Las Vegas 2018 Introduction

Ironic isn’t it? In 2017, I did something I never thought I’d do: visit Las Vegas. And yet, just a year later, I find myself in Sin City once again. So let’s get into my Las Vegas 2018 introduction post.

Last year I went to Las Vegas for the first time. It’s somewhere I thought I’d never want to visit, though, with so many great dining options, I’m not sure why I felt that. But, I liked Sin City way more than I thought I would and couldn’t wait to get back. And, as it turns out, I ended up needing to be in Vegas in early May 2018 for a conference. Of course, this means I was able to experience some new things there, while I also made it a point re-visit some of my favorite spots around town.

Flights

For my outbound flight, Mrs. Island Miler and I decided to take Hawaiian’s redeye flight. This was a first for us, especially since Hawaiian’s service differs significantly on redeyes. Oh, and this was the first time I also experienced Hawaiian’s refurbished A330 interiors.

For my flight home, though, I decided to do something completely different. I didn’t like Hawaiian’s departure times, so I decided to fly Alaska Air home. More specifically, I flew pre-merger Virgin America home via San Francisco. And that ended up being quite the adventure in itself.

Hotels

Originally I was planning to arrive in Vegas on Sunday. But, when Mrs. Island Miler decided to join me, we decided to arrive a day earlier. However, the Saturday we were scheduled to arrive was Cinco de Mayo. And, I had no idea that the holiday is one of the largest in Vegas. That meant that when I tried to add the night to my conference hotel, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the rate more than doubled. So, no thanks.

As a result, I set out on a mission to find a less expensive hotel for our first night in Vegas. But, damn, the rates were high across the board. And I didn’t want to stay in downtown either because I try to avoid a large concentration of Hawaii people when traveling. So, I ended up booking a night at the Delano. It wasn’t much cheaper than the Cosmopolitan, but I wanted to try the hotel anyway. Yeah, the Mandalay was way cheaper, but I’m not a fan of the rooms there.

Dining

This time around we made it a point to eat at some of our favorite places and try some new ones. Of course, some of my meals were limited to conference food, but I did what I could. Places we returned to included Jaleo by Jose Andres, Milk Bar, and Shake Shack. Jaleo and Shake Shack weren’t appreciably different, so I won’t be reviewing them again. At Milk Bar, on the other hand, I tried a bunch of different things, so I’ll re-touch on them. In addition to Milk Bar, I’ll also be reviewing Sage at Aria, Rose. Rabbit. Lie, Egg Sluts, and Flock & Fowl.

Car Rental

Like last time, I rented from Silvercar once again. However, Silvercar has moved in the last year, and their rental process has changed some.