LA Weekend

A 7:30 a.m. flight meant a 5:15 wakeup, which in Seattle in January is way predawn. We took Hunnybear’s Nissan down the secret freeway to MasterPark, where as usual the valet instantly met us and loaded our bags into the van. I told him “Island 2” instead of “United” because if you say “United” they want to drop you off at Island 1, which is 100 feet from Island 2 and 100 feet farther from the same escalator you take at Island 2. There is no reason whatsoever to get off at Island 1.

We waited only seconds at the 1K/Full-Fare First Class line and got checked in by a friendly but nameless agent who offered to change our seat assignments from 1C and D. I explained to her about the most desirable seats on all the various aircraft. On the 737, which is actually a nice airplane in the regular (non-shuttle) configuration if you can get one of the eight first-class seats and discount the fact that there is no video, seats 1C and D are ideal because they have several more inches of legroom than 1A and B. Row 2 isn’t bad unless you don’t get your choice of meal. On the 757 it’s the reverse: the cutout is on the left side, so 1A and B are preferred. The agent laughed that I knew the seating in such detail. She collected 1000 miles in upgrades from each of us (Hunnybear now has her own as a Premier Executive) and sent us to gate N3.

We got a cup of coffee in the Red Carpet Club, read USA Today, and headed up around 7:05. I noticed that our flight 771 was now running as a Thai Airways codeshare, connecting presumably to a TG transpacific flight. Curiously, though, the TG flight was listed as leaving from N11, not N3. I pointed this out to the RCC agents and it was changed by the time we got up the escalator.

The flight was already boarding, so we walked right up to the agent and asked, “Is this the Thai Airways flight to Los Angeles?” She answered, “I guess—whatever,” looking bemused. She examined our boarding passes very closely but let us on anyway.

First Class filled up, but the back was only about two-thirds full. John, our flight attendant on his first day back from vacation, served up a piping hot breakfast sampler, our favorite. This one had an excellent peppery frittata, a wedge of something that tasted like bread pudding with crčme anglaise, a disk of hash-browns, and a gnarled, sad-looking single strip of bacon. We passed on the basket-o-carbohydrates, which included croissants, bagels, and muffins. UA service is definitely superior to AS on the SEA-LAX run, even in the 737.

We landed on time, and in the vaunted Terminal 8, where Shuttle connections leave from. Every other time I have flown from SEA-LAX recently the plane has docked at Terminal 6, a shared terminal that is quite a hike from both baggage claim and connections. This time, though, we had neither baggage to take nor connections to make, so I’m afraid the gesture was wasted. Since we carried on our bags, we bypassed baggage claim and went directly to the phone bank to call the Four Points LAX for the complimentary shuttle. I had neglected to check, when making the reservation, that they indeed had a complimentary shuttle.

Fortunately they did have a shuttle, which came after about 15 minutes. On the short ride to the hotel, the Hispanic driver opened the bus door to have a conversation with another shuttle driver at a traffic light regarding job interviews for shuttle drivers. I guess they wanted to move up to a better hotel.

The Four Points is the former Continental Plaza, a hotel so nondescript that it doesn’t really deserve to have a name, in the same way that the blue mailboxes all over America don’t have their own names. The bus driver unloaded our bags while Hunnybear closed multimillion-dollar deals on her cell phone. I only had a one and a five, so I tipped him a one. The other couple did not tip him at all. He brought our bags over to the bell desk and informed us that check-in was through the lobby.

Check-in was a small counter big enough for two clerks. They had an elaborate rope course set up with two separate queues. The main queue had two groups of people in it already, while the secondary queue, sporting two large gold Starwood Preferred Guest signs, was empty. There was only one clerk working. I stood in the SPG line to see what would happen. The one clerk was having a long discussion in Spanish with her customer, and after about five minutes a second clerk arrived, on the far side of me, and called the next person in the main queue. A few minutes later, the original clerk finished and the called the next person in the main queue.

“Excuse me, but is anyone going to be staffing the Starwood Preferred Guest line?” I asked. “They were here first,” she replied. “Yes, they were. What is the point of having a special line for your preferred guests if no one is going to be staffing it?” “The line starts from the middle,” she replied.

At that point the couple who was on the bus with us and now the next group in the main line insisted that I go next. I insisted right back that they go next. Well, I’m usually a one “I insist” kind of guy, but in this case I had definitely been the instigator so I let the exchange go three rounds before I gave in and checked in. We got a small room on the top (seventh) floor with a nice view of the runway, as I had requested. There is actually an eighth floor under renovation that can only be accessed from the center elevator.

The room was what I would expect of a standard room at a Four Points, having a functional desk (but without a convenient phone jack—no problem for an Internet junkie with a 25-foot cord)—one phone line, an empty refrigerator, and a shower/tub with a nice wide sink counter in the bathroom. The king bed had two large foam pillows and a call to guest services brought two small feather pillows 45 minutes later. There was no Platinum amenity box and a visit to the front desk confirmed that they didn’t have such a beast here, which surprised me since I understood every property in the chain had them.

At $69 the Four Points LAX was about what I would expect, but I’m more of a Westin kind of guy. Weekend rates at the Westin LAX are usually around $100.

We met up with TripTalker and Dave Rottweiller at the seminar. Lunch today was at Jerry’s Deli (NASDAQ: DELI) in Marina del Rey, a short drive from the airport. I got a nice pastrami Reuben with bland fries. Jerry’s is a serviceable chain of delis with good sandwiches and mediocre service. Makes me homesick for the East Coast.

We spent the day in seminar, then went back to Marina del Rey for dinner at Lotus, a serviceable Chinese restaurant. My favorite dish there was shrimp on sizzling rice. Since we had arisen so early, we called it an early night and watched Freeway with Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland on HBO. It’s a very well-done send-up of psycho-killer movies, over the top in just about every way.

The alarm clock went off not once but twice during the night. Housekeeping ought to turn it off between guests, but I also ought to remember to check it whenever I check in.

Next: What does the "X" stand for?

I don't know for a fact, but when I asked the same question years ago, I was told that the "X" stands for international and it was a fairly common indicator in the old days (when I was young).

I.e., as in PDX, CGX or CNX, but not as in MEX, PHX or OAX.

[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 01-30-2000).]

E"x"otic?

A really good trip report, QuietLion, in my former home town.

Jerry's deli is overrated (but what do SoCal people know about delis?) overpriced and I feel exploited whenever I go there. Actually, for a decent meal, have you eaten at Edies in the Marina? Edies is a diner-style place but it is really good for what it is, with decent pork chops and other low carb stuff.

I agree with you about Lotus, too. Last time I was in LA (earlier this week) I was going to eat at Cafe del Rey in the Marina, and this is very, very good, expensive but worth it, fusion food at its best with an oriental accent.

I ended up eating more informally at a good India restaurant on Washington Blvd. called Akhbar, which I recommend if you like Indian food. It's not your usual Indian restaurant, really a quite good little place.

I tend to avoid Chinese food at most places because it is greasy, loaded with corn starch and bad peanut oil.

The same alarm clock thing happened to me this week, and I too blame myself for forgetting to check the darn thing. I had stayed at the Crowne Plaza LAX which I would avoid if possible although it wasn't terrible. The CP in your neck of the woods is actually pretty good BTW.

Ooops, forgot that this was your trip report :-)

Here in San Francisco, it's "O" that stands for "International."

QL: Sorry I haven't had time to do a trip report from my overnighter at LAX last weekend. I would have mentioned that I was able to get a $79 rate at the Westin LAX using the Days of Heaven special. See you next weekend

I must say I don't understand why everyone is ganging up against AS all of a sudden. AS Breakfast and Dinner service is essentially the same as United. Lunch is sometimes smaller. Its NOT the same as flights to Las Vegas. I have been a fairly frequent PDX/SEA-LAX traveller on AS during December/January, and I have nothing to complain about.


Anyway, I always enjoy your reports QL. You're a great writer.

[This message has been edited by EvergreenState (edited 01-30-2000).]

Thanks Evergreen. Does AS ever have protein for breakfast on flights from SEA-LAX? I seem to remember no. Also, they don't have preflight drink service, just a bottle of water which has had a strong chemical taste several times in the last year. They are certainly superior to the Shuttle and have nonstops to PHX and LAS with no competition.

Incredible sushi

We went downstairs to wait for TripTalker to pick us up and chatted with Maj. Mark in the hotel café. Maj. Mark was going on and on about this nice box of amenities he received from the hotel staff as one of the seminar leaders. It was a white box with two bottles of water, Power Bars, and some delicious Belgian chocolates! I recognized the box. It was the Platinum amenity box that supposedly they didn’t have!

We put the sadness over the lack of amenity behind us because we were driving to beautiful Hermosa Beach to dine at Martha’s 22nd St. Grill with Tony and Judy and their friend Pam. The wait on this cloudy Sunday was only 20 minutes and we were seated outside at a white plastic table with umbrella. From my seat I could see the beach and the Pacific Ocean all the way to he horizon. It was a sobering thought: nothing but ocean between us and Hawaii or Japan or whatever was over there. I sipped my decaf and shared my contemplation with the others, who proceeded to order. Hunnybear and I saw no reason to deviate from our established game plan of getting the Hummus Omelet. TripTalker, fresh back from Rio, had French toast that he raved over. I didn’t see what the rest got as I was too busy devouring my phenomenal omelet. The same pair of Weimaraners that were there last time were there again, howling like dying elephants that they didn’t get to eat the yummy food.

When we got back to the hotel I asked about the 8 p.m. checkout they have been advertising, but they had never heard of it. I did get someone to call a supervisor who had heard of Starwood Preferred Guest and did give us a 4 p.m. checkout, one of the Platinum privileges. When I checked out I noticed the agent was the front-desk supervisor, so I mentioned to him that I had not received my Platinum welcome amenity. He told me that he personally put the box in my room and that the maid must have moved it. What a circus. Nobody was accountable for anything.

Speaking of circuses, the LA phone system is always worth mentioning. The Westin hotel, on the other side of the street, is in area code 213, and the Los Angeles dial-up number works just fine as a local call. The north side of the street, though, where the Four Points is, is in area code 310. Even though it is still in Los Angeles, the 213 number is now a long-distance call. I tried calling my local access number for El Segundo, the next town south of the airport and less than two miles away, but that was also a long-distance call! Finally I called the LA toll number and briefly downloaded my email. It turned out they only charged me 75˘ for the “long distance” call to the city I was already in, but 85˘ for local calls! Later I discovered that Beverly Hills, which also had a local access number, was “local.” Insane. They did have the new Starwood standard policy of 10˘/minute after the first hour.

We thought we could squeeze in dinner before our 8:48 flight and I’m glad we did. We went to U-Zen in West LA for sushi. Since there was a football game on (I think Guam was playing Tallahassee for the championship), we were the only customers. Hunnybear and I ordered a sashimi plate ($20) and several pieces of sushi. The fish was among the freshest I have ever had! This unpretentious place had phenomenal food. The bonito I swear was still swimming as I dipped it with my chopsticks into Ponzu sauce. We ate a bunch, drank Harushika sake, and finished right on time to head to the airport for the flight.

As we approached LAX, my cell phone’s pager went off with the page I had set up for the flight. On time and leaving from gate 73, it said. So TripTalker dropped us off at Terminal 7 and we headed for the Red Carpet Club. The 1K room was closed, they said, so we went to the service desk inside the RCC and checked in there. I wanted to see if the check-in experience was noticeably different from the 1K/First Class line. It wasn’t, except that I had to wait in line. I tried three different access numbers again to find out which one was local in this square furlong of the city. This time, even though the area code was 310, I could call the 213 Los Angeles number but I had to dial 1 first.

With the flight still showing “on time,” we headed for the gate at 8:25. They were not boarding yet. They didn’t board until 8:45. It seems the flight attendants were late. I knew what that meant: no pre-flight drinks. As soon as there is any delay at all, pre-flight drinks go right out the window. So I sat drinkless for 20 minutes while the flight attendants stood around and watched the passengers board, then another 30 minutes while we took off and climbed to altitude. Finally I got my gin and Hunnybear got her mineral water. We both passed on the snack, which was a choice of chicken-topped salad or bagel and lox. Service was perfunctory but friendly. I had to ring my call button to get my water refilled and then I asked if United had a new policy of leaving the curtain open between coach and first class on this flight. She said no and closed the curtain, stemming the flow of coach passengers filing past me to use the lavatory.

On this Airbus 320 we were in seats 3A and B, the last row of first class. For a 1K, this is a pretty good row because you have your own video screen and the bulkhead has poor legroom. But if you’re not a 1K you won’t get your choice of meal in the back row. The seat in front of Hunnybear, 2A, was empty: apparently someone missed a connection. Well, they didn’t bother to upgrade any of the several people trying to upgrade to fill the seat; they just flew with it empty.

We landed a half-hour late, MasterPark picked us up, and we took the secret freeway back to arrive home well after midnight.

The end.

QL: Perhaps you've been flying after 8:30. Fruit, a choice of pastries, and a reasonably sized hot entree seem to be the norm on the SEA/PDX-SoCal, and SEA/PDX-PHX.
Sometimes also a cookie before landing.

(I think I'll toss my cookies if I say any more right now)

And why wasn't I notified that you were in Hermosa, when I am just a stones throw away in Redondo? Is it my breath?

I was afraid you'd want to taste my hummus omelet and I'm very protective.

[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 02-02-2000).]

Omelet? Did someone say omelet??

Great report! Would have been nice to have met you over the weekend though...

Not for lack of desire on my part, Indurain. We were fully booked the whole 36 hours we were there.

I have a feeling I'll be seeing all you LA folks soon enough...

I have that feeling too!

Nice shades, HB!

Cool! Looking forward to it!

I'm having a blast with these icons too!