I’ve stayed at the Hilton LAX now several times in my quest to maintain Gold status in the HHonors program, so I think it’s about time I publish a review of the property here on my blog. I booked an advance purchase rate for a Towers King room on a previous return from a lengthy mileage run, so the photos appearing below are for room 1717.

I have to say LAX is pretty efficient when it comes to contracted shuttle bus service and pickup for all hotels is found underneath the red hotel & car rental signs outside of every terminal. Service operates every 10-15 minutes. The Hilton is the first stop on the shared bus with another hotel and the ride takes approximately 5 minutes once the last stop at Terminal 7 has been completed.

You’re typically dropped off at the main entrance and the lobby when entering is impressive with abundant seating, high ceilings, restaurants flanking both sides and a spacious lounge. There has always been a lot of activity in this Hilton and it’s frequented by a diverse group of guests & convention goers, and you’ll often hear several different foreign languages spoken by the people you pass. Check-in is opposite the entry doors by about 50 yards or so.

Hilton does their best in roping off a designated place to queue for check-in, but many end up lingering trying to figure it out. There is a dedicated HHonors elite line, though I find both lines are equally as fast. My interactions here have always been friendly, uber efficient and lacking excessive small talk which I appreciate. My status has always been acknowledged and I quickly have my room key and make my way to the elevator bank.

The carpet in the lobby area and hallway corridors do show their age and wear, but I’ve grown accustomed to that for high traffic airport hotels. For this visit, I entered room 1717 on the top floor and was greeted to a Southern view aimed directly at the threshold of runway 25R.

The room was clean, smelled fresh and I put my bags down to take some pictures and preview my amenities. As you’ll see it’s a pretty standard king bed room with a dresser, desk with executive chair and lounge chair & side table. I like the glass tops found on each piece of furniture which negates the need to “worry†about water sweat stains from cold drinks (call me crazy… I’m always cognizant of that). One thing I love about the Tower rooms here is that they supply real coffee mugs!

The desk is large and includes a wired connection to the internet, something I always like since wireless can be slow at the majority of large hotels.

After taking a quick look at the cozy sitting area, I made my way to the bathroom.

The bathroom is small but acceptable and contained a tray of upgraded Crabtree & Evelyn products with beauty container (Q-tips, cotton balls, etc) on one side and soft tissues and soap tray on the other. The shower is unremarkable and I wish they’d change the antiquated adjustable “super nozzle†with a more modern multi-selection unit capable of different streams. Sorry, no picture of that but the video appearing at the bottom briefly shows the nozzle I’m referring to.

The bed is comfortable, midrange in firmness, and the sheets were surprisingly soft though I didn’t check the thread count (yes, I’m also an elitist when it comes to wanting only the highest quality bed linens). I like that Hilton eliminated bedspreads as those always gross me out.

As a guest in a Towers room, I had access to the Executive Lounge on the 16^th floor. It’s open seven days a week and offers a continental breakfast, evening h’orderves and separate dessert timeframe, though I’ve never really found anything besides cookies at that time.

I’ve been invited to the lounge as a Gold HHonors member even when not staying on the Towers level and it always seems to be busy. So much so that taking pictures has pretty much always been out of the question. The food selection is just okay and when I’ve been there at their peak times it can be scarce or nonexistent. For breakfast there’s fruit, sliced meat, cereal and pastries. In the evening there are hot egg rolls and other basic wonton hors d’œuvrs along with mixed nuts. There’s a pay bar available for the taking and several seating areas with tables, lounge areas and a couple of separate open “cutout†rooms with seating. I’ll give this lounge a fail given the lack of comfort, but the view for airport geeks like me is a major plus!

Overall I’d give this Hilton a 3.5 on a 5 point scale, and it’s definitely better than the other hotels around LAX I’ve stayed at, namely the Crown Plaza, Embassy Suites North and Radisson. Hmm, I might have to create a “Darren†scale for hotel reviews in the future as I do my amenity kits. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, here’s a short video recap of Towers room 1717. Oh, and I’ll try to remember to take pictures of the lobby and other areas to update this review in the future.