The LINQ Hotel in Las Vegas H-M

For years, this hotel operated as The Imperial Palace, a stalwart, if not particularly nice, hotel/casino that catered to budget minded travelers. Then, a couple of years ago, they started remodling the place, giving it a whole new look and feel in the public areas including a completely revamped casino, new restaurants, bars, and more. That new look came with a new name: The Quad. Nobody knows why.

Now, the hotel has gotten even more remodeling and yet another new name, becoming The Linq Hotel & Casino in deference to the neighboring shopping plaza of the same name. In fact, it is all considered one big thing now – The Linq is the hotel, the casino, the shopping and entertainment plaza and the giant High Roller observation wheel out back.

Almost all of the public areas of the hotel received an extreme makeover designed to remove all traces of the IP’s worn Asian theme with something lighter, brighter, and more modern. The exterior has gotten an eye-searing multi-hued paint job that is capped off by a light feature at the front that appears to spin and twirl like a vortex (which is what the thing is called) but rest assured that the inside is much more subdued than that.

The porte cochere was relocated to the north side of the building facing Harrah’s, which means you can’t enter from Las Vegas Boulevard anymore – you have to drive (or take a cab) in through the back of the property. That’s a giant pain the rear, literally, since the streets behind the hotels on that side of The Strip are a nightmarish mess of stop signs, blind turns, and too much traffic. I was there on a busy weekend and it took me nearly 20 minutes to get from the valet to Flamingo Road, about two blocks away. To be fair, it wasn’t always like that but it can be so give yourself some extra time if you are driving or cabbing it.

The good news is that they have the fastest valet parking in town. Simply wave your ticket at a sensor near the front door and it notifies an attendant to grab your ride from a garage just a few steps away. I never waited more than 5 minutes to get my car whereas it took me almost 30 minutes to get it out of the valet at Caesars Palace.

But more bad news – that valet is going to cost you. It’s $24 per day and the self-parking is $12 per day.

The casino features 35+ table games and 675+ slot machines.