Caesars to spend $223 million on revamping Quad, rebranding it as Linq hotel

Caesars Entertainment is linking — or is it linqing? — its Strip property to its recently opened retail and entertainment plaza.

The company on Tuesday announced that it would invest $223 million toward revamping the 2,256-room Quad Resort & Casino and rebrand it as the Linq Hotel & Casino.

Reservations under the new name are on sale and the transition to the Linq brand is scheduled for completion on Oct. 30. The company is introducing the revamped property with $89-a-night room rates.

The hotel will remain open under the Quad name through the property’s transition.

“With the Linq, we pioneered the creation of a new type of space for the changing Las Vegas consumer,” Tariq Shaukat, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Caesars Entertainment, said in a statement.

“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,” he said.

Caesars will revamp the property’s 2,256 rooms and suites as well as its public areas. The company promises new retail and spa amenities and a new pool deck and a signature lobby bar.

The bar will feature wines on tap and beverage pairings and flights. The bar also will have its own gaming experience with six table games and the company envisions the location to become a social hub.

The hotel is located on the west end of the Linq promenade, a corridor of 14 retail shops, 12 restaurants, eight bars and two concert venues. It’s anchored by the High Roller, currently the world’s tallest observation wheel, recently named by Travel & Leisure magazine as the “world’s coolest new tourist attraction.”

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 touch-screen 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.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow him on Twitter @RickVelotta.