One and a half stars would probably be a better rating.... but I'm hard-pressed to argue for it being the worst. And the casino itself is fairly friendly, if a little lacking in theme. About the best that can be said about IP is that it's right smack in the center of everything: between Harrahs and Flamingo, across the street from Caesar's Palace. And that's, unfortunately, the beginning and end of the things that sell me on it. The street face is under construction, so it's hard to mark it down for outside appearance. That said, at $150/ night for a weekend in October, there is near-as-nothing to justify the cost. For that price, my friends and I received a "Deluxe" room. A simple two-queen bed affair, with a small rounded card table in one corner and the bare basics: tv, dresser, bathroom. They charged a fifty-dollar fee for having a third person in the room, but for those extra fifty dollars, we received nothing extra - towels were for two, cups for two, etc. The decor was fairly straight-forward, but nothing I couldn't find at a Motel 6 or Shilo Inn. I shudder to think what a "Classic" would be like. For being a "themed" (I think?) hotel on the strip, there is near-as nothing done to work with the theme. There is nothing about the hotel that says "Asian influence", not in the way that Harrah's screams "Mardi Gras", or Paris shouts "European villa", or Caesar's tells you "Roman Senatorial Bacchanal". Ideally, they'd have more Asian art, suits of samurai armor, -something- thematically-appropriate. About the closest thing they had in that regard were the ladies out front trying to draw people in: given that the entrance was covered in construction, they pranced about in jean shorts, hiking boots, orange vests and plastic hard hats. Inside, the only attraction was "celebrity look-alike dealers who all took a turn at either singing over or lip-synching a song by the celebrity they were impersonating (not entirely sure which). The hallways for the hotel rooms were in pretty terrible condition (particularly for the price). Carpeting was often loose and pulled up from the floor and stains were rampant throughout it. More disturbing, trash found outside of rooms at 5pm on Friday night were still there by Saturday at 3pm. Expect to pay if you want to check in before 4pm. Expect to pay if you want wifi (and there is no landline for internet). No mini-fridge in the room. On to the casino - as mentioned, nearly no theme except celebrity look-a-likes (because nothing says "Chinese Imperial Palace" like dressing up as Rod Stewart?). Out of I suspect two dozen gaming tables, only half of them were in use at any time. The dealers were friendly, the servers attentive, and the pit bosses were professional and courteous. The overall layout was somewhat cramped, but I suspect that is a function of the construction more than anything else - the poker room is on the third floor rather than the main gaming floor, most of the restaurants are on the fifth, iirc. If you're looking for a "Vegas Strip Hotel" experience, this simply isn't the place to go. If you're looking just for a roof and clean bed, there are cheaper options just a block or two off the strip, and otherwise just as centrally-located. Hopefully, the construction will lead to them making it more Vegas glamour and less Indian res casino meets Motel 6.
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negative