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- Review: Airspace Lounge San Diego Airport
- Review: Air Canada Lounge Los Angeles Airport
- Review: Delta One Check-In Los Angeles Airport
- Review: Delta SkyClub Los Angeles Airport
- We Skipped Lufthansa First Class For This?!?
- Review: Delta One 767 Los Angeles To London
- When Using Points Doesn’t Make Sense
- My First Experience With Airbnb
- Review: SPG Suite At The O2 Arena For A One Direction Concert
- Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse London Heathrow Review
- Review: Virgin Atlantic Upper Class 747 London To San Francisco
- Review: Amex Centurion Lounge San Francisco Airport
- Review: Delta SkyClub San Francisco Airport
- Review: The Concourse Hotel LAX (Hyatt Affiliated Hotel)
Last July I first wrote about how The Concourse Hotel LAX will become the Hyatt Regency LAX. This property has an interesting history, as it’s truly coming full circle. It was a Hyatt ~60 years ago, then it was branded as a Radisson, then it was branded as The Concourse Hotel, and soon it will be branded as a Hyatt Regency.
Hyatt doesn’t presently have a full service property at LAX, which means they’re really lagging behind the competition. Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood all have extensive portfolios there, while Hyatt up until now has just had the Hyatt Place LAX/El Segundo.
Anyway, over the coming months The Concourse Hotel will undergo a substantial renovation, which should go on through March 2016. At that point it will apparently be rebranded as a Hyatt Regency. In the meantime it’s considered a “Hyatt Affiliated Hotel,” so you can earn and redeem Gold Passport points for stays here.
While the property hasn’t yet been renovated, I figured I’d check it out during my recent visit to LA. I landed at LAX in the evening and had to go into town the following morning, so figured I might as well check out Hyatt’s airport offering.
The rate was ~$150, which wasn’t cheap, but also wasn’t terrible.
The Concourse Hotel is the closest hotel to LAX, and is just about walking distance from Terminal 1 or Terminal 2.
The hotel advertises a shuttle every 10 minutes, and it’s actually shared with the parking garage next to the hotel. The shuttle literally arrived two seconds after I got to the shuttle center, which was pretty awesome. I always seem to have terrible luck with LAX shuttles, whereby the shuttle I need always takes the longest to arrive.
The exterior of The Concourse Hotel is rather drab, though non-offensive.
The Concourse Hotel LAX exterior
The Concourse Hotel LAX driveway
The lobby is nice enough, though quite dark. The shuttle drops off at the back entrance of the hotel, so you have to walk a ways to reception.
The Concourse Hotel LAX lobby
The Concourse Hotel LAX lobby
Once there I was welcomed by a friendly associate.
The Concourse Hotel LAX reception
He clearly seemed to know the hotel was a bit of a dump, though also seemed super proud about it being turned into a Hyatt. He thanked me for being a Diamond member, noted some of the recent hotels I’ve stayed at (“I see you recently stayed at the Andaz West Hollywood… how do you like that hotel?”), and familiarized me with the features of the hotel.
“Mr. Schlappig, I have you in a city view room, is that okay?” Works for me!
He informed me that I could have my Diamond breakfast at Palmira, the hotel’s restaurant. And he informed me that the breakfast benefit applied for up to four people, which seemed generous.
Anyway, he was enthusiastic and genuine, and I think that’s worth mentioning (unlike my experience at some luxury hotels, where they seem to try too hard). He quickly gave me a key to my room on the sixth floor.
The elevators are located opposite of reception, and there I also saw a rendering of what the Hyatt Regency would look like after the renovation.
Hyatt Regency LAX renderings
The Concourse Hotel LAX elevators
The hallways were rather uniquely colored, with lime-green paint and carpet straight out of the 90s.
The Concourse Hotel LAX hallway
My room was #653.
The Concourse Hotel LAX room door
Based on the floorplan it seemed like there were very few “premium” rooms. Then again, I’m not sure the floorplan was really accurate, since it made the rooms look outrageously narrow and long. Pencil rooms, if you will.
The Concourse Hotel LAX floorplan
Upon stepping in the room I could certainly understand why a renovation was needed to convert this into a Hyatt. The room was… simple… and drab… and just “bleh.”
There was an entryway with the bathroom on the left and a closet on the right.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport room entrance
Then there was a king size bed with a nightstand on each side. There was literally nothing on any of the walls.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport room entrance
There wasn’t even a headboard for the bed. On the plus side, the bed was quite comfortable, and the sheets seemed clean. While I thought the cream-colored walls without any sort of decorations were borderline offensive, they had nothing on the curtains. Ugh, my eyes!
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport king room
Across from the bed was a mini-fridge as well as a coffee maker and a complimentary bottle of water.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport mini-fridge
Then there was a flat screen TV, and next to it was a desk with a chair. There weren’t really any conveniently placed outlets, and I had to get on my knees to plug my computer in under the desk.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport desk & TV
Then in the corner was a chair with ottoman.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport chair with ottoman
I think calling the room “city view” (as I was told at check-in) would be a bit of a stretch, unless the city of LA simply consists of one parking garage.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport room view
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport room view
The bathroom wasn’t much nicer, unfortunately. There was a sink, toilet, and shower/tub combo.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport bathroom
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport bathtub
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport shower
The toiletries were decent, and I appreciated that there was a complimentary tube of toothpaste available.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport toiletries
The ceiling seemed to have quite a bit of damage, though.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport bathroom damage
Wifi was free for all guests, and was reasonably fast.
The following morning I headed to the restaurant for breakfast, which was complimentary as a Gold Passport Diamond member.
On the way to the restaurant I passed the Concorde Lounge & Bar. That’s an aspirational name, if I’ve ever heard of one.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Concorde Lounge & Bar
The hotel’s restaurant is called Palmira, and it serves breakfast starting at 5AM, which is super early. That’s awesome for an airport hotel, and how it should be, in my opinion.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant
The restaurant, much like the rest of the hotel, is past its prime.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant
That being said, the server helping me was extremely friendly and well intentioned, which I found to be a theme throughout the hotel, even if they didn’t have much to work with.
The restaurant has both a buffet and an a la carte menu. The breakfast menu read as follows:
To keep things simple I had the buffet. I had some coffee and then just some granola and fruit for breakfast.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
In terms of the cold selection, the buffet spread consisted of several types of cereal, pastries, muffins, yogurt, cold cuts, cheese, and fresh fruit.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
Then the hot spread consisted of pancakes, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage, etc.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport Palmira Restaurant breakfast buffet
All-in-all it was a perfectly fine breakfast, even if the restaurant itself was quite drab. My one major complaint was that Wi-Fi didn’t work in the restaurant, which sort of sucks for people like me, who dine alone and like to work over breakfast.
The hotel also has a small gym located off the lobby. I didn’t have a chance to use it, though it seemed kind of small for a hotel of this size.
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport gym
The Concourse Hotel Los Angeles Airport gym
In the end I was just at the hotel for around 11 hours, and in the morning took an Uber into town.
The Concourse Hotel LAX bottom line
While the staff at this hotel were friendly and well intentioned, the hotel has a long way to go before it’s ready to be branded as a Hyatt. On one hand being able to earn Hyatt points at this hotel is better than not having the option, though on the other hand even affiliating this hotel with Hyatt sort of dilutes the brand, in my opinion.
So while I wouldn’t return until the hotel is renovated, I do look forward to trying it when it becomes a Hyatt Regency, given that it’s the closest hotel to LAX.
In the meantime the Sheraton Gateway LAX will continue to be my “go to” hotel at LAX.
Have you stayed at The Concourse Hotel LAX? What’s your favorite LAX airport hotel?
Have any of the contributors here been back since the Hotel Renovations are complete? Would like to hear your thoughts . . .
Wow. Is that a pancake in the oatmeal? And what's with the utensils on the countertop for the muffins? Talk about a food safety violation. I'd never eat yoghurt off a buffet that wasn't in a container with a marked expiration date.
The rooms look clean, which is more than I can say about some other hotels.
I mattress run at this hotel, though I won't be going after Hyatt Diamond again (Hyatt just doesn't fit my travel patterns). The last time I did it the front desk manager (or some sort of manager) checked me in. He evidently was hired away from Thompson hotels and was there to standardize their customer service experience. He explained to me the renovation process and asked for understanding when judging the hotel in its current...
I mattress run at this hotel, though I won't be going after Hyatt Diamond again (Hyatt just doesn't fit my travel patterns). The last time I did it the front desk manager (or some sort of manager) checked me in. He evidently was hired away from Thompson hotels and was there to standardize their customer service experience. He explained to me the renovation process and asked for understanding when judging the hotel in its current state. Overall I had the same borderline outstanding experience with the staff. I think he did/is doing a great job. The future holds promise for this property once everything is done.
For those of you asking about Ford I'll do the honors for Ben. It's none of your business where he stays or doesn't. It's a blog not Truth or Dare.Good report Ben and thx to those who pointed out failings Ben may have missed.
and Michael T - if you care to share any prom pictures that were taken here when we were Hyatt House in the 70's ( and owned by Herb Albert at that time) that would be fantastic. Thank you!
Just want to thank Lucky for what I think was a right on completely accurate review of my hotel. Yes I work at the soon to be Hyatt Regency LAX and I want to THANK HIM for stating he will try us once again once we are finished with our $60 million much needed facelift.
I have great respect for the bloggers on this site. Had the pleasure of meeting many of you at event held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza a couple years ago and lead the site tour of the property.
Compared to the other Hyatt choices around LAX, I don't think this looks that bad. I wanted to make a correction. There is a Hyatt Place LAX/El Segundo, but there is also a Hyatt House LAX/El Segundo which I had the misfortune to stay at last week and recommend no one stays there.
It looks like a Van Nuys apartment building on the outside, but the rooms are very nice typical Hyatt House design inside....
Compared to the other Hyatt choices around LAX, I don't think this looks that bad. I wanted to make a correction. There is a Hyatt Place LAX/El Segundo, but there is also a Hyatt House LAX/El Segundo which I had the misfortune to stay at last week and recommend no one stays there.
It looks like a Van Nuys apartment building on the outside, but the rooms are very nice typical Hyatt House design inside. My favorite parts of the trip were:
1. Being told I had to allow the hotel to put a "150.00 deposit" on my credit card to protect them in case I "Trash the room." If I don't "Trash the room," the deposit will be refunded.
2. At 3:30AM having a screaming man outside my door banging on the door for 5 minutes until guests across the courtyard yelled at him to "STFU." Then he moved to the next door and banged on it for 5 more minutes.
Stay away from this place!
Why didn't you stay at Ford's place?
Bad as it is, it's better than it was when it was a Hyatt back in the 80s. Stayed there a couple of times before early LAX flights and it was grim. Very grim.
Stayed here in the Radisson days. Doesn't look as if it has changed much since then.
The big downside to this hotel, no matter who runs it, is that although it is closest to LAX it is also the furtherest from any restaurants, and shopping for essentials, such as pharmacy items. It is a retail desert!
Although it is close to the airport as the crow flies, it still takes pretty much the...
Stayed here in the Radisson days. Doesn't look as if it has changed much since then.
The big downside to this hotel, no matter who runs it, is that although it is closest to LAX it is also the furtherest from any restaurants, and shopping for essentials, such as pharmacy items. It is a retail desert!
Although it is close to the airport as the crow flies, it still takes pretty much the same time to get to terminals as the other hotels on the hotel strip, so no advantage there.
(1) Ick (2) Why do you not stay at the new bf's place when visiting him in LA?
Before renovating, please do not stay here. Spend that cash on airbnb and get yourself a better stay!
Had my senior prom at this hotel in 1978. It was a Hyatt House then. Since you can't miss this hotel when you drive into LAX, my wife is mostly likely getting a bit tired of me pointing to it and telling her that's where I had my prom...
"There weren’t really any conveniently placed outlets, and I had to get on my knees to plug my computer in under the desk."
Do you mean power outlets? From the photo it looks to me like there are 2 on the base of the lamp on the desk?
Lucky, Thanks for posting the rate you paid. I hate when bloggers leave out important details like that, and a lot of writers do. Its an important consideration for booking, and a good data point for people booking at the hotel in the future as a benchmark of comparison.
Wow- you are such a curtain aesthete!
Your "whereby" overuse isn't even as nauseating as the "HAVING SAID THAT" preponderance.
Of course, no one would accuse you of being a professional when it comes to writing.
That palce looks terrible!
Lucky, I never see you reviewing Hyatt Place/Hyatt House/Homewood Suites/StayBridge Suites/Residence Inn places? Any reason why?
To me, the extended-stay type properties like above are most of the times present better options compared to full service airport hotels. The rooms are biggers, the wifi is consistent, most of the buildings would be newer, and the shuttle service is predictable. For non-elite members, there's normally free breakfast and the spread is adequate. Plus the rate is...
Lucky, I never see you reviewing Hyatt Place/Hyatt House/Homewood Suites/StayBridge Suites/Residence Inn places? Any reason why?
To me, the extended-stay type properties like above are most of the times present better options compared to full service airport hotels. The rooms are biggers, the wifi is consistent, most of the buildings would be newer, and the shuttle service is predictable. For non-elite members, there's normally free breakfast and the spread is adequate. Plus the rate is usually affordable enough that I choose to pay so I can accumulate points vs spending loyalty currencies.
Specific for LAX, my choice would be Hyatt Place El Segundo. I've stayed at Hilton and Westin and both are unremarkable. I also had some dubious parking billings practice at Westin that I had to argue with the front desk staff and bad review on TA to get Westin to resolve it.
You've been using the word "whereby" a TON recently.....just an observation!
Lucky,
stayed there in July and agree with your Review and Comments.
One thing worth mentioning for your avgeeks readers is it is in 10-Minute walking distance of the One&Only In&Out Burger, aka McFly.
I've stayed several times recently at Hyatt Place El Segundo/LAX. Nice/modern enough, close enough to LAX, good freeway access, and the price is usually right. Plus, Gold Passport points. :)
Nice to see they atleast fixed up the gym since I stayed there earlier this year. I'm curious at their renovation timeline though. Seems like very little has been done since I last stayed there and that banner hasn't changed.
I stayed there in May 2015 and was "upgraded" to a "suite" as a Platinum GP. The suite consisted of 2 adjoining rooms with a glass door. The extra room had a sofa, fridge, TV, and an identical bathroom. The bed appeared to be new, but the rest of the room was falling apart. I didn't request it, but the room was closer to the runway and had great views of the incoming international flights.
That hotel is disgusting. Stayed there 10 months ago, never again.
Bad checkin (looooong lines), bad service, no extra pillows that were requested, indifferent service everywhere. Shuttle bus was...unique.
Hyatt gas a LOT of work to do.
I like the Marriott :)
What a dump. No headboard? Motel 6 has one.... Maybe. Never been