Review: Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel Double Guest Room

Update 2019-02-26: Please note that the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) American Express Card Canada is no longer available. It has been replaced by the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card. Get the details here!

Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel Introduction

I booked my trip to Beijing primarily around flying first class on ANA All Nippon Airways and Air China using 210,000 Aeroplan miles for the roundtrip ticket. Since my ANA flight was leaving LAX in the morning, I decided to fly from Vancouver the night before (didn’t review the short domestic business class product, but have before – find it here) and stay at The Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel. Last time I was in Los Angeles before an early morning flight I stayed at The Sheraton Gateway Airport Hotel, and was curious to see how the two compared. On my stay, paid rates were nearing $300 per night, so I decided to use 35,000 Marriott Reward points instead. Marriott recently announced their annual category changes, with this property going down one level, meaning stays booked after March, 2018 will require less points. Yay!

The Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel has a shuttle service every 30 minutes or so from LAX to the hotel, which thankfully arrived just as I hit the curb! Air Canada arrives at Terminal 6, which is nearly the last stop for shuttles before exiting towards the hotel, and I had read many reviews of full busses driving by. I had planned to take an Uber as a last resort, but as luck would have it a nearly empty shuttle arrived less than a minute after getting to the pick-up area.

The hotel is about 5 minutes from the airport, and the shuttle driver was courteous and friendly. The area around LAX where all of the airport hotels are located is really all the same, with a lot of traffic and seemingly soulless airport/conference hotels. The exterior of the Marriott was pretty simple, though there was something about the design that I liked.

I arrived to the hotel shortly after 10pm, and was fairly exhausted after a long day. Airport hotels can be crazy in the lobby, depending on flight schedules, though luckily there were no lines when I was checking in. This hotel recently went a complete redesign, and I think they did a fairly nice job. No, it’s not the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel in terms if luxury, but it certainly felt fresh for such an old building.

I’ll be honest, the front desk agent was… interesting. Not rude, but not at all professional. I think she called me ‘hun’ about 10 times, and took a break from checking me in to talk to a colleague about hiking the stairs at the property (apparently this is something they do before/after/during their shift). Despite the exercise talk, check-in took only a few minutes with me being assigned a double guest room on the 11th floor. There was no mention of my Marriott status (which should have allowed for club floor access), but since it was merely a place to sleep, I didn’t bother asking.

The elevators were not busy (unlike the Sheraton where the lobby was always packed), and within no time I was up on the 11th floor. The common areas and rooms were all recently refurbished, and everything feels new. Not so sure about the carpet choice in the hallway, but I suppose it’s good at hiding stains…

Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel Double Guest Room

My room, 1140, was a Double Guest Room with two beds. Most of the rooms at this property are the same, with some offering the preferred pool view, and some offering lounge access. Marriott properties have started to grow on me, with very consistent rooms. What they lack in luxury they make up for in function, which is really all I care about for stays like this. The room opened up into a small foyer with a closet on the left and bathroom on the right. Beyond that was the main bedroom, with two double beds, a small seating area, and office desk with a huge wall-mounted television.

The bedside table was functional, with well-placed power plugs, lamps, and alarm clock. Also, for some bedside reading, a Bible and Book of Mormon (like all Marriott hotels).

The office space was clean and functional, with a comfortable chair. Unfortunately, the agent really hadn’t recognized my status, with a call needing to be placed for complimentary internet access. Once connected, the wifi was fast and reliable.

The room featured a small minibar, with fridge (empty) and in-room coffee maker (disgusting). There was also an ice bucket and some glasses, but that’s about it.

The room featured an in-room safe, though it was on the small side, and not large enough to store my 15 inch MacBook.

The views outside were of more airport hotels with LAX somewhat visible in the distance. Unfortunately, it was too dark to do any plane spotting.

The bathroom was really well done, in my opinion, and featured a large walk-in shower, lit-mirror, and amenities by Thann. While I’m a huge fan of baths, I prefer to see large showers at airport hotels (save for the Fairmont Vancouver Airport which has some of the largest soaking tubs I’ve ever seen).

I also appreciate individually wrapped cups in the bathroom, because we’ve all read about disgruntled hotel employees doing weird things in the bathroom…

Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel Bottom Line

It’s a busy airport hotel – what more is there to say? The service wasn’t personalized, with the front desk agent failing to recognize my status with Marriott, and there are hoards of people coming and going all hours of the day.

However, should you find yourself in need of a quick place to stay while transiting LAX, I don’t think you can go wrong with this property. Rooms and common spaces have been recently refurbished, and are about as nice as you’re ever going to find in a transient hotel. Rates are highly variable, so check to see if redeeming points is a good value (currently 30,000 Marriott, or 10,000 SPG points per night). Another good option is The Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel just a couple of doors down, though I do think the Marriott is slightly nicer overall.

If you do have plans to overnight at LAX, applying for either the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card or Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card would earn you a large enough welcome bonus for two nights at this property, and if you have Gold Status with Marriott, you can even enjoy lounge access, including daily breakfast, evening canapés, and more. If you stay at a lot of Marriott properties, I would strongly suggest applying for The American Express Platinum Card for automatic Starwood and Marriott Gold status, or the American Express Business Platinum Card, which will also get you status, and is currently offering Membership Reward Points as a welcome bonus.

Have you stayed at The Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel? How was your experience? Let us know in the comment section below!