kev

hi all,

will be in LA for 36 hours in a few weeks and have booked at stay at the Sheraton\4points in Santa Monica.

Given that I'm only in town for a short period I don't need all of my luggage - is there facilities to store it at LAX? If so, where is it and how much does it cost?

Also what would be the approx travel times to travel (via taxi) to Santa Monica on a Sunday morning around 11am from LAX and back to LAX from West Hollywood\Santa Monica on Monday around 4pm? (I'm assuming that leaving at 4pm should get me to the airport in time for a 8.00pm flight back to oz!)

Or am I better off getting some form of public transport?

Lastly, any good suggestions for a restaurant in Santa Monica\West Hollywood? Type of cuisine unimportant. Looking for quality\value for money\experience in that order. e.g. happy to shell out $$ if quality is good.

thanks

kev

p.s.

mizzou65201

Careful -- Santa Monica and West Hollywood are by no means next door to each other. West Hollywood can be up to 45 minutes further from LAX depending on traffic.

Sunday morning, LAX to SM -- 15 minutes. Coming back on a Monday afternoon during rush hour, maybe add 10-15 minutes. The fastest way to get from SM to LAX is via surface streets, and as long as your cabbie avoids Lincoln Blvd. as much as possible, it'll be 30 minutes *tops*.

As I said, leave much more time if you are coming from West Hollywood.

I don't know of any baggage facilities at LAX, you are probably best off bringing them to the hotel with you.

mizzou65201

My favorite spot in SM is Musha, at 4th and Wilshire. It's sort of a Japanese tapas bar.

obscure2k

Favorite fine dining restaurant in S.M. is Capo. The food and service are marvelous; but it is expensive. Very very close to 4 Points Sheraton. Also, Cora's coffee shoppe, next door to Capo is great for breakfast or lunch.

kev

thanks to everyone for their replies - I was thinking everyone was going cold on SM!

Jim90068

If it is raining (a common thing lately), add a good 45 minutes to your SM- LAX drive plans, and avoid the 405 freeway.

kef0913

I would just like to reiterate to check your map. West Hollywood and Santa Monica are on opposite sides of Los Angeles. its not a quick jaunt at any time, and during rush hour Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards are clogged.

There are literally dozens of good restaurants in the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area and also the Santa Monica are. Buy a Zagat's so you can look by what type of food and how much you want to spend. If you have any specific interests in cuisine, I and others here can certainly recommend some good ones, but more specifics about what you want would help.

kev

Thanks for the advice about rush hour - what would be the best way to drive from Santa Monica to LAX around 4pm on a Monday afternoon? (Flight doesnt leave until 8.30pm but want to avoid rushing at the airport!) From the search that I've done here on FT it seems that the 405 is a bad idea at the best of times. Is Lincoln Blvd any better or is there a better route?

Restaurants in SM - looking for anything that serves "modern" food that has a good atmosphere up to around USD$60-80 for 2 courses\two people\no alcohol.

kef0913

Well, there are a FEW hours of the day when the 405 isn't too bad (I made it 30 minutes from the Valley on Monday - 5:30 am). However, 4 pm is the beginning of rush hour (ok - 3:30). I would probably just take Lincoln, or Bundy to Centinela, if I wasn't familiar with the streets. There are some ways of going down side streets and making lots of turns that might save you time, but I don't even remember the street names. Mabe somebody else here has a better route for you. If you decied to go to West Hollywood, La Cienega all the way to Manchester is usually a quick route.

mizzou65201

Two best ways from beach area Santa Monica to LAX:

Route 1
South on Ocean Ave/Neilson Way/Pacific Ave (street changes names 3x)
East on Brooks Ave
Southeast on Abbot Kinney Blvd
East on Washington Blvd
South on Lincoln Blvd
South on Sepulveda Blvd to LAX entrance

Route 2
South on Ocean Ave/Neilson Way/Pacific Ave
East on Washington Blvd
South on Via Marina
East/South on Admiralty Way
East on Fiji Way
South on Lincoln Blvd
South on Sepulveda Blvd to LAX entrance

Do not, I repeat, do not take Lincoln Blvd straight down from SM. Between the traffic and the traffic signals it will not save you any time.

The main difference between these two is Route 2 avoids a little more of Lincoln Blvd. The Washington-Lincoln intersection can get a little slow at rush hour...but nothing more than a 5 minute delay.

definitely avoid the 405...it's not the 405 itself that's so bad coming from SM, it's the 10 approaching the 405. slooooooooooooooow.

brinko99

Not quite a UA question but I've not seen much activity in the LA forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=535728


Anyway, I will soon be transferring through LAX to Hawaii but do not want to carry all of my luggage. So, I was planning to leave some of the luggage at LAX for a week while I'm in Hawaii.

I found on the LAX website that there are three companies that offer this service. I believe they pick-up your luggage at a scheduled time and store it off site.

Does anyone have any experience with these companies? Do they have a desk? How does the process work? I'm a bit concerned about the reputability of these companies.

The companies I found are:

AeroEx
LAX International Baggage Service
MBI Enterprises

Thanks

cblaisd

Moving to the Los Angeles forum where it will be more apt, and for the sake of future searching.

cblaisd
Moderator, United

brinko99

I tried to get a response from the UA folks since this forum is not quite as active.

I guess the moderator didn't catch it. Sorry for the duplicate!

number_6

The companies are reputable. The only alternative you have is to leave luggage with a hotel near LAX (some will do this, or it might take a $20 tip for the bell captain). Personally I would trust these companies more. I haven't used any personally, but know people who have and it was reliable, just not very convenient as it is offsite. There is no onsite left luggage service at LAX any more, so there just isn't any choice.

wyseson

I have a stopover in LAX to go on a cruise and would like to store one large suitcase for a few days. Is there any place where I can have luggage stored in the airport?

I am arriving on China Eastern and departing on Continental so anything in their terminals would be best.