TrojanHorse

Parking on the street is free; just read the street sweeping signs, I've never had a problem nor have I ever feared the area

Shuttles can also be had by taking the first available.. I've taken the Budget shuttle, the Four Points shuttle and the Embassy Suites North shuttle as well. Ever since they went to this blue bus crap, the frequency IMHO has deteriorated. Hence the need to start taking the other shuttles. Now I just take the first one I see that is close by.

SkiAdcock

Would you provide an update on the weekend exec lounge situation so I can update the sticky? (ie, open or closed, if closed, loungeopen for brekkie only or brekkie in restaurant, if in restaurant, cont'l or full, if cont'l, is there an upcharge to full, if closed, is it key accessible for soft drinks). Thx!

Cheers.

CJKatl

Will do. Am staying over the weekend.

CJKatl

The lounge is closed on the weekends, without key access. I chose points instead of breakfast, as I'm meeting a cousin for brunch on Sunday. The check-in clerk indicated it was continental breakfast with an upcharge for more.

With that said, the staff is great, the room was feather free, I was upgraded to a suite on the CL level. The mattress is very comfortable, the linen fresh and not worn and the room is swank. It is freakishly quiet for a hotel across the street from one of the world's busiest airports.

But...

The electrical outlet situation is Flintstone-esque. There are no accessible outlets near the bed. The clock and lamps on the nightstand are plugged in behind the heavy bed, so those cannot be accessed. The lamps do not have plugs. The only easily accessible plugs in the room are in the bathroom and a single plug on the desk lamp. The desk is in a different room. I was able to wriggle my hand in and plug my extension cord into a single open plug behind a heavy dresser and use my splitter to get enough plugs for my computers, phone and headset to recharge, but c'mon, it's 2014. Everyone travels with electronics.

The nightstand has a clock with a dock for an older iPhone. If you have a different type of phone, or a iPhone 5, the dock doesn't work. Fortunately, I have the converter, but if it's the converter without the built-in cord, the dock won't work.

HeadInTheClouds

So very true.

I do think the LAX Ren is in need of a remodel in general though. I've been staying there for a good 15 years, and the rooms haven't changed one bit in that time (aside from some slight improvements to the bathrooms). It's starting to get very tired. The (very annoying) outlet situation is just a symptom of the fact that these rooms are getting decades old.

I have actually started shifting to the LAX Marriott recently for this very reason.

SkiAdcock

CJKatl, thanks for the update on the exec lounge. I'll update the sticky.

I guess I didn't notice the outlet situation when I've stayed at the Ren because I always plugged laptop into plug on desk.

Head, I tend to go for the Ren over the Marriott because the Marriott is old & tired. LOL...

CJKatl

Both are dated, but neither is worn. The TVs are pretty new in my room. The carpet is in good repair. No wallpaper is pulling from the wall. The cleanliness is actually somewhere between hospital standard and my house standard. (With the hospital standard being the dirtier, but that's my issue!)

The FS has put me in awful rooms before. They have some rooms that are subterranean with windows looking into the midfloors of the parking deck, and they have some garden style rooms. Both hotels are amazingly soundproof, given their location at the top of the runway. I was on the phone when a 747 landed a few feet from my window a few minutes ago. I couldn't hear anything.

garytx

I was really underwhelmed by my recent short stay at this property.

Let me start out by saying this was a really quick stay. Due to flight delays, I didn't get to this property until after 1AM and had to leave at 7AM for a meeting downtown, so I certainly didn't get to experience much of this property. My welcome was lethargic at best, with no "thanks for your loyalty." No mention of concierge access (which I wouldn't have had time to take advantage of anyway, but the desk clerk didn't know that).

As others have mentioned, no outlets available by the beds. I had phones and iPads and headphones plugged in all over the room, just none nearby me as I slept, so no ability to check the time or confirm the alarm, etc.

My room was very nice and quite large - I don't know if it was an upgrade or not; there was no mention of upgrade at checkin. A bit odd that there was no chair other than the desk chair, despite the available space, but that's no big deal. The lobby is attractive.

Arriving so late and tired from travel (and having some trouble finding the self-park area which appeared to require your room key for access), I just let the valet take my car - valet parking for my ~6 hour stay cost $36, which even for an airport property seems egregious.

This next bit doesn't speak to the hotel property itself but more to its location - and more or less applies to any hotel property close by LAX. As i was looking for the parking entrance, I passed the property along 96th Street, and thought I'd take the first right to go around the block. After I turned on to Belford, I saw that it was a cul-de-sac, so I went to the end of this short block to turn around. As I drove, I noticed cars parked everywhere available on this street. One parked car flicked its headlights at me (probably signifying that *that* was where I could buy drugs) and as I reached the end of the street and swung around to head back out, I saw a woman's head popup from the lap of the man seated behind the wheel of another car... Yep... hookers and drug dealers on the street immediately behind this property. Again, NOT Marriott's fault, and there are lots of hotels of varying grade and brand all around LAX, and the LAX area is just plain sketchy. Not a neighborhood to take a leisurely stroll during your stay.

mikebor

I have stayed at both properties within the past 3 months and for me it is a no-brainer: Renaissance hands down!!!

When I was at the Marriott LAX I was there 5 nights and there were all sorts of issues. The air conditioning didn't work properly and the internet drove me crazy. I selected the enhanced high speed and it would stop working almost every 30 minutes. I spoke to tech support overseas of course who kept trying to fix it but to no avail. They reset the access point along with a bunch of other stuff but it never worked properly. By the time I checked out I was extremely frustrated. Even some of the tv channels were fuzzy and distorted.

2 weeks later stayed at the Renaissance and I loved it. The internet worked perfectly my whole stay (10 days), the room was quiet for me (no plane noise), the concierge lounge had nice food like salmon and the staff were all great. All in all this will be the place I will be staying near the airport from now on over the LAX Marriott any day of the week.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Yours is a very peculiar review. Although we all here appreciate unvarnished opinions, I am shocked that you are shocked at the nighttime activity near the hotel. Most people do not go walking near airport hotels, nor for that matter near where the car is king, and LA and several cities in TX describe such urban landscapes to a T.

Second, you say you were tired. Fine, I expect that the night clerk to be tired, as well. For that matter, as a Platinum if they did not go through their routine greeting, I would be $100 richer, if they did, well fine.

I never knew an airport hotel near a major city that did not have a lounge -- so what if the agent did not notify you of that -- you can speak up for yourself, as well. However, you seem to judge your lackluster experience on one desk clerk, the fact that although there are plugs, they are inconvenient for your use, you don't like the valet charge -- but who does, and you could have self-parked, but did not feel like it, so you spent 50% more than had you done so, and you did not like the area it was located in.

On the other hand, you could not take advantage of a lounge that far exceeds most in the USA, you acknowledge your room was large but still find fault by wondering if you really received an upgrade, etc.

All this, when you arrived extremely tired and knowing that you had to leave in less than 6 hours and could not take advantage of the perks of the hotel.

As I said, a most peculiar review of a stellar property.

Finally, I'll add that this property is very easy to get a BRG from Marriott. My upcoming stays there will not exceed $100.00 taxes included, on separate and non-consecutive weeknights in December.

pdpgps

Did you pick up your rental car immediately from the airport? For that short stay I would have opted to pick up the car in the morning and save on the valet parking. In original post of this thread, I mentioned a good savings is pickup rental in the morning and drop off the night before your flight out. Some of those rental car lots are walking distance from the hotel.

SkiAdcock

Agree.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Yeah, like Budget which is just across the street!

Thus, I don't consider the area around the hotel anything resembling a scenic area that I would wish to take in with a stroll.

VickiSoCal

People talk about street parking, but the area is a little sketch.

For future reference you can definitely drive straight in to the garage before checking in. (Ren, I haven't stayed at Marriott) Just take the ticket dispensed and go to the front desk.

Da5id

>>Are there any particular rooms in which noise might be more or less of an issue? << I was also on the 11th floor facing the runway. I'm a light sleeper also and never heard any plane noise although I do use White Noise Pro app on my iPad which helps a lot anywhere.

Someone asked about Gold access to the CL. Yes, Golds do get access. At least I always have.

If I'm flying out the next morning I usually check in, tell the valets I'll be right back out for the car, drop off the luggage and then drop off the rental car across the street, thereby foregoing the parking charge.