Basically just a corner in a hallway between other destinations in the casino, it was obviously an afterthought. Unimpressive and without style.
But because it's on the 3rd floor it is off the beaten path a bit and the whole area is therefore a little quieter. Not a ton of huge distractions or noise.
The other thing I liked was that the tables were plus-sized, very wide/large, with felt all the way to the leather cushion. Lots of space on the table, no chance of crowding even with big stacks. I prefer the all felt table tops to ones that have a wooden (Aladdin) or marble (MGM Grand) track around the edge. (Though the MGM tables are still awesome.) It avoids chip sliding and extra clanking noise.
Absolutely the weakest, least knowledgeable players by far that I encountered in Vegas, or in most of my home games for that matter, not to mention other casinos. I played twice, on a Saturday and holiday Monday afternoon and both tables had 2-3 people who apparently never played poker before, 2-4 tight-weak novice types, and maybe 1 or 2 average-to-decent players. I almost felt guilty; it was too easy.
Had two dealers who were very bad, one who didn't follow the action and misdirected the players at times. The other was not dexterous with the cards and would expose cards and generally struggle a bit dealing to the table.
The rest were all competent, and some had personalities. However competence should be the norm, and 2 bad out of maybe 10 dealers is below average in my book.
Some hot, some not. They were pretty attentive and not disappearing for long stretches.
I had minimal experience with them but they seemed OK.
The Imperial Palace has some of the best comps in Vegas from what I see and hear. You accumulate $3 per hour on your players card while playing poker. This is the best rate of any casino I believe.
I just don't think there's a lot of great value to buy at IP with the money. Late night dinner at the Tea House before/after a session? The food is atrocious. Word of mouth on the buffet is terrible, I was advised to stay away. I guess if the higher end restaurants (which I didn't try) are good and accept the player card maybe that's the move.
