> Does anyone have an accurate update on the Imperial Palace completion?
The Party Line is "... by the end of 2013 for the main entrance and facade with room renovations ongoing."
> Their posted rates are so CHEAP!
The rates are so cheap due to the law of supply and demand. The demand is not there due to the disruption of the construction.
> I'm tempted to try them again as I've stayed there happily the last
> two years and know my way around.
I stopped in over the holidays. The entrance is a total cluster...! In and out to the Strip via construction tunnels. Parts of the casino are walled off. At least one of the casino bars is demolished. The rear area (shops, etc.) seem to be the most untouched.
The south end of Carnaval Court is all torn up. Amazingly, the low-fee ATM is still there.
> Except for their TERRIBLE CHECK IN procedure.
Two comments about hotel check-in. I've stayed at the IP many times since the 1980s, business and pleasure, and multiple times for DLV, and check-in can be hit and miss. I've seen times where there was no line at all, and times when the switch-back queue overflowed into the main casino with a 45 minute wait. Mid morning seems to be the best, Friday-Saturday afternoon and evening the worst.
Now, I don't know if they still have this, but several years ago they had a second "secret" check-in desk in the rear up the escalator from the tour-bus entrance. If there was somebody there and no bus currently unloading and checking in, it was an easy way to bypass the line. When there was a whole bus-load checking in, it could be worse than the main one.
My only complaint about the IP is the slow elevator situation.