My guy was in LA for a conference and I happily tagged along since it had been a while since I visited L.A., and never really got to spend much time downtown. Turns out, I spent little time exploring downtown or L.A. for that matter. I got to see bits of the "other side" taking the subway/ metro from LAX -- super efficient, very easy (though sadly public transportation seems relegated to only those who can't afford a car) -- through some tough neighborhoods. In my 3/4 mile radius on foot, downtown L.A. seemed shiny, corporate, and sunny, but also abandoned after 6ish.
The Marriott is well situated for biz visitors. The desk staff quick and efficient. The rooms spacious and acceptable, no particularly alluring details, but everything you'd expect in a decent hotel. What you really pay for I suppose at $300/night is location, location. However, since the conference was ALL IN THE HOTEL, why not pick one at the airport for half the rate? Maybe I'm too practical... Anyhoo, clean, neat. Stuff that stood out?
- Room service was amazing -- LOVED their fresh fruit and smoothies, omlettes and hash browns especially. Excellent beef quesadilla, and grilled salmon. Stellar. Maybe that's a function of THIS Marriott.
- Roy's restaurant and Takami nearby were both quite sub-par. Roy's wowed us in every other location -- Tampa, San Francisco, Honolulu, Las Vegas, except this one. Takami with it's views are great for happy hour, but little else. Pass on all three of their kitchens, see point #1, order room service instead.
- A local friend took me to Korea town which has excellent, excellent Korean fare, and past a number of Mexican joints which we regrettably could not go to. This was within a 10 - 15 minute drive.
- Short taxi ride to the Mayan nightclub which if you dance salsa, is an absolute MUST. They have parking at the Mayan, and car rentals were running $15 per day (never seen a more ridiculous deal), but we opted out.
- Within a 5-7 minute walk to FedEx Kinkos if you wanted to sit on a computer for longer than 10 minutes (hotel has a biz center at $0.49/ minute), and approx 10 minute walk to a decent Mexican restaurant.
All in all, a purely functional hotel. Can't rave about it, but a good stay nonetheless.












