to walk through, and these aisles are narrow. One goes along the left side where you check-in and so during busy times, it's a traffic jam. The other is down the middle and a bit wider but it runs between all the gaming tables and can get congested. I would not choose this casino as my "home-base" to spend any length of time it.
BARS/LOUNGES: There are four bars throughout the casino but none are very big. All of these lounges are open on one side to the casino floor. So, none are a truly separate, quiet or cozy bar/lounge. Three of them are "sit at the counter" only type and one actually has tables to sit down at. This last one has a lounge act; at the time of our visit it was "The sax man" which was actually a two man show. I played the slots nearby and was not impressed. Also, there are "working girls" who sit at the bar waiting for "customers" or strike up their own conversations. But I think this happens everywhere.
COCKTAIL WAITRESSES: My buddies and I all agree that the waitresses were all very attractive and the outfits very flattering. I’d describe the outfits as similar to those old Playboy bunny outfits without the tail and ears. All outfits were black and emphasized cleavage.
There is one final bar, "Tequilla Joes" and it is located in front of the hotel, right on the strip. It is in it's own little building and connected to the Hotel/Casino by a roof creating a drive-through area where taxi's, shuttles and limo's drop off guests. Tequilla Joe's is mostly a large, open room with about 10 tables and 4 couches to one side of the room. The bar is along this side as well. This leaves the center open as a dance floor of sorts but also acts as an unofficial corridor for foot traffic to pass through from the hotel to the strip. This Lounge boasts Karaoke every night starting at 8:00 pm. It was mostly full each night I passed through. I do sing Karaoke but found the layout a bit intimidating. Not comfortable or inviting.
SPORTSBOOK: For those who don't know, the sports book in the casino is where you can watch all or most sporting events on a variety of TV's and screens and place bets on virtually any event out there. The actual sports book in the IP is on the second floor and very poor. It's very small, seating, just about 30-40 people. There is a bar next to it and the "Burger Palace" adjacent to it. I got the feeling it was just tuck away in a corner as a last thought. Because it's small and in a corner, it's VERY smokey.
RACEBOOK: Now, I'm not a race gambler or watcher, but I thought this worth mentioning. There is a separate race book adjacent to the sports book area where you can watch almost any horse, dog, animal race going on. It has arena style seating and in my opinion is AWESOME! Large screen TV's all over the front wall and each table has it's own small monitor. In my opinion, if they made this race book the sports book, they'd have a huge success. The race book was virtually abandoned whereas the sports book was standing room only.
ENTERTAINMENT: The IP promotes "Legends in Concert" which is held on the second floor in a fairly modest "theater" room. "Legends" is a concert of celebrity impersonators such as Little Richard, Elvis, Cher etc. This same room is used to host Sunday NFL football presented on big screen TV's and it's accompanied by a sort of snack bar. We just popped in to check it out. At first I thought it was part of the sports book and was impressed then I realized the difference. The IP also boasts a Car Museum but I did not go. As mentioned earlier, one lounge in the Casino has a lounge act. Finally, and I think the only plus is the "Dealertainers". There is an area in the Casino of about 4 gaming tables that are staffed by performers from the "Legends" concert. They deal the card games and periodically put on a show on an elevated 'mini stage'. This stage is literally about 4' x 3' big with a brass rail around it. Still, it's free and it's fun. It draws a crowd around when it starts and the entertainer sings about two songs in a row, then back to work. During my time I saw: Elvis, Little Richard, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, Blues Brothers and Pat Benetar, all whom I thought we good.
POOL: The pool was fair. It is located on the second floor. I'd describe the area as a large courtyard. This courtyard is bordered on three sides by the hotel towers where guest rooms overlook the courtyard. On the fourth side is a bar/lounge and a modest simulated oasis and water falls, nothing elaborate. There are speakers in this area and music is playing. At one end is the pool, a modest rectangle. I think I saw the depth marking all around as being 4.5'. No deep end, no diving board, no slide. I am a ex-competitive swimmer and life guard and I thought the pool stunk. Literally I thought the water smelled bad, too many chemicals and I could taste it on my lips too. ICK. The water was cool, probably 70ish. There was a hot tub adjacent but seperate from the pool. It was nice and warm, not too hot. I'd say it would sit 25 people "cheek to cheek", 20 would be full, and so something much less would be best. It is square in shape. It was okay. Upon entry to the pool area, there was a towel desk. I came later in the day (6:30) and it was not staffed when I was there. There seemed to be ample lounge chairs. They are stacked when not in use. Along one side of the courtyard are tents. None were is use when I was there but it looks as if they are for those who wish to be out of the sun. There was no sun when I was there. I asked someone who had been there earlier and they said the pool area does get sun, but I'd guess it's for a limited duration when the sun is at its highest.
DINING: There are 9 restaurants at the IP. I only ate at two of these: The Burger Palace and Buffet. I was starving by the time I arrived and I went straight to the Burger Palace. This is an older style fast food joint on the second floor next to the sports book. One window to order and one to pickup. I ordered a cheeseburger and chef salad. The wait to order was average and the wait to pick up was extremely
long. The items I ordered were both very good and that's not just the starving in me talking. My buddies arrived later and ordered. They agreed about the salad but rated the burger as average and their fries as poor. I received a free refill on my soda.
The BUFFET was a gamble. ALL previous reviews I read said to stay away from the buffet. For breakfast, we went to peek at the buffet figuring "Hey, how hard is it to get breakfast right?". We opted to stay and each of us ordered the buffet. I thought the buffet was fine. Nothing spectacular mind you, but still adequate. Cost was $10.50 per person. It is a very basic buffet, nothing like the Paris or Rio or probably any other big hotel spread. Like most buffets' the variety of food was served from large containers under heat lights. Here's a quick breakdown of it's offerings:
Fruits: Pears, watermelon, cantaloupe, Honeydew, prunes, peaches. I thought most of the fruit looked poorly but the cantaloupe was fine. Scrambled eggs; bacon, sausage, corned beef hash, quiche, french toast, small pancakes, carved roast beef, carved ham, biscuits & gravy, home-style potatoes, croissants, assorted bread/cakes and muffins. Orange juice, coffee, water.
CLIENTEL: Finally, I thought there was a good mixed of people here. Young, old, middle aged, different cultures. It is NOT only the elderly as I had read elsewhere.
SHOPPING: There are some stores/shops in this hotel found at the back of the casino main floor. A couple clothing shops, nothing impressive. A small all purpose store for sundries and over the counter supplies. A video arcade for kids. Continuing through the back you will eventually hook up to the Monorail (which wasn't working during our visit).
All in all I personally would never choose to stay here again. I would only recommend someone stay here IF budget and location on the strip were both extremely important. I would not recommend it if you desire any kind of nice atmosphere or class. If you're looking for nice shops within your hotel this is also not the place. To me it's not worth the $100 - $200 that I saved on the room compared to say the Aladdin or Paris.
If you are just seeking a room centrally located on the strip and will not be spending a lot of time in your room or casino, then this is certainly worth a look. It's NOT an awesome place, but it's also NOT a complete dive, just an inexpensive, below average place that really pales in comparision to any other major hotel on the strip.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
imaginetr
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Location: Pacific Northwest, Washington
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Husband and father, born in Washington 1961, military brat and college grad.
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