Imperial Palace 05/08/05-05/12/05: Had a great time!

Just got back from our stay at the IP. Had a great time and here is my trip review. First - thanks to everyone who passed along advice and tips before I left.

HOTEL-IMPERIAL PALACE: I love this place and I am trying to plan my next visit right now! The location is incredible - smack in the middle of the strip was exactly where we wanted to be. Check in at VIP line was quick and overall this was a great place to stay for us.

ROOM: What you read is pretty much true - standard hotel room. Clean but nothing fancy ��� however the water pressure for the shower was awesome. Better than I have at home! Loved the view of the pool from the balcony. The room we were given was actually not even one of the remodeled ones - but it was just fine.

EMPLOYEES: The people were really nice to us so we had a good experience. The maid service was great and we got extra pillows and blankets in less than 5 minutes when we asked for them. The ���Dealertainers��� were GREAT. All the ladies loved the young Elvis as I did, but Tina Turner was incredible, and Louis Armstrong was great and played a mean trumpet! There was a pool-chair wench that everyone laughed at because she made you move your chair back in line if you tried to move it at all, so be ware if you try to move your chair. Most people that worked there were really nice. The only negative I really have is from the Client/Guest Services at IP. I had requested a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered upon check in. We checked in and stayed up in the room for over an hour (my friend likes to unpack and get settled) and then we went and ate and returned to the room and still no message on the phone to call for the champagne. We gambled and came back up to the room and still nothing. We finally got a light after lunch the next day but the point was lost by then. So that was the only real negative I had to say about IP. We had to check out by noon but were not leaving for the airport until 7 PM and they held our luggage for no charge and brought it out to the taxi area for us when we asked for it. All in all I had a great experience at the IP and plan on staying there again! I will post pix when I get them back and ask any other questions if you have them!

CASINO: The craps class was fun and I mostly just played the slots. There was a slot tournament there during our stay and it was interesting to check that out. The smoke? Well that is everywhere we went pretty much. It was not as well lit as other casinos but did not seem dark and dank as I had read.

DRINKS - The drinks were fine and strong enough for free drinks. The service was great there to me. Even the pool drink service was fast. We had a few coupons for free drinks so uh, those were all used for research purposes of course! There are several ';bars'; all around the casino floor and plenty of waitress calling the customary ';Drinks... Cocktails...'; everywhere you turned so drinks were always available if you wanted them.

FOOD: The food was nothing to write home about but not as bad as I have read either. We had the Emperors buffet at IP - it was ok and the mint soft serve ice cream was worth it to me. The Imperial buffet at IP we skipped and ordered breakfast off of the menu and it was good. The burger Palace at IP was ok, the Pizza Palace at IP was pretty good and a good deal so we ate there twice. Outside the IP, we enjoyed the buffet at Harrah���s twice, had a great lunch at the Peppermill, a good hot dog in Carnival court, and a great omelet at the Victorian room except there was an incredibly HUGE moth dive-bombing everyone in the restaurant! We also visited the Ghirardelli store a couple times ��� for free samples, the ice cream and chocolates.

GENERAL TRIP COMMENTS: We walked the entire strip and even checked out the Wynn. It was pretty cool from what we saw and we were ���privileged��� to enjoy a $20 glass of champagne while we were there. We also saw Steve Wynn! No one bothered him but he walked right through the crowds downstairs with his people. I don���t think most people knew who he was. We also went down to Fremont Street too and checked that out and enjoyed the light show. There was a cheesy saxophone player/singer that was being laughed at by everyone before the light show and the other casinos down there were fun to play in as well. With all the walking that we did, I actually lost weight so I am happy! We rode the bus and the trolley and had a very entertaining driver on the trolley.

SHOWS: Saw the Lance Burton show and loved it. Saw Viva Las Vegas at the Stratosphere and had a stomach-ache from laughing so hard at Big John the featured comedian. He was hilarious! I would recommend it and for the price of 1 drink it was a nice break in the afternoon since we did the afternoon show.

All in all it was a great trip and I am ready to go back as soon as I can!

Kath in Atlanta

Imperial Palace 05/08/05-05/12/05: Had a great time!

Thanks for the review...just wondering how to get the VIP check-in?

Thanks ;-)

Imperial Palace 05/08/05-05/12/05: Had a great time!

Thanks for taking the time to report, sounds like you had a good time! Big John sounds great!

Great report, I love the IP. I had an Elvis dealer at BJ last time I was there and he had me laughing so hard, it was great!

Great report! Thanks for sharing. I%26#39;m glad to hear someone say something nice about IP for a change.

What are dealertainers? Dealers dressed up as entertainers?

Also, where is the Ghirardelli store? I love Ghirardelli. Not sure if you are saying it is in Harrah%26#39;s.

Oh and great review. Thanks

Great report!! I am so glad to hear the hotel isn%26#39;t as ';scary'; as some people had mentioned in this forum. I am staying there from 6/10 - 6/13 and eventhough I was excited about it before...I%26#39;m TOTALLY looking forward to it now... I know the hotel was in a great location...but I was hoping to hear good things about the rooms, the service, food (ok maybe not the food..LOL) but now I have ...THANKS...

I%26#39;m really looking forward to seeing your pictures...

Oh yeah... How did you get VIP Check in and those drink coupons for the pool....?

Thanks =0)

Sounds like a relaxing FUN trip!

Thanks for the review - I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed your trip.

My wife and I are scheduled to stay at the IP next Sunday for three nights. I have read some nightmare reviews, so I was a bit nervous. I am glad to hear that it is a decent place to catch a few hours of sleep!

Colin

We have always enjoyed our stays at Imperial. And the show at the Strat we had to see twice since we were laughing so hard the first time we missed some of the show. Great trip report!!!!

I%26#39;m so jealous of all of you who will be there before me...I can%26#39;t wait =0)

Don%26#39;t forget to write a report...so we can keep hearing good things about this hotel.. and the bad stuff too..

Thanks.