Having sampled the nibbles in the Concierge Lounge last night, we fully expected to sample the breakfast, but it wasn’t to be. Having crashed out quite early, we were both awake 12:30am, so put on the TV. It was a massive screen with excellent picture quality and even the remote buttons lit up when you pressed them, which is a great idea. However, as anyone who has experienced US TV will know, having a fancy screen is all very well, but it doesn’t mean there is anything worth watching. Apart from an old episode of ‘Castle’, which we’d seen before anyway it wasn’t too long before it was switched off again.
So we slept, woke, slept, woke, slept - and we missed breakfast! Oh drat. So we slept, woke, slept and finally got up just after midday. That was half a day gone, but at least Paula was OK again, which was the most important thing. Due to the renovations, we couldn’t easily grab a light bite in the hotel (no Starbucks remember) so we just had a swig of water and walked down Century Boulevard to Dennys.
We wondered why people seemed to be avoiding the main entrance. We soon found out. An aggressive character claiming to be a Vietnam Vet, was accosting customers on entry and virtually demanding cash. When we didn’t contribute, he got really snarly and abusive and said that (amongst the many expletives) he hoped that we’d get cancer and die. Charming fellow. At this point I saw red, turned back at him and said that getting cancer was a bit late at which point he got even more abusive and said he was glad - but the Denny’s staff came out and moved him on. Apparently he is a regular and gets just as abusive if people toss him a dollar, querying ‘what he is supposed to do with just one dollar?’ and he has been moved on by the police - several times. The Denny’s staff were like me and doubted if he even was a Vietnam Veteran anyway, and were most apologetic.
Once that drama was over we just had a very light bite (bowl of beef and veg soup for me and an English muffin for Paula) and walked back. As I seem to have put on the kilos recently, mainly through lack of physical exercise whilst a surgical wound heals, (nothing at all to do with over eating of course) eating light for a day or two is probably a good thing, before I get stuck into the fish, chips and mushy peas, or decent curries, or Wetherspoons breakfasts, in the UK, then of course, 28 days on the Crown Princess. I might also succumb to at least one of what are now called ‘elephant’s feet’. For the uninitiated, a large chocolate éclair on steroids.
Marriott Hotel LAX
One of the major benefits for us is that the hotel operates a 24/7 shuttle to and from the airport and so what that really means is that you aren’t hanging around the airport for long, nor at the hotel. At busy times, they don’t even stick to a 20/25 minute service from the hotel, but as soon as one shuttle is full, it is despatched and they have at least 2 vans on the go at busy times.
For those interested in such things, the revamped rooms at the Marriott have well and truly been brought up to date. Although there is still no free Wi-Fi fir general guests, there is now a clock – with two USB ports; the double power-point by the bed on the opposite side also has 2 USB ports; the desk has a double power-point - with 2 USB ports; as does the cabinet, with fridge and coffee-maker. Even the bedside wall lights have a USB port. When I/we stayed previously, in the older rooms, no fridge and definitely no USB ports. They were very ‘dark brown and dingy’. The new rooms have very light grey walls, grey carpet and decent lighting.
The bathroom is also very modern with the old baths replaced by a double length shower and the bathroom light comes on automatically when you walk in. Although 5 minutes away from LAX, it is parallel with and almost within the runway complexes, so we can see the smaller aircraft seconds before they touch down, but can’t hear a thing.
The pool area is within the 4 main blocks of rooms and is a very pleasant place to relax and kill time, down on level 1, but it wasn’t warm enough for us to swim. The lobby is level 2. We skipped the health club, also on level 1… No surprises there.
Another visit to the Concierge Lounge, where on entry, we chatted to a nice American guy who was into Formula 1, then on exit, the door was held open by another jovial character. Back to normality as far as Americans are concerned. It only takes one to upset the equilibrium. A very light snack only this time, with a small chunk of braised beef on creamed potato as the hot dish, plus a little cheese and crackers, just to tide us over as we decided that a proper meal would be in order.
So, we headed for the cheaper of the two restaurants (no surprises there…) and I had the rigatoni pasta, with sausage-meat and also the mushrooms, which is normally an option. The mushroom was sliced and tasted as though it was cooked with balsamic vinegar. It also included spinach (I DO eat my greens…) and about 10 small tomatoes plus shaved parmesan cheese. Very nice too. Paula had a turkey burger with delicious shoestring fries.
We managed to stay awake to a respectable time and watched the semi-final of the USA Dancing With The Stars. Simone Biles(?) an American gymnast got 4 x 10’s by the judges, twice, but was knocked out presumably on the public vote. The worst dancer of the four was a football player, so obviously the football supporters outnumbered those who saw real talent. Even the judges were suitably shocked.
Paula has NOT been practicing her dancing - but she has been watching the videos and pointing out Artur’s mistakes…
Tomorrow, we are determined to be up in time for a light breakfast and check out is 12 noon. Another relaxing day ahead with a5pm flight. It will be interesting to see how busy it is at LAX.
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