While enroute to Hawaii, we had a roughly nine hour layover at LAX. We arrived at around 11PM from Tampa, and were departing the next morning at around 8AM to Honolulu. For our quick overnight we decided to book the Hyatt Regency LAX. I last stayed at this hotel when it was still the Concourse Hotel LAX, before it got the full Hyatt Regency branding.
I’m happy to report that this is mostly a very good airport hotel, with one major issue (though maybe I was just unlucky).
How I booked our stay at the Hyatt Regency LAX
The Hyatt Regency LAX was charging either $170 in cash or 12,000 World of Hyatt points for our one night stay. I ended up paying cash, since I considered that to be a marginally better value, based on my valuation of 1.5 cents per World of Hyatt point.
Furthermore, as I’m getting very close to lifetime World of Hyatt Globalist status, I’m paying cash more than redeeming points, so that I can lock this in. The Hyatt Regency pricing was in line with what most other hotels in the area were charging.
Hyatt Regency LAX location & airport shuttle
The Hyatt Regency LAX has the benefit of being the closest hotel to LAX. Distance-wise you could easily walk there from LAX, especially if you’re coming from Terminal 1. Logistics and safety are a different story, though. Ultimately unless you’re walking, distance doesn’t matter too much, since most hotels are off Century Boulevard, on the same few blocks.
Now let me get to my major frustration with this hotel. I’d like to acknowledge that I probably just have the worst luck in the world with airport hotel shuttles. I feel like I always end up choosing the hotel with the least reliable and available shuttles. I’ll see four or five shuttles from a competing hotel pass, and then finally the shuttle for the hotel I’m staying at shows up.
With that in mind, the Hyatt Regency LAX shuttle picks up on the departures level, and is supposed to run every 10-15 minutes. The shuttle passed us three times in a row and appeared to be full each time, so it didn’t stop. Yet somehow all the other shuttles were basically empty. WTF?!
We were at the Terminal 5 shuttle spot, so since the shuttles kept being full, I figured it made sense to walk to a “lower” terminal, in hopes of the shuttle not being full yet when it was out turn. Go figure an empty Hyatt Regency shuttle passed us then, but we hadn’t yet made it to the stop. Grrrr!
In the end it took us over an hour to get to the hotel, which is annoying when you have such a short overnight layover. I find reliable shuttle service to be such a frustrating pain point of staying at airport hotels. I’d gladly pay an extra $50 per night for an airport hotel if I knew I wouldn’t have to wait for a shuttle, because it’s just such a waste of time.
And it’s not like there are other practical options — a taxi driver will cuss you out if you try to take a short ride from the airport, while getting a rideshare at LAX isn’t exactly speedy (unless something changed recently).
The shuttle situation wasn’t much better the next morning. The Hyatt shares a shuttle with QuikPark, and the first shuttle we waited on was already full when it picked up at the Hyatt Regency. So we then just walked over to QuikPark (a few steps away), so we could get on the shuttle there, and not lose out to others.
The Hyatt Regency LAX’s shuttle absolutely sucks, plain and simple, and based on my experience, is one reason I’d avoid this hotel. That’s a shame, because otherwise this is a pretty awesome airport hotel.
Hyatt Regency LAX check-in & lobby
Once you’re at the Hyatt Regency, it’s a pleasant experience.
The Hyatt Regency LAX feels fairly fresh and modern, and has a nicely appointed lobby, at least compared to most other LAX hotels I’ve stayed at.
Reception was located just inside the entrance and to the left.
The lady checking us in was friendly, and had us checked in within a minute. As a Globalist member she told us that we could enjoy breakfast in the restaurant between 5AM and 11AM. I’ve read online that this hotel generally only upgrades Globalist members to suites if they ask. We didn’t ask, because I didn’t care on such a short overnight (and almost preferred a standard room, since there’s less space to leave stuff behind, fewer lights to turn off, etc.).
Instead we were just assigned a standard king room on a high floor. Elevators were near reception, and we headed up to the 10th floor.
Hyatt Regency LAX king guest room
We were assigned room 1055, which was most of the way down the hallway on the left.
The room was a pretty good size. There was an entryway with a closet and bathroom, and then down the hall was the main part of the room.
The room had a comfortable king size bed, an “L” shaped couch, and a table with two chairs. For an airport hotel I thought this was pretty thoughtfully designed, between the art and the lighting fixtures. Frankly the design was more interesting than at the Ritz-Carlton Turks & Caicos, sadly.
The room felt clean, though the carpet and furniture were definitely starting to discolor a bit, and were stained. Airport hotel rooms tend to get pretty beat up, given that most guests stay for just one night.
Back near the entrance was a coffee machine plus an empty mini-fridge. This is also where the exposed closet area was.
The bathroom was small but functional, and had a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.
Toiletries were in reusable wall-mounted containers from Pharmacopia.
Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free, and the bed was comfortable (though pillows could have been a bit bigger), so all around I thought it was a pretty nice room.
Hyatt Regency LAX Unity LA (breakfast)
For an airport hotel, I think the Hyatt Regency LAX has the ideal dining concept. It’s a model I wish other hotels would follow. There’s one dining venue — Unity LA — with three different concepts, including a market, a restaurant, and a bar & lounge.
The market is open 24/7, and has a variety of drinks, snacks, fresh food, and more. I love this concept, because sometimes I stay at airport hotels where there’s not even a way to get a cup of coffee before 6AM. Even beyond that, I love these concepts because there are often protein shakes, which are helpful after a workout, and better than hauling to a drugstore for one.
The Hyatt Regency then has the bar & lounge area, open daily from 4PM until 2AM. This has cocktails and an all-day dining menu.
On top of that there’s the restaurant, which is open daily from 5AM until 11AM for breakfast, and open on select days for dinner, from 5PM until 9PM.
The restaurant starts serving a la carte breakfast at 5AM, while the buffet only starts at 6AM. We had breakfast at around 5AM, so ordered from the menu, which you can find below.
I had a hot coffee, while Ford had an iced coffee, and both were good.
As far as food goes, I ordered an avocado toast, while Ford had the egg white herbivore scramble.
The food was legitimately good, and service friendly. You’ve gotta love that this full breakfast is covered as a Globalist, including tip. To the folks who claim that Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy have a comparable breakfast benefit to World of Hyatt (hi, DCS!), I’d love to know which other LAX airport hotel offers a breakfast like this to elite members.
As I mentioned above, there’s also a buffet starting at 6AM, but we left before that. I did snap a picture as they were starting to set it up, though.
Hyatt Regency LAX gym
On the highest floor of the hotel there’s a 24/7 gym, which is reasonably good.
There’s also a pool on the ground floor, though it was closed while I was there, so below is a picture from the hotel’s website.
Bottom line
The Hyatt Regency LAX is mostly a very good airport hotel. The hotel has nicely appointed rooms, a great dining concept (including a 24/7 market), an excellent breakfast for Globalist members, and it’s also the closest hotel to LAX.
My major point of frustration with the hotel was the shuttle situation, as we repeatedly dealt with the shuttle being full, and therefore had to wait for another shuttle. No other hotel’s shuttle seemed to be having that issue. I hope we just had bad luck, or that this is something the Hyatt Regency can improve.
If you’ve stayed at the Hyatt Regency LAX, what was your experience like?
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