Hotel By Lax - Waterfall Pool

Would like a hotel by LAX with a fantastic pool w/waterfall, great restuarant and walking distance to small shops. Won't have car will need to take a shuttle to the hotel. Thanks.

I'm afraid you're out of luck... while there are a few nice hotels along Century Blvd. leading to LAX, with very servicable pools and restaurants, there are none with "resort" type amenities.

You might do a search for hotels in Manhattan, Redondo, or Hemosa Beach, or Marina Del Rey, these areas at least have the beach... but none are a shuttle ride away, you'll need a car.

LAX is in Inglewood, a working-class and industrial area of LA.

I think you are out of luck with a resort-style LAX hotel. There are no shops anyplace within walking distance in the area of LAX either. You might just consider one of the large hotels, i.e., Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, Crowne Plaza as they all have more resturarants, etc. then the smaller ones, thus giving you more choices within the hotel itself. While they will all have pools, they are just pools - not Hawaii/Las Vegas style pools. I've lived in LA and there is no where I'd want to walk to around LAX, it's strictly a business oriented/hotel area with the airport as the focal point. If you stay anyplace other then LAX hotels you need a car or a taxi-Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, etc. are all nice, but if you are just overniting at LAX I'd stay at a major hotel right there. It is not worth the hassle of renting a car and driving in traffic (traffic can be very bad around the a/p).

Is LAX traffic really that bad. Should I rent a car? I would like a "resort pool". Leaving from San Pedro on a cruise, so can go anywhere in the LA vicinity.

Yes, LA traffic can be very bad. If you are going to be in LA for only one night I would not spend it fighting traffic. You can rent a car at LAX but aside from Enterprise no car rental agencies have offices near the pier either and Enterprise closes at 12 noon on weekends. They also charge a drop off fee, so if you rent from them check that out. Driving distances/time can be deceiving in the LA area - for one thing the "LA area" is huge, practically as large as some of our smaller states :-) and if you do not know the local streets and/or alternate routes you can spend alot of time on freeways in traffic. (traffic can also (at times) be surprisingly light .. when that happens LA is a joy to drive in) !!! Just don't count on it happening.

I thought about your "resort style pool" question last night and still cannot come up with a recommendation. Perhaps the Loew's in Santa Monica ??? or one of the Beverly Hills hotels. Be aware that there is a charge to park your car at those hotels that may equal the car rental fee :-)

I'm not sure where you are flying in from, but if you can spare a few extra days pre-cruise (or post for that matter) you might consider a stop in Las Vegas - lots of hotels up there have tropical/waterfall type pools. I am fond of the Mirage pool myself. Many of the resorts in Scottsdale, AZ also have this type of pool/atmosphere if you have time to visit the Phoenix area. I just do not think you will find it around LAX. Southwest charges $39-$49 one way to fly LAX-Vegas or LAX-Phoenix.

Good luck with your search and enjoy your trip.

For the life of me I cannot think of one hotel in the LA area that has a resort type pool. Most are just your standard rectangles or ovals. Some may have a nice view or be the infinity type of pool but I think you will be hard pressed to find the type of pool you would get in Miami in the LA area. Also you can do a one way rental with Budget with no drop off fee. The Budget office is in Long Beach and they usually have a shuttle, if no shuttle is available then the cab ride would be cheap. I am not sure the office is open Sundays but it would be worth a phone call to check.