Hi
Please don't stay in one of those plastic airport hotels, NO NO NO! I've lived in LA several times in my life, and I would pick a nice small place in - this area is a few miles south of the airport (15-20 minutes), and very nice. Manhattan BH is the home of beach volleyball in the USA, and quite a center for active singles (you'll see plenty of off duty flight attendants there).
I see Marriott has a hotel there, but I would pick a small B&B, personally - the town is centered around the pier, so you want to be close to that central area (no, it is not especially cheap in that area!)
Daawgon picked the right place to go--and it is easy to find since the pier is right at the end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard.
Let me tell an interesting tale here about Manhattan Beach. Years ago I lived in southern California and worked nearby in Torrance. One of my buddies and I were alumni of UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), while our boss was an alumnus of USC (University of Southern California). We made a bet on the outcome of the yearly American football game between the two teams--and when our team lost (USC won), we had to go hear the opposing (USC) coach speak at the following week's college luncheon meeting on campus. So, the following year, the same bet is made, but this time our team (UCLA) won the game, and so our boss was supposed to go to the meeting where our coach would speak, but he didn't go, claiming he had to go on a company trip out-of-town.
Well, we don't take people not paying off their bets--even if that person is our boss. So, we had to come up with a plan to make sure we let him know that. We decided the way to do that was to (a) throw a Halloween party for everyone who worked in his department (around 45 people at the time), (b) kidnap him and make him attend the party, (c) put him in a costume and make him run in the Manhattan Beach special race they used to have on Halloween.
Now I need to describe this race--if you ran in the race, you would be in a Halloween costume, you would run about 7 kilometers, you would be required (as part of the run) to go in and out of 5 different bars on Manhattan Beach Boulevard near the pier--having a drink at each bar--and then finish at the 6th bar where there would be a giant party for all of the runners and for their friends and acquaintances who chose to attend.
Back to our plan;--we decided to put him in a clown costume--with balloons--and put clown makeup on him. He was a great sport about the whole thing--and was a great runner (we knew he had run marathons before)--and ended finishing 7th out of about 125 runners. We made sure his wife was at the finish line--and we had a great party there--and then back at the person's house where we had him put on the costume and make-up (and where there was a gigantic community hot tub for all of the revelers).
Anyway, we've stayed friends with this particular individual for over 25 years, and he went on to become a SVP of the firm (Honeywell), but is now retired, and has twice been the President of the local Chamber of Commerce (of Torrance--a city of around 150,000 people). And while the city no longer does this party (probably for legal and economic reasons--as well as because of the complaints of some of the police who had to work on Halloween instead of being with their kids), I still remember this party--and the many great parties on the beach in Manhattan Beach during the summertime.
Why don't you stay at the airport and get a good night's sleep, then since you will have all day prior to your next flight, hop on a Santa Monica Blue Bus and ride to Santa Monica. It's an interesting ride, to see all the locals, and when you get to Santa Monica you will a great beach to visit, besides the boardwalk, and huge shopping mall and the pedestrian streets. Great restaurants and you could have an enjoyable day there.
Why don't you stay at the airport and get a good night's sleep, then since you will have all day prior to your next flight, hop on a Santa Monica Blue Bus and ride to Santa Monica. It's an interesting ride, to see all the locals, and when you get to Santa Monica you will a great beach to visit, besides the boardwalk, and huge shopping mall and the pedestrian streets. Great restaurants and you could have an enjoyable day there.
Good suggestion.
You can also walk from Santa Monica all the way down to Venice and check out all the fun sights on the way. Venice is also a great place to have dinner and then catch the bus back to your airport hotel and then short cab ride back to the airport.
Thanks for all your help.
Think I will stay in an Airport hotel and go into Santa Monica on the Saturday.
Can ne1 recommend a hotel? Or should I just go for the best deal?
Thanks
Kerri
I found this place when searching for my upcoming trip through LAX: http://www.travelodgelax.com/index.htm
Seems good if you're not wanting to spend too much but still close to the airport. It also has a free shuttle which should take the stress factor out of things!
All the best
Elysia
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