shinbal

I have had three stays here in the last three months. On all three, I was put on the "club" floor (free coffee); and my request for a runway view was honored. My sometimes-$99 room has always been upgraded to a larger room if not some type of suite. The Platinum desk had me on my way in under 60 seconds. Room service order in the morning was inaccurate, but they quickly replaced what they left off, free of charge for my "inconvenience".

As far as the shared shuttle - It's the first drop-off point, and now the trip takes a little longer - but no big deal. Plan on an extra 15-20 minutes TOPS, though my 9AM Sunday trip took less than 10.

After a couple of questionable stays over 2004 and 2005, I've had good experiences the last 5 or so times.

ralfkrippner

On my last stay there on May 11th the shuttle schedule was

1) Westin
2) Holiday Inn
3) IIRC a Quality Inn nearby

Shuttle frequency: every 10-15 minutes

Time from the Westin via the other 2 hotes to LAX: about 15-20 minutes. If you catch one that has a complete long-haul airline crew onboard (as happened to me on the 5:30 a.m. one to the airport) you'll probably have to wait for the next one.

shooter

After reading several posts on the improvements to the LAX Westin, against my better judgement (sale $ was good), I gave them another shot...my mistake. Easy Check-in with Plat/gold desk/room to the right - no room upgrade. Have always been given a suite at the Sheraton and 4pts...and the Sheraton even APOLOGIZED to me on my last stay as they did not have any suites available. Desk did NOT ask regarding pts, movies (now i better watch to see if points post)... upstairs lounge had bottled water available on my last stay at this Westin - Not this time -nothing except green apples that you could get in the main lobby, no water, nada and the door was wide open in the evening.... this morning, door closed with a self-serve coffee bar. At least this time i was not in a room facing the pound and listening to the dogs, was right on Century and listened to the sirens....oh well. I am staying at the LAX Sheraton from now on...lounge w/food, drinks and i was really impressed when they apologized for not having a suite available and could only upgrade me to a club level room...Westin may have improved, but they still have a loooooooong way to go to catch up with what the Sheraton offers Plats...

kevino

I stayed at the Westin last week and agree with you.

My points posted quickly.

The Plat. check-in area has a nice flat screen tv. The lounge has two computers with free internet access. The apples were old.

KosherKimchee

For the record, it doesnt face a pound. It faces the Kennel Club at LAX which has an outdoor play area (for which dog owners have to spend extra money in order to allow their dogs to play, I think it's called Yappy Hour). My dog hates the place, but it's not quite a pound.

sbtinme

This is correct, however, I can tell you it made for (HANDS DOWN) the worst hotel neighbor I've ever encountered anyplace. I would also hasten to add that the incessant yapping of several dozen dogs -- maybe even 50 or 60 at a time -- went on for far longer than a sixty minute hour.

While it isn't under the control of the Westin Hotel, it certainly makes for a horrifically bad neighbor considering its immediate proximity to guest rooms.

KosherKimchee

Ranks right up there with the fire station located almost directly below the W SF. Cant tell you how many times sirens woke me up there at 3am.

DENPremEx

If you had listened to EVERYONE on this board you wouldn't have been fooled in the first place.

Fly AA J all the way

I'm scheduled to stay there on Sat night. How does the room quality compare to the Sheraton Gateway there? I stayed at the 4pts. last time I was at LAX and I thought the place was a dump. Worst Starwood I've used in a very long time. I would consider the regular Sheraton now if the rooms were at least as nice as the Westin.

gleff

Sheraton is the place to stay at LAX (if you need to be right at the airport, just a bit farther away provides many options for nicer accomodations albeit non-SPG).

Fly AA J all the way

Thanks. I just cancelled the Westin and rebooked at the Sheraton Gateway LAX. With my rate, it was actually $22 less. If I have an Avis rental car would you suggest returning it the night before and shuttling it to the airport in the morning or returning it that morning and taking the rental car shuttle? I have a 9:00am and want to save as much time in the morning as possible, but don't care about parking costs.

Elena

I spent a night a Westin LAX last week too (was considering Hilton properties but they were all sold out). Personally I thought the elite check-in area was very nice and the staff were friendly. I did receive a room on the club floor, desk spent a couple inutes scouting for avalable suites but there were none and I didn't care too much as I was only there 8 hours. I agree that self-service coffee lounge was not too exciting I'm surprised there were no doughnuts or other snacks. I would consider staying here again if ever stranded at LAX; I don't think there's anything particularly negative about this Westin.

Mahalo

Definitely return the rental car to Avis the night before. It is only about a 10 - 12 minute walk back to the hotel and you won't need to unnecessarily pay for a night of parking. The Avis shuttle won't be any quicker than the Sheraton Gateway Shuttle and its one less thing for you to do and therefore you will be on your way to LAX faster.

Didn't know about the doggie daycare at the Westin LAX but I've always enjoyed the Sheraton Gateway so didn't see a reason to try Westin but everyone on FT seems to rate this hotel poorly anyway.

Fly AA J all the way

Is the Gateway shuttle exclusively for the Gateway, or does it make a lot of stops like the Westin one?

CaseyN2

Nope, Sheraton Gateway only.

Casey.