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TR- Imperial Palace 1/25-1/28

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by stasik, Feb 1, 2009.

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  1. stasik

    stasik Low-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    I finally have a couple of minutes to sit down and write a proper report.

    This trip had its ups and downs, but still was largely positive.

    Took the shuttle to the hotel from McCarran. You can tell how much traffic is down. Even though we usually travel midweek in January and February, my wife and I were surprised to be the only ones on the shuttle to the hotel. In the past, my hotel was invariably the last one on the route giving me a 40 minute ride in a lot of cases.

    Check in was good. The room was comped. Tried the $20 dollar trick and ask for an upgrade to a suite with a strip view. Before checking seeing the $20, the clerk immediately told us that they were not busy and she would see what she could do. Once she saw the $20, she shouted out "Oh, you don't need to tip me!" Then she left the $20 sitting in plain view for the length of our check in which I thought was weird since some of these desk clerks could be paranoid about it. She repeated that we had no need to tip her before giving us the keys and all I could say was that I wanted to show my appreciation for getting us a better room.

    She gave us a King Suite on the 10th floor and convinced us that a pool view would be better since it would be less noisy. We did take the 'secret elevators' which to me was odd that they are even a secret. There is an enormous sign that says "Additional Elevators". Yet whenever we went back to the room, there was a crowd at the main elevators and no one taken the secret bank.

    When you get off the elevators, I felt like I had just ridden a time machine back to the late 1970s. The corridors were not terribly inviting, a nod to the brutalist architecture of the day I suppose. The room was large, but completely boring. (When you are staying at IP, luxury is not something you expect, so we weren't disappointed.) The Luv Tub complete with mirrored walls I guess is another 1970s innovation. Every time I got dressed I wanted to open my shirt down to the navel and throw on some gold chains. But two things struck me. One is the incredibly odd placement of the televisions. They were obviously not designed for someone to watch TV from the bed since my wife had to come over to my side to see anything. The other is the showerhead which was installed before the days of flow controlled showers. Taking a shower felt like my skin was going to be torn off my body. God it was a great shower. Still I wouldn't stay at IP again unless it was free.

    We headed over to the new Tix4Tonite booth at Bill's (Barbary Coast). This is super convenient if you are staying mid-strip although it does have a long line in the morning. They don't sell Amazing Jonathan tix and they were out of Blue Man Group. So we went with the LA Comedy Club which is inside the Trader Vics restaurant in PH. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the comedy and the small size of the venue. My last comedy experience was the Riveria comedy club which was so bad I couldn't laugh out of embarrassment for the performers.

    The second show we saw was the Blue Man Group. Even though we bought discounted tix in the red section, when we got in everyone was upgraded to Blue seats because the place was half empty. I know that a lot of folks here like BMG but it wasn't my cup of tea. For me its a matter of expectation. My expectation, having seen the odd clip on Youtube, was that this was more of a music/visual extravaganza. What I got was three idiots eating a Twinkie with a mortified audience member on stage. I also got the cackling baboon sitting next to me who thought that everything the Blue Men did was funny. Expectation tends to be my biggest enemy in seeing shows. When we saw Zuamanity last year, we went in thinking at Cirque du Soleil shows were something along the lines of two Chinese guys sticking themselves in a soup can. When we got was hot naked women swimming in a fishbowl. While I have no problem with that, its usually something I get on stag nights.

    Dinners were pretty tame. We ate at Ocean One in PH which is one of those reliable mainstays. Its decent and relatively inexpensive. Even better with a Restaurant.com cert. We also did breakfast at Paris which is another mainstay for us. Its weaker than it has been in the past. I thought the selections were less attractive than in the past. We also did Harrah's buffet since we happened to be playing there. Nothing special. My wife was happy so that's what counts.

    As far as gaming we got hammered this time around. Played some slots and some craps. I have not been a big craps guy but played Monday night and we had a great time. The pit boss (can I name names?) and the dealers kept the atmosphere very lively and fun. My wife didn't do a really good job as the shooter, but the table staff was very patient with her and I appreciate that. But the next day we decided to try Casino Royale and got cleaned out on $3 craps. Seems no one (including me) could bother to roll a point all day. I play the Star Trek slot machine for about an hour and didn't see what all the fuss was about. The only slot where I had good fortune was the Monopoly Big Event game at Harrah's. I must say that drink service at Harrah's was really great. I had no problems getting my fix. Bellagio on the other hand was horrible. I couldn't even see a cocktail waitress much less flag one down.

    That's pretty much it. We had a good time, but we definitely could tell that traffic was down. I was suprised that there were $10 crap and blackjack tables at the Venetian and $5 all day at Harrahs. A lot of the pits were dead. We are trying to head back for New Years and I think I can work it out.
     
  2. KevinSTP

    KevinSTP High-Roller

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    Very informative TR! I was especially curious about how the $20 trick would float. I'm going to be staying at IP in a comped Deluxe Luv Tub room and was wondering if the King Suite was worth the $20. It's too bad the TV isn't lined up properly with the bed. That seems like it'd get annoying. I'm going to be bringing my DVD player with me, so that might be something I keep in mind. Maybe the Luv Tub room TVs are oriented better? Thanks again.
     
  3. ghetto71

    ghetto71 Tourist

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    nice TR!:peace:
     
  4. Toronto

    Toronto Low-Roller

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    I was there Jan 26-30th...my 3rd time in IP...I think each time the shower doesn't drain very well, even after they try and fix it...but I don't gamble, so I just got a deal for 30/night so the location works for me...

    I had both the Paris and Harrah's breakfast buffets...its a shock that Paris is only $1 more, because Harrah's seemed like less selection and way less ambiance...

    what was great value was Red Rock Casino lunch buffet, $10.99...yummy, and lots of selection, and a pretty place!

    my flight was cancelled going home and they put us up in the Hyatt...which was pretty good, big plasma TV, big L shaped couch, free internet, wet bar with fridge, pretty sweet...kinda made up for the long day of delays at the airport.

    :beer:
     
  5. sugarpepa

    sugarpepa Tourist

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    nice tr

    my wife and i stayed at the IP for the first time last June. We really, really enjoyed the luv tub. to top off the 70's porn theme it had mirrors above the bed that also was different. i can't remember if the tv faces the tub or not didnt really care.:wink2:
     
  6. blackjacknut

    blackjacknut VIP Whale

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    Nice TR...thanks.
     
  7. Sierra

    Sierra Low-Roller

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    funny stuff, thanks!
     
  8. bigpapa7272

    bigpapa7272 Tourist

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    was the pool open????? If not could you use the pool at another HET property?
     
  9. Blonde_4_ever

    Blonde_4_ever LasVegas4ever.com

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    Loved the report.
    Your comment about the shower made me LAUGH OUT LOUD!

    [​IMG]
     
  10. stasik

    stasik Low-Roller

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    I would guess that it was. There was water in it and they had a pool cleaner out cleaning it at least once while I was there. However, I didn't actually see anyone using it to be able to give you a definitive answer.
     
  11. gotavegasjones

    gotavegasjones VIP Whale

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    Thanks for posting your TR.

    later, GVJ
     
  12. JackPeyton

    JackPeyton Tourist

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    great TR, and as someone who is staying in IP in 2 weeks this gave me some good information.

    what are these "secret" elevators? are they hard to find or do people just not look for another set?
     
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