The Rumor That Won’t Die: The Quad to Be Renamed, Again

By Scott Roeben, on October 17 2013
2 min read 7 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Hotels

There are a lot of rumors that persist in Las Vegas. There’s the one about Caesars Entertainment’s impending bankruptcy, another about the ghost of “Bugsy” Siegel haunting the Presidential Suite at Flamingo Las Vegas, and still another about Criss Angel having eaten a lot of lead-based paint as a child.

One rumor we’re hearing more and more frequently is the possibility of The Quad getting a name change, again.

Love the name of The Quad? Don't get too attached.
Love the name of The Quad? Don’t get too attached.

The Quad was most recently the Imperial Palace, and before that, it was called the Flamingo Capri (1959 to 1979).

The rebranding of Imperial Palace officially happened on Dec. 21, 2012, at a cost of about $2 million. There’s a lot involved with renaming a hotel, especially when you have to swap out every sign, every business card and every door handle that might have an outdated logo. In the case of the Imperial Palace, they even had to get rid of the giant IP at the bottom of the pool.

When the new name of the Imperial Palace was announced, The Quad, it didn’t go over particularly well. Grumbling about the name wasn’t limited to Vegas-watchers, either. Rumor has it key executives dislike the name, and have been advancing the idea of yet another name change.

The folks we talk to haven’t heard what name might replace The Quad, but we know two names it won’t have. They were the second and third choice when The Quad name was chosen, “H.Q.” and “Rendezvous.” Those names were taken off the table because, among other things, their Web domain names weren’t available (or cheap). No small matter when you’re choosing a new name for your hotel.

Sassy. And not happening.
Sassy. And not happening.

The Quad name poses some interesting marketing challenges. It conjures up images of college, but due to strict responsible gaming policies, the hotel can’t market itself to college-age kids. In addition, The Quad doesn’t really mesh with the image of its fancy new neighbor, The Linq, an expensive, open-air pedestrian promenade.

Yes, a new name could cost another couple of million to roll out, but chances are another change would end up costing much less than that. Hotel officials were careful not to put the Quad logo on everything, and even the exterior of the hotel is little more than a building wrap which could be changed out pretty easily and with minimal expense.

The gray pieces are vinyl stretched across metal frames. Easy to repair or replace.
The gray pieces are vinyl stretched across metal frames, making them easy and relatively inexpensive to repair or replace.

Is it wise to spend more money on yet another rebranding when The Quad’s rooms have yet to get their much-needed renovation? Those things aren’t mutually exclusive, of course, so maybe a future announcement about a new name will also include a plan for renovating the rooms, too.

Like many things in Las Vegas, the likelihood of The Quad getting a new name is anything but a sure bet, but we’ve yet to hear about anyone advocating passionately that the name stay the same.

The last time names were considered, Caesars Entertainment employees were asked for their suggestions. Hundreds of possible names were submitted, but none of those names ended up being the one selected.

Think you can come up with a better name than The Quad? Let’s hear it.