During a one-day layover in Los Angeles recently, my daughter and I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport. Although, we didn’t do much except check-in and try to sleep before our flight to Japan the next day, we still wanted to do a quick review of that experience and our overall impressions of the hotel.
We chose it because of its location, but also because I got a good deal through Priceline. We had a reservation at a different hotel, but it was going to cost a lot more and was further from the airport. Do I regret my decision? No, because we were in our hotel room for less than 24 hours and I’m glad we saved a little time and money in the end!
How Close is Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport to LAX?
Even though we only stayed in LA for the day, I rented a car because we had plans to visit Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland Resort. Whenever I’ve traveled to the Los Angeles area in the past, I’ve had someone else with me and with my anxiety, I let them do all the driving.
Hayley doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, and even if she did, there’s no way I’d subject her to LA traffic! So, I had to get behind the wheel. That’s part of the reason why I wanted something close to the airport — there’s no way I wanted to deal with any added stress on our way to long-haul flight!
Scrambling to our rental car at 4am, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get from the hotel to LAX. Really, the rental car return was so close. If I hadn’t had to get gas, it would have taken less than five minutes. Even with the trip to fill up the tank, we were all done and on our way to the terminal in 10 minutes. That was the best part about staying at this hotel!
Parking Is Annoying
At the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport, using the valet might be worth it. Otherwise, you’ll have to park your car in a confusing garage shared with other hotels and residential properties. First, it took a while for us to find a spot. Then, the elevator wasn’t working! When other guests abandoned waiting and headed for the stairs, we followed. Unfortunately, we had to drag our luggage down with us!
Personally, especially in a major city, I like to park on vehicle on-site. It makes it easier if you need to go back to the car for something. It also allows you to keep an eye on it. Most importantly, I don’t want to be walking alone in a parking garage in the middle of the night. There were some dark spots between it and the hotel, and I just didn’t like it.
Check-In Process at Crowne Plaza LAX Was Stressful
Just to go inside to check in, we needed to give our keys to the attendants. We’d been rushing to get inside (long, unnecessary story), so I was completely thrown off when the door attendants stopped me. In the confusion, they didn’t give me a ticket for my rental car, so there was a delay when we came out to claim it. We couldn’t head over to the parking garage until they found someone to corroborate my story. Sigh.
At the front desk, fellow guests were complaining about having to provide a deposit for their room. The hotel required a credit card and a deposit of $100 to secure the room. I know they allowed someone else to use cash, but I’m not sure how that worked. Either way, despite having prepaid for our room, we still needed to provide a deposit.
Yes, that’s customary in many hotels in the United States, but it’s a frustrating, time-consuming process that’s being phased out. They didn’t need a deposit at all at the Universal Port Hotel in Osaka and charged just $1 at the Surfside Inn & Suites in Orlando. Get with the times, Crowne Plaza!
Guest Rooms
Overall, we were fine with our room at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport. It was a decent size, clean and comfortable. The bathroom was nothing exceptional, but nothing terrible either. I will say that it was very frustrating that the rooms weren’t very soundproof.
This caused me to get pretty upset at one point because I was trying to rest before our long-haul flight. Meanwhile, the young men staying in the room next to ours kept going in and out, slamming their door every single time. I’m not sure if they ever stopped or if I just was so exhausted, but I eventually fell asleep.
The hotel must know that this is a problem, though. They provided a little kit that included ear plugs and a calming scent. At first, I thought it was a nice touch. In reality, that should have been the first clue that we wouldn’t be sleeping very soundly! Surely, they can do better to ensure that all of their guests are comfortable, right?
Again, the most important thing was that we had everything that we needed. If you’ve read our Ultimate Germaphobe’s Guide to Hotel Stays, you’ll know that we are picky. At least we weren’t horrified by nastiness. That would have set me right over the edge since I was already feeling stressed about not oversleeping and missing our flight!
Overall Experience
The Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport is a very nice property, especially the lobby. It’s well-maintained and just a short distance from the LAX airport. It’s a good option if you just need to stay somewhere for the night. For a longer stay, I’d definitely recommend something else.
As long as you’ve got a credit card, don’t mind parking far from the property, and are willing to wear ear plugs to sleep, the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport is a decent option. As mentioned, we booked through Priceline and found a really good pay-in-advance rate. If you’re thinking of staying here, be sure to look for similar deals. If I’d paid full price for such a noisy room, I would have been even crankier about not getting to sleep!
Oh, and in the end, our flight to Japan was delayed and our whole our itinerary was rearranged. Ah, travel!
