Jump to content

Overnight stays in LA (LAX) pre-flight and post-flight to/from Sydney


Iamthesea
 Share

Recommended Posts

We would arrive at LAX around 4:00pm in the afternoon. Our flight to Sydney would not leave until 10:30pm the NEXT evening. On the return, we arrive at LAX at 9:00am, and would not fly out for home until the following morning.

 

So where should we stay for those two nights that would be both convenient to the airport, yet close enough to someplace worth seeing while in LA?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What are your interests? That'll help in pointing you in the right direction.

When?

Will you rent a car? Lots worth visiting within an hour's drive from the airport.

Museums-seems we have a bit of everything, including rabbits, miniatures, Western, observatory and locomotives etc etc etc

Hiking

Beaches

Movie locales

Entertainment

Presidential -Nixon and Reagan

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the reply.

 

What are your interests? That'll help in pointing you in the right direction.

Having never been to the area, we don't really have any interest. Really don't have enough of time, but I have read post that mention going to Universal or The Ellen Show. Both sound fun, but....

We will probably want to relax for the most part. But if there is something worth seeing, we would be interested.

 

 

When?

As my signature indicates, late January and then mid February.

 

 

Will you rent a car? Lots worth visiting within an hour's drive from the airport.

Nope, not letting DH do that! :eek:

 

 

Museums-seems we have a bit of everything, including rabbits, miniatures, Western, observatory and locomotives etc etc.

Definitely not! After almost 40 cruises + other trips, we have seen our share of museums. :D

 

 

Hiking

We do not mind walking places, but hiking for pleasure is not our thing.

 

 

Beaches

If there is a hotel conveniently nearby, yes, a beach would be nice. :) Keep in mind that we do not want to be too far from LAX, either. A nice pool complex would be just as nice.

 

 

Movie locales

Sightseeing, HOHO bus to see famous homes and places...perhaps. ;)

 

Entertainment

Perhaps one show???

 

Presidential -Nixon and Reagan

?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stay in Santa Monica if you want to be near the beach.

Your timeframe is the beginning of our rainy season. Temps can range from the mid60s to 80s.

If you want to see a taping, investigate getting tickets now.

 

I have signatures turned off.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! I did investigate Ellen tickets, but they have not announced the January/February schedule. ;)

 

Isn't SM about an hour from LAX?

 

If the weather is typically rainy and that cool, can anyone recommend a good hotel near LAX that would have a nice resort type pool area?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right now (15:16 on a Thursday) there are two huge slowdowns on the roads, maps is predicting 45 minutes. Without that mess, 20 minutes.

An hour in traffic isn't too bad for Angelenos. :D

 

There are hotels at the airport but they're not near anything else. The area around the airport isn't too conducive for tourists. Roman friends of DD's made that mistake.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As someone else mentioned, no resort-type hotels near LAX, but there are a number of nice hotels with good rooms, pools & restaurants if all you want to do is hang around. The area is not the best for walking around or sightseeing. Look at the Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, Renaissance. All are within 10-15 minutes of the airport with airport shuttles.

 

Another alternative would be Manhattan Beach - very nice beach, a pier, great restaurants and lots of cute shops. It's probably less congested than Santa Monica. Don't know if they have airport shuttles (about 15-20 minutes away from the airport) but it would be a short taxi or Uber ride to the airport.

 

Edit: Just realized you'll be there in January, so probably no pool time, unless one of the hotels has an indoor pool. If you're lucky we could have one of our beautiful sunny January days when walking along the beach would be very pleasant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the suggestions! :)

 

:o Good point about the weather. I guess I assumed that California would be warmer than it is in TN during the winter.

 

Received a message from Delta that our flight will now leave at 11:20pm instead of the original time of 9:55pm (I posted 10:30 in my original post, but that was wrong.) Gives us a little more time. LOL

 

Now we are thinking that we will fly out to LAX and spend 2 nights, so do not necessarily need to be that close to the airport. Then on the way home, we will fly back to TN on the same day that our flight lands back at LAX.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! I did investigate Ellen tickets, but they have not announced the January/February schedule. ;)

 

Isn't SM about an hour from LAX?

 

If the weather is typically rainy and that cool, can anyone recommend a good hotel near LAX that would have a nice resort type pool area?

 

Santa Monica is 12 miles from LAX using the freeway or 14 miles using Highway 1, so anything from 15 minutes to 60 minutes depending on traffic. Closer alternatives would be Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Marina del Rey.. I wouldn't stay at any LAX hotel because the area is so miserable.

 

The "Presidential" referred to earlier are the Presidential Libraries of President Reagan and President Nixon. Each one has very interesting exhibits.

 

And I am sure you've seen lots of museums, but only two museums in the world have a space shuttle in them and LA is one with the California Science Center with the Space Shuttle Endeavour. There are other unique museums like the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, The Page Museum which is at an active archeological dig (the La Brea Tar Pits) and the Petersen Automotive Museum, which is considered one of the top of its class in the U.S.

 

You also have plenty of time to stay at a hotel in Hollywood, Beverly Hills or Downtown LA and visit sights in those areas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is what we did:

Our choice was the Embassy Suites North LAX that has a very efficient free shuttle to and from the airport. On the morning of our Air NZ flight we took advantage of the nearby Ocean Express Trolley to go to Manhattan Beach. We extended our stay at the hotel until 5 pm that allowed us to have an afternoon nap and shower.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much, Alaskanb. That's exactly what I needed to hear...experience from another cruiser. ;) Two days ago my husband brought up the problem about what to do between check-out time and time to head to the airport.

 

We just assumed we would have to pay for another nights stay to be able to refresh before the flight. Did you have to pay full price for the extra hours? Did you enjoy Manhattan Beach area?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much, Alaskanb. That's exactly what I needed to hear...experience from another cruiser. ;) Two days ago my husband brought up the problem about what to do between check-out time and time to head to the airport.

 

We just assumed we would have to pay for another nights stay to be able to refresh before the flight. Did you have to pay full price for the extra hours? Did you enjoy Manhattan Beach area?

It was not full price but do ask when you check-in as they can only do it if they have the space.

We live in a desert so being on a small pier and having dolphins swimming and waves crashing was wonderful. The beach appeared to be clean but we didn't walk on it due to time. We walked around the town but don't recollect where we ate -- check out the restaurants on TripAdvisor for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

;) We made the reservations, along with our flight out to LAX. I did add in the notes that we would like a late afternoon check-out.

 

BTW- Left the reservation open so that we could cancel if we decide on something else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We also,stayed at the Embassy Suites and took the trolley to Mahattan Beach. Lots of cute shops, etc and a pier at the beach. Not sure if we would stay two nights at the airport area. For two nights Inwpuld also recommend Santa Monica. We cruise Sydney to New Zealand this past Feb. and loved it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said, I'd never stay near LAX (more than one night), but if it is just one night, the Four Points by Sheraton has a 24 hour rate. You have to ask for it when you book, but if you book at 5PM one day, you have the room until 5PM the next. It is also great if you arrive at 6AM into LAX as you can book a room that starts at 7AM or 8AM rather than wait until 3PM for a hotel's normal check-in time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you, vickykay. :) Yes, SM would be another option.

 

Husband wants to go to Disney. If we did not stay out near the airport, what suggestion is there for a hotel near the resort and about how far would the area be from the airport? I guess our biggest problem is that we do not want to rent a car. So we would really on a taxi service. $$

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, vickykay. :) Yes, SM would be another option.

 

Husband wants to go to Disney. If we did not stay out near the airport, what suggestion is there for a hotel near the resort and about how far would the area be from the airport? I guess our biggest problem is that we do not want to rent a car. So we would really on a taxi service. $$

 

Whether you are talking about getting to Disneyland in Anaheim from the cruise port or LAX, my answer would be the same; use a ride share company like Uber or Lyft. If you won't have a smartphone with you, use a shuttle company like Zippy Shuttle or Karmel Shuttle.

 

In Anaheim there are a dozen or more hotels easy walking distance. Directly across from the main entrance are the Best Western Plus Park Place Inn, Tropicana, Camelot Inn and Fairfield Inn. They are not where I would spend a week, there are better hotels for that, but for a night or two any of these are more than adequate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Add to list of places to stay by Disneyland/California Adventure, the Candy Cane Inn. If you choose to rent a car, parking is included. It's rare these days for a hotel not charge extra for parking. It's walkable to the parks and offer continental breakfast in the morning.

 

My daughter has yearly passes and it's her go to place if they are going for an overnight. I found it clean and comfortable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whether you are talking about getting to Disneyland in Anaheim from the cruise port or LAX, my answer would be the same; use a ride share company like Uber or Lyft. If you won't have a smartphone with you, use a shuttle company like Zippy Shuttle or Karmel Shuttle.

 

In Anaheim there are a dozen or more hotels easy walking distance. Directly across from the main entrance are the Best Western Plus Park Place Inn, Tropicana, Camelot Inn and Fairfield Inn. They are not where I would spend a week, there are better hotels for that, but for a night or two any of these are more than adequate.

 

Add to list of places to stay by Disneyland/California Adventure, the Candy Cane Inn. If you choose to rent a car, parking is included. It's rare these days for a hotel not charge extra for parking. It's walkable to the parks and offer continental breakfast in the morning.

 

My daughter has yearly passes and it's her go to place if they are going for an overnight. I found it clean and comfortable.

 

I have not checked this thread in a day or two, until this evening. These replies are so ironic! I checked on the Karmel Shuttle today after seeing it mentioned on the hotel website that I am about to book. It's the newer Courtyard Marriott Park Entrance.

 

Deb - I also looked at Candy Land. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not checked this thread in a day or two, until this evening. These replies are so ironic! I checked on the Karmel Shuttle today after seeing it mentioned on the hotel website that I am about to book. It's the newer Courtyard Marriott Park Entrance.

 

Deb - I also looked at Candy Land. :D

 

You can't avoid kids in the area, but the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance gets an inordinately large share because of the slides in the pool area. I'd prefer the Hyatt House Anaheim Resort Convention Center or the SpringHill Suites Anaheim Resort Convention Center, which should be the same price range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were considering both of those, as well. The Courtyard appeared to be closer in walking distance. And since we would be their at the end of January, and on a Monday/Tuesday, we were hoping that the kids would be back in school. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And since we would be their at the end of January, and on a Monday/Tuesday, we were hoping that the kids would be back in school. :D

 

Do not kid yourself. With the way school schedules are these days, there are never days without kids or even noticeably fewer kids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Scott - Just wanted to thank you again for your hotel advice. :)

 

After taking a couple of recent trips, I have finally come back to this and making a decision. I read up on all 3 hotels again. The Courtyard just so happens to be closing their water park and pool during the first half of January and would be closed during our stay. That would be good in that not many people with children would want to stay there. The larger rooms and double bathroom sounded great, and the rate $223+ per night was very good. Even so, I read reviews and looked at traveler photos on the two recommendations from you.

 

 

We decided to go with the Hyatt House Anaheim Resort because of the newness, the configuration of the Den King room, the included breakfast, and the unbeatable Senior rate of only $145+ per night! :D The Springhill Suites had a similar rate, but the rooms looked a little dab for our taste. Although I did like the bathroom!

 

In the end, we decided not to quibble. Bottom line was that we needed a comfortable, well kept, and spacious room. And one that included breakfast was nice. Close proximity to the park was paramount. And we figured we will not be in the room that much, anyway. The rate was a huge bonus! The reduction on hotel rate and the included breakfast will come close to paying for our one day Disney tickets. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...