Caesars Entertainment has announced that it will invest $223m in revamping the 2,256-room Quad Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and rebranding it as the Linq Hotel and Casino.
The project is scheduled for completion by the end of October. The hotel will remain open under the Quad name throughout the property’s transition.
“With the Linq, we pioneered the creation of a new type of space for the changing Las Vegas consumer,” said Tariq Shaukat, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Caesars Entertainment.
“The resort will provide guests with a highly social and connected environment, with all the great restaurants, shops and experiences available at the Linq promenade right at their fingertips.”
There will be new retail and spa amenities, a new pool deck and a signature lobby bar. The bar also will have its own gaming experience with six table games and the company sees the location becoming a social hub.
Technology will be at the heart of the property’s effort to attract a younger crowd. The Linq will have an automated check-in process to reduce wait times. A VIP lounge and concierge desk will have touchscreen monitors that can process bookings for dining and entertainment.
High-speed wi-fi will be available throughout the resort in common areas, hotel rooms and the casino floor. Company officials say the wireless Internet access will work seamlessly between the hotel and the Linq promenade.
The Linq hotel property has had several names over the years. The building opened in 1959 as the Flamingo Capri, but was bought 20 years later by Ralph Engelstad and renamed the Imperial Palace, taking on an Asian theme. When Engelstad died in 2002, the hotel’s ownership was transferred to a family trust.
In 2005, Caesars, then known as Harrah’s Entertainment, announced plans to purchase the Imperial Palace from the trust. With its location on the doorstep of a large tract of Harrah’s-owned property and clustered amid the company’s Harrah’s and Flamingo hotels, CEO Gary Loveman, at the time, suggested that the Imperial Palace might be torn down.
Instead, the company opted to refurbish the hotel and in 2012 changed the name to the Quad. Caesars dominates the mid-Strip, owning Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, Flamingo, Bally’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood and the newly minted Cromwell property, as well as the Linq. It also has the Rio in Las Vegas.
