After flying in from Seattle on American Eagle, I spent a night at the 747-room Westin Los Angeles Airport. Opened in 1986 as the Stouffer Concourse Hotel, the hotel has held many identities, becoming a Westin in 1992, before becoming a DoubleTree in 1994, and reverting to Westin in 1997. The hotel is one of many Marriott-flagged hotels in the LAX area, competing aggressively with the sister Sheraton Gateway. Despite having a rather mediocre reputation in recent years, the hotel has staged a comeback following an extensive renovation in 2023.

Booking The Westin

Since I had roughly only 20 hours in Los Angeles, I contemplated either staying at LAX or elsewhere in LA. After reminding myself of the City of Angels’ notorious rush-hour traffic, I felt it was best to just stay near the airport. My choices ultimately boiled down to the Sheraton Gateway or the Westin. As both had the same price, I ultimately decided on booking the Westin, having been very newly renovated. In the end, I paid a nightly rate of USD 145 (~GBP 115) for the Westin, which was fair.

Location

The Westin Los Angeles Airport is located on Century Boulevard, within the Los Angeles Airport complex. The hotel runs parallel to LAX’s runways, affording views of landing aeroplanes from its rooms. Despite that, I’ll note that the Westin is one of the furthest airport hotels from LAX’s terminals. Save for several car rentals nearby, there isn’t a whole lot to do or see around the hotel, which leaves the hotel’s complimentary airport shuttle handy to get around.

Arrival and Check-in

After arriving at Terminal 5, I went up to the terminal’s departures level to catch the Westin’s complimentary shuttle. While the shuttle buses for other hotels were frequent, I was left confused if I were waiting at the correct place for the Westin’s shuttle. After a 20-minute wait (and seeing no less than three Hyatt Regency shuttles passing by), however, a shuttle bus did show up, taking us to the hotel.

While the hotel’s old exterior does not instil much confidence, the hotel’s bright lobby pleasantly surprised me. With a myriad of brand-new installations and furniture, it frankly looked very inviting. However, as I had been quite tired by this point, I proceeded straight to the reception after arriving at the hotel.

As it had been well past 16.00 when I arrived at the hotel, I was assigned a room immediately by the friendly reception agent. After noting my card details for incidentals, I was issued keys for a Traditional Queen Room on the 6th floor. As I made my way to the lifts, I found myself liking the hotel’s newly renovated lobby, which looked fresh and appealing!

While the hotel’s old lifts did look beat up by comparison, I was still happy seeing that the renovation works extended completely throughout the public areas, including the corridors. That’s what I call a glow-up!

Traditional Queen Room

The Traditional Rooms belong to the entry-level category at the Westin Los Angeles Airport. Despite being advertised to be only 310 sqft (28 sqm), I found the newly renovated room to be quite spacious and very well-appointed. These rooms are available with two bedding arrangements – two queen beds or a single king-sized bed. I’ll note that the latter features a sizeable sofa that could be converted into a sofa bed.

Bedroom

Having been newly renovated, I found the bedroom to look very beautiful and plush. In particular, the soft cream tones and the small details of the lighting fixtures give off a very inviting calm ambience you’d associate with Westin’s ethos of wellbeing.

At its centre are the two Westin Heavenly beds, which take up the majority of the space in the room. Despite mostly being a marketing gimmick, I’ll admit that I have taken a liking to the ergonomic but firm Westin mattress and its plush and soft cotton bedding. Combined with the complimentary Sleep Well lavender balm left on the night stand, the beds make for a very comfortable and well-rounded sleeping experience.

In addition to the incredible beds, the room also has a pair of chairs, including an armchair by the window and a desk chair in front of the television. Both were comfortable and could easily be moved to create a makeshift dining set up by the window.

Across the beds is the television console, which features a wall-hung smart TV, a built-in desk, the minibar, the coffee maker, as well as a luggage rack and drawer cabinet combo. A safety deposit box and an additional luggage rack are available in the closet by the entrance. Despite that, the safety deposit box was sadly broken in our room.

Wolfgang Puck Coffee was on offer with the Mr. Coffee coffee maker, which seemed appropriate for a city like LA. However, I was surprised to see that the disposable cups were Starbucks-branded given how nothing else in the room was from Starbucks.

View

Given the hotel’s location parallel to the runways of LAX, most rooms boast views of the approach to the airport. I’m sure this is a feature many avgeeks (myself included) would appreciate from any airport hotel. Better yet, despite the proximity, I’ll note that the room has been soundproofed well to prevent jet noise from seeping in.

Bathroom

The bathroom is located by the entrance foyer and features a bathtub and shower combination standard of older hotels. This is something that I personally appreciate, given how most new hotels have omitted bathtubs altogether. However, while the room looked very new and spiffy, I found the bathroom to be rather drab and basic. Despite the brightly lighted mirror and the dynamic ocean-inspired wall decoration, the dark grey walls left the space feeling dark and uninviting.

As you’d expect from a Westin, the toiletries are Westin White Tea-branded and come in large reusable containers fixed to the wall. Interestingly, however, the conditioner was from North 39, which is the in-house brand for Courtyard by Marriott (hmm). Admittedly, I’m a fan of the scent of White Tea, which (believe it or not) is one of the selling points of Westin to me. However, while the bath amenities were nice, the water temperature and water pressure were weak and left a lot to be desired.

Amenities

Gift Shop

A gift shop is available in the hotel’s lobby, located next to the reception area. As you’d expect, the shop sells a range of stereotypical LA-themed souvenirs you’d find at any other tourist-frequented area in Los Angeles.

Fitness Centre

While the hotel has a fitness centre and a pool, they were unfortunately not ready during my stay. Instead, I was met with a construction site when I attempted to get my morning work out at 5 am. What surprised me was the fact that the lift buttons for the fitness centre floor were not disabled, thereby allowing any guest to freely walk into a construction zone. Regardless, the fitness centre has since reopened and looks nice enough based on their pictures.

Ice Machine

A self-service ice machine is available on every guest room floor, which I think is quite convenient. However, I’d be wary of staying in a room near these machines given how loud they tend to be.

LAX Shuttle

The Westin Los Angeles Airport runs a convenient 24-hour shuttle that transports guests from the terminals to the hotel. I’ll note, however, that there does not seem to be a fixed schedule for the shuttle and it just sort of runs in rather slow intervals. Despite that, the hotel is a 10-minute ride from the terminals, which is a bit further than most other airport hotels in LAX. Furthermore, note that the shuttle does not stop at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Passengers headed to that terminal will have to get off at Terminal 3 and walk.

WiFi

As I have mentioned previously in the review, the Westin does not offer free WiFi in its guestrooms. Instead, WiFi is available for purchase for a staggering sum of about USD 15. Beyond the sky-high price, isn’t it absurd that a relatively upmarket hotel does not offer complimentary WiFi in 2024?

Overall

While the Westin’s friendly staff, newly renovated plush rooms, and excellent beds has really sweetened the hotel’s offerings, it still has many drawbacks that prevent it from being an ideal airport hotel. From the further location, the slow shuttle intervals, the lack of complimentary, and broken appliances, there is much to be improved. As such, I’d probably look past the Westin the next time I have a layover in LAX.

Read more from this trip here!