This article reviews the top 10 best hotels at or near Los Angeles International Airport. LAX recently spent $14 billion USD in improvements to the airport, and the surrounding hotels have also largely been improved and updated. There are, in fact, a massive 8,000 hotel rooms around LAX. While all these airport hotels are convenient for the airport, they are also close enough to Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and other Southland attractions to be used as a base. They often come in cheaper than similar downtown accommodations, offering a feasible alternative and a better deal than Downtown hotels.
The advantage of booking into one of these hotels, beyond the price, is that most offer a club lounge if you book a club room or are a high-tier member of that hotel loyalty scheme, which will limit your expenditure on food and drinks. Breakfast, in particular, will always be included if you book a room with club lounge access.
These hotels are also super convenient for the airport, so they are easy to get to when your plane lands. Most offer a 24-hour shuttle, a van with the hotel label on, driving round and round and taking guests to and from the airport terminal. Some of these hotel shuttles are more regular than others. The grade of the hotel usually dictates the frequency. From our experience, the Hyatt Regency shuttle is one of the most regular. Some hotels are so close to the terminal building that you can actually walk to the terminal or the hotel on foot. You can also easily access public transport from LAX, which means this is a convenient starting point and base for a vacation.
The disadvantage of these hotels is that they are quite far from the action at night, and although some of the airport hotel bars are quite happening, most of the time you will have to Uber or taxi into the center to appreciate the Los Angeles nightlife. Another disadvantage is that the views from these hotels can be rather bleak and industrial. Some rooms overlook the airport tarmac, which is quite fun as you can watch planes take off and land, but rooms that are lower down or pointing in the wrong direction have a much bleaker and more industrial outlook which can be depressing. In addition, you can’t walk anywhere nice. You will be stuck at the hotel no matter which LAX hotel you choose, except for the Ritz-Carlton, which is close but not actually at the airport. The only way in and out of LAX is by car.
Whatever your choice of hotel, contact our luxury travel concierge for a free quote. We almost always offer a better deal, and we offer valuable free benefits like breakfast, upgrades, and even free club lounge access at luxury hotels.
This brings me to my top choice, the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, the one airport hotel (well, very near the airport) with a positively vibrant outlook over tropical gardens and a sparkling marina (instead of car parks, industrial terminals, hangers, and other airport-related buildings).
1. Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey
Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey is hands down the best airport hotel at LAX. It is actually around 5 minutes drive away. The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey is a dreamy, sparkling oasis of waterfront boats and tropical foliage and yet it is superbly convenient for the airport. Currently, there isn’t a shuttle that runs between the LAX and the hotel. However, Uber will cost approximately $20 USD, and a Taxi will cost approximately $25 USD. In fact, this hotel is not only the best LAX airport hotel but is also probably has one of the best hotel club lounges in Los Angeles.
This authentic Southern California retreat is located on one of the largest recreational marinas in the world. Immerse yourself in stunning coastal surroundings in one of their 304 waterfront guest rooms and suites, relax at Sisley Spa, farm-to-table, dine at Cast & Plow, or exercise on the tennis and basketball courts or in their gorgeous heated saltwater pool. Nearby, the Strand provides a scenic pathway for walking, running, and cycling, while the marina is a top destination for water activities.
Book a Club Level Guest Room and enjoy partial Marina and city views, personal “Juliet” balconies, expansive windows and doors for enhanced vistas and light, luxurious Asprey bath essentials and exclusive Club Lounge access.
Ritz-Carlton Club rooms are a great deal because of the access to the Club Lounge. Amenities include a dedicated team that assists with special requests and vacation plans. More importantly, complimentary small bite food and beverage presentations are offered throughout the day, more than enough to fill you up. Premium cocktails and wines are also available for purchase. Extra activities included for free are a cocktail demonstration from a mixologist highlighting local ingredients from the farmers market and a wine lesson from our Sommelier, and learning about what pairs well with certain blends.
2. Sheraton Gateway LAX
There’s a Sheraton, Westin, and Four Points in addition to a Marriott at LAX. All are part of the Bonvoy loyalty scheme. The Four Points is very basic, so your choice for the best hotel is really between the Sheraton Gateway, the Westin and the airport Marriott outlined below.
The Sheraton Gateway was recently refurbished, with a $43 million USD upgrade to its guest rooms, lobby, public spaces, and restaurants. It is now stunning and is also one of the closest hotels to LAX, so close that you can walk there from the airport. This is a major advantage if you don’t like waiting around for shuttles.
The hotel is attempting to offer a complete resort with restaurants and a pool deck with fire pits and cabanas. The pool is particularly charming, with its wildly blue waters edged by cute black and white padded chairs and loungers. Although the building itself looks a bit 1960s, the interior and the pool area are really lovely for an airport hotel. If you are looking to book a superb room here, go for the corner suites with runway views.
The Italian restaurant here has a very good reputation and is definitely better than most airport restaurants, and the bar is quite happening with sweet staff.
The 15th-floor Club Lounge offers a panoramic vista of the airport and the city, making this hotel a great choice for LAX. If you compare the newly refurbished club lounge at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Vs. the Westin, you should always go for the Sheraton. The Sheraton club lounge is a lot better and is open 7 days a week, 24/7. The breakfast in the Marriott MClub lounge is actually better than the one here, but overall we prefer the Sheraton. You get free club lounge access (whatever room you book) if you are a Bonvoy Platinum member and probably a room upgrade too.
LAX Sheraton Gateway Club Lounge Breakfast is largely continental; Starbucks coffee, yogurt, pastries, hard-boiled eggs, fruit plus hot scrambled eggs, hot oatmeal (No sausage or bacon).
LAX Sheraton Gateway Club Lounge hors d’oeuvres usually include something like hot puff pastry beef wellingtons, hot cheese tortellini plus Cold roast beef sandwiches, vegetable slices (peppers, celery, carrots, etc..), cheeses, crackers, black bean salad, or sausage in a chickpea salad, salsa, egg pasta salad. Don’t expect dessert! On the plus side, bottled water is available 24/7, unlike the LAX Renaissance or the LAX Marriott (no bottled water).
3. Los Angeles Airport Marriott
LAX has had $14 billion USD spent in improvements and the Los Angeles Airport Marriott has also been improved and has regular free shuttles from the terminal around every 5-8 minutes. A major bonus of this Marriott is the full-service Starbucks in the lobby, ideal for cheap drinks and eats.
The all-new M Club Lounge at LAX Marriott features 4,000 ft² of space to work and recharge. It is open 24/6 and is located on the 18th floor so that you can enjoy spectacular views of the Hollywood Hills, Downtown Los Angeles, and the runways at LAX. Out of the main food hours, the lounge is not very well stocked, and there is no bottled water. Only a dispenser is provided for room temperature, chilled, or sparkling water. You can take the water with you using glass containers with lids. During feeding times, there is a full buffet breakfast which is slightly better than the Sheraton’s above, and evening canapes. You get free club lounge access (whatever room you book) if you are a Bonvoy Platinum member and probably a room upgrade too.
4. Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport
On the Hyatt front, you can choose between the Hyatt Place and The Hyatt Regency. The Hyatt Place actually looks quite nice and has a 24-hour airport shuttle but no club lounge, while the newly refurbished Hyatt Regency (pictured above) is the better option.
It is around 10 minutes from LAX Terminals, just follow the signs and look out for the Hyatt Regency bus, which comes every 5 minutes and is free. The rooms here have a stylish design and pretty lighting.
The hotel’s Hyatt Regency Club Lounge is open 24 hours. The food times are specific, and you get breakfast, evening meals, and desserts. When there is no additional food, the club still remains open, and guests can take advantage of the surroundings along with beverages that are self-serve. The club itself is really nice looking, designed in hues of browns and greys and is a great place to hang out. You need to book a club room to get access.
5. Renaissance LAX
Described as a boutique hotel experience near Los Angeles Airport, this hotel is a Marriott Bonvoy rewards category 5 hotel and has a shuttle to the airport every 10 minutes or so. They say: vinyl records grace the walls, and an urban style permeates the air. And it sounds like the newly-renovated Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel is a good base at a good price. Inside, you get access to their fitness center and an outdoor pool, and even a club lounge. However, recent reviews (April 2019) say the pool is closed, so the amenities are not always as they seem. Check with the hotel that it is open before you book if you intend to use the pool.
If you get access to the club lounge, expect breakfast and evening canapes, but the canapes are a little on the cheap side with store-bought tortilla chips and canned salsa. The facilities and lounge are of a much lower standard than the Marriott or Sheraton. If you are a Gold or Platinum Bonvoy member, you can take free breakfast in the Executive Lounge, Monday through Friday, from 6:00 – 9:00 am. On the weekends, the lounge is closed, but you can grab a breakfast voucher at the front desk to be redeemed in the restaurant.
6. Hilton Los Angeles Airport
The Hilton Los Angeles Airport offers an executive floor with the “Towers Lounge” executive lounge. The hotel is reached by a regular shuttle, and the entranceway to this hotel is very grand, with lots of creamy marble and empty space. Gold and Diamond members can immediately go on up to the lounge on the 16th floor to check in. Rooms are a little basic and dated but include a comfortable king-sized bed with Hilton’s Serenity Dreams plush top mattress and 250 thread-count linens.
The Executive Lounge is located on the 16th floor of the hotel and is a large L-shaped room with lots of tables and seats. The look is a mix of greys, light, and dark. This lounge has clearly been recently refurbished (from quite an ugly lounge into something pleasant), but the feel is more functional than luxurious.
Food is decent but not noteworthy, with a continental breakfast made up of fruit, including lots of cut-up melon and a large fruit bowl with bananas, apples, and oranges, plus some delicious pastries (I am a muffin fan, so I was satisfied on this score!) as well as bread which can be toasted. It is definitely continental and, as a result, OK but not filling. An evening canape offering will fill you up but is far from inspiring, and although the soft drinks are free, the alcoholic drinks need to be paid for.
7. Westin LAX
The Westin at LAX has a reasonable club lounge located on the top floor of this airport hotel. The Westin Executive Club Lounge has everything you need to make your stay more productive, including complimentary wireless High-Speed Internet Access, computer workstations, access to business news, and Starbucks® coffee available 24 hours a day if you book a Westin executive club room to enjoy exclusive access.
Note, breakfast is served Monday through Friday mornings, and hors d’oeuvres are served Monday through Thursday evenings. The lounge is open Saturday and Sunday, 7:00 – 10:30 am, but dont expect much in the way of food and drink on weekends.
The Westin is not a great choice when it comes to sleep, with complaints of dogs barking on lower floors and shuttles reportedly irregular, with 40-minute waits reported on flyertalk.com. On the bright side, the bar is good for dinner and drinks.
8. Holiday Inn Express LAX
There are just three IHG hotels around LAX, Holiday Inn Express LAX (8620 Airport Boulevard), Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport (5985 W. Century Blvd), Holiday Inn LAX (9901 S La Cienega), which is slightly further away.
The one closest to LAX is the Holiday Inn Express which has recently been remodeled and is clean and within walking distance to McDonald’s, Sizzler, Denny’s, and a 7-12. Breakfast here is good and includes pancakes, sausages, biscuits, eggs, cereals, cinnamon rolls, and drinks.
9. Four Points at LAX
This hotel has a free LAX shuttle that comes every 10 minutes or so (note the better the hotel, the more regular the shuttle, except the Crowne Plaza below, which has been reported to have very sporadic shuttles). The hotel itself is not noteworthy and can be best described as pleasant, as having reasonably priced rooms and no club lounge. The rooms are fine in size and slightly dated. There is a pool you can access and a gym. You get what you pay for at this Bonvoy hotel.
10. Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport
Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport. The rooms here are quite noisy, with the plane noise making this hotel a bad choice if you are a light sleeper. The room size is decent, but they do not have a safe, which is unusual for a 4 or 5-star hotel. Of note: They upgrade rooms for both Platinum and Spire Elite members of their loyalty program.
If you stay on a weekday, you get breakfast and evening canapes in the lounge. If you stay on the weekend, the club lounge is closed, so you get a set of vouchers for the breakfast buffet on Sat/Sun mornings and a drink voucher for Sat night (one per person).
Their lounge breakfast is not as good as the Hilton LAX’s, with one hot option, fruit, toast, and cereal. Between meals, there is nothing in the lounge. No snacks or drinks, no tea, coffee, or water, nothing. They clear out the countertops and lock the fridge.
Shuttles are infrequent at this hotel, with guests reporting up to a 45-minute wait for the shuttle making this our worst LAX airport hotel (for now at least), as we don’t want to be waiting on the curb for almost an hour!
The most luxurious hotels in Los Angeles include the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles At Beverly Hills, The NoMad Hotel Los Angeles, InterContinental Los Angeles Century City, Mr. C Beverly Hills, SLS Beverly Hills, Terranea Resort, The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, Hotel Bel-Air, Dorchester Collection, The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, Shutters on the Beach, The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.
Copyright Luxury Travel Diary 2014 - 2024. Duplication outside of luxurytraveldiary.com is forbidden.
Note: Benefits & upgrades subject to availability. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing. Terms & conditions apply. Enquire for more information. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing but may be amended at discretion of the vendor. Posts may be sponsored by the proprietor or brand being appraised. All opinions remain our own & are in no way influenced.
