I had dreamed of visiting the entertainment and gambling capital of the world for many years, and not just through a desire to play poker in some of the world's greatest venues but to see one of the most mind-blowing cities imaginable.
Being brutally honest my partner and I only opted to stay at the Imperial Palace for our week-long trip because of the price, if money wasn't an option then the likes of The Venetian, Bellagio and Caesar's Palace would have been but some of the obvious choices.
Be that as it may I am glad we stayed where we did given the alternatives available on our budget.
The Imperial Palace is ideally located slap bang in the middle of the Las Vegas strip standing just a short walk away from the Mirage, Venetian, Bellagio, Aladin and Caesar's Palace.
Staying at the IP meant we were never too far away from the places we wanted to visit.
The hotel itself was fun and friendly from the moment we checked in and the staff made us feel very welcome.
We had a double room which was clean and compared to any two/three star hotel in this country was a lot more than we expected. It had the usual features with a tv, iron, trouser press, kettle etc.
The IP has a good choice of nine restaurants, buffets, and bars giving you enough choice to ensure you could eat a different range of cuisine (including asian, steak and barbecue) every night without eating elsewhere.
There are a handful of shops in the hotel for all of your basic needs - snacks, drinks and souveniers - open 24 hours, although it is not the place to shop if you're looking for much else.
The hotel's pool was not the biggest, but served us well during our recovery periods in the afternoon. The only down side was due to the nature of the buildings around the hotel you lost the sun for a few hours during the day, which is not what you want if you're after a good tan.
Being Vegas virgins the casino at the IP was a good starting block before venturing into the city's larger establishments. It had all the tables we wanted play, such as black jack, roulette, craps and many more, plus slot machines as far as the eye could see.
The Dealertainers also made for interesting viewing as they took centre stage impersonating the stars when taking a break from the tables.
More importantly to us it had a comfortable and friendly poker room where anyone from the absolute beginner to the big stakes player could find the right seat any time of day or night.
The hotel also has the Legends In Concert being performed nightly, with a select group of stars from the past and present strutting their stuff.
There is also the Auto Collections featuring more than 250 vintage and classic cars.
The beauty of Las Vegas is you can use most of the facilities, shops, bars, restaurants, casinos and theatres in all of the strip's hotels without being a guest. So if you are on a budget you will miss out on nothing the larger venue have to offer by staying at the IP, except the huge bill.
We got a lot more than we expected at the IP and I would happily return there for another visit.