I love airport hotels and the H Hotel LAX is no exception, but that love lies in the
location and the views- not the hotel itself.
Come check it out with me, coming up.
My trip to LA today is a stop over on my way from Saigon to Bogota.
You can check out my flight from Tokyo to LAX in the popup above or in the description
below.
Here more than most hotels, it’s location location location- so let’s take a look
at just that.
I was born and raised on the east coast and I know less than I should about LA.
Is it a city?
Is it a county?
Is it a parking lot?
Yes to all three?
What I do know is, LAX is here and I wanted to make sure I chose a layover hotel that
would have easy access to In-n-Out- of course- as well as great views from the hotel itself.
There are a lot of hotels in and around LAX so I researched as well as I could to find
the one that fit the bill the best.
Considering most flight land over here from the east and take off over here to the west,
a little difference in location can have a big impact.
I settled on the H Hotel Los Angeles- a Curio Collection Hotel.
It’s around a 5 minute drive from the terminals and a 15 minute walk to In-n-Out which also
has plenty of other convenient stores in the immediate area.
Normally, for hotels the facade and street signage is important- but here, knowing what
shuttle to look for is the priority.
At any terminal at LAX go up to the departures level and look for the red signs for hotel
pickup and look for this specific Shuttle which serves 3 hotels and the parking lot
adjacent.
The shuttle runs 24 hours and depending on traffic and time of day runs every 10-20 minutes
in either direction, servicing all terminals on each round.
The hotel itself gives a good first impression from the street.
Note that the H Hotel and Homewood Suites share the same hotel but have separate entrances.
The suites are on the lower levels and the H Hotel on the upper floors.
On the far side of the lobby there is a grab and go food store as well as a lobby bar.
In the building around back you’ll also find a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
The check in time here is 16:00, I was arriving before 11:00 so I was happy enough to pay
$59 for an early check in.
I had a runway view room on the 8th floor and the views were decent, but in retrospect
I wish I was at a different corner of the building.
When you checkin, if possible simply ask for the rooms on the corner that points towards
In-n-Out- that’s probably the best way to avoid confusion.
There was nothing wrong with my view, but generally the arrival runways are a bit more
exciting.
In general, the room is huge and nicely laid out.
After 20 hours in planes and airports it was nice to feel like I could spread out just
a little bit.
The bedroom area was complete with lots and lots of pretty dirty windows, a full size
sofa, king sized bed and plenty of working space next to the TV.
Throughout the room outlets and usb ports are always within easy reach.
The “premium” wifi was a crappy 20 up and down though.
The room was equipped with a Nespresso machine with some decent generic pods- but of course,
water is for sale downstairs.
Yes, I know you can drink the tap water- but I prefer not to.
Under the TV is a decent sized safe as well as a mini cooler- both just across from an
out of place arm chair.
For the category of hotel- the bathroom was fine and just as expected.
There was a mismatch of products on offer, but at least- everything was working well
and clean.
The cleanliness of the bathroom didn’t extended throughout the room though.
In my closet was I guess an old set of linens?
And I stopped myself from inspecting more and more nooks and crannies.
I would be checking out at 4:00 the next morning, I was exhausted, the last thing I wanted to
do was switch rooms.
On the top floor was a small fitness center, which due to LA County regulations you need
to get your Vaccination verified first and then they’ll allow you to enter.
But, the reason you’d stay here isn’t for the fitness center, it’s for this rooftop
lounge area.
Which offered sweeping views of the skyline and the approach pattern and just about anything
else in the area.
After a couple of hours spotting planes from the ground, I came up here with dinner for
the sunset and to watch quite a few heavies land.
It wasn’t the clearest of days, especially by LA standards, but it still provided plenty
of plane spotting entertainment for me and quite a few other enthusiasts that were up
there plane spotting as well.
I’ll let you enjoy a few of the arrivals before we wrap this quick video up.
And now onto the Flip Flop Score.
The room design and condition was top notch considering it’s an airport hotel.
Service was friendly at an 8.
The common areas- I mean the rooftop alone gets a 10- as does the location.
The cleanliness though, just an 8.
Relative to what this hotels function is, the Food, amenities and convenience were all
decent and a bit above what I expected.
Overall a nice 84/100.
Is it as good as the TWA Hotel at JFK or the Crowne Plaza in Singapore?
Absolutely not, but if you’re at LAX for a stopover, it might be a good option for
you.
I really hope you enjoyed this video, If you did please give it a thumbs up and subscribe
for two new hotel or flight reviews every week.
Join me next time for a trip report from LAX to Miami in American Flagship First.