Los Angeles

[Deleted User]

We arrive at around 7pm at LAX in early August and intend to spend just one night in the city before heading north in a car rental for two weeks.
After a very long journey we'd like to get our heads down in a hotel near the airport and pick up our car the next day.
I would presume both car rentals and hotels close to the airport carry a hefty premium.
Therefore my question is has anyone else been in a similar situation and found a decent hotel within a short taxi ride that has a car rental location nearby,which will hopefully save us some money.
This is not really a question to elicit a general " we rented from Alamo and they were great " type of answer but hopefully to get some specific ideas.
Thanks in advance.

gettingtheresometime

Have you thought about getting public transport into the city? If LA is anything like SF then getting to the centre will be a doodle & your options may be increased

[Deleted User]

Thanks for your reply but as I mentioned in the original post I'm hoping to elicit specific information from posters who may have done what we're hoping to do rather than general suggestions.
Public transport is,of course,always going to be the cheapest option but not necessarily the best after a very long flight.

stevenhp1987

Have you booked your flights yet?

If you are flying BA, do a quick check for flight + car options as it's generally cheaper than just the flight alone!

Rented twice from LAX, one with Hertz, one with Avis for 2+ weeks each time. Was around £250-300 all-in.

Unfortunately, both times I drove around 1 hour in order to get a "cheaper" hotel nearer the outskirts of LA...

stevie11

Tom, not a specific answer you are looking for but you state you are presuming the rates are going to be higher, have you actually searched for prices.

I have often found airport rentals to be less or the same as downtown rentals. Accommodation may be higher but often hotels have a free shuttle which means you don't have inconvenience of getting a taxi.

[Deleted User]

Hi Stevie11,
I've provisionally booked the Best Western Plus Suites in Inglewood,about ten minutes from LAX,for the night of Aug 12th,for around $188.
Fairly hefty but there's not much else near the airport I like the look of at that time of night.
Just having a play around on rentalcars.com and the cheapest airport rental for the smallest car for 17 nights is around £563.
Widening the search to LA in general and there's a main brand rental at a hotel about eight blocks from the Best Western for £450 so over a hundred quid cheaper and it's a bigger car.
I have lots of time to noodle around with this stuff but,as I mentioned upthread,I was just interested if anyone had found a cheap hotel/cheap car rental reasonably close to the airport.

Voyager2002

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Have you thought about getting public transport into the city? If LA is anything like SF then getting to the centre will be a doodle & your options may be increased

LA is nothing at all like SF.


When I was there, getting information about public transport was difficult and usually I was the only white person on the bus. No idea whether it serves LAX, but it is unlikely to go anywhere near attractive hotels.

EssexExile

If you arrive at 7 & spend a night locally then drive out the next day, that doesn't really leave you any time in the city. In that case I'd get a car at the airport when I land & drive out for an hour to a motel.

[Deleted User]

Okay,perhaps I should have made this a bit clearer.
I don't want to " do " Los Angeles having been there dozens of times for work.
LAX is just the arrival airport for a road trip up the coast into Oregon and around that area.
We're arriving after travelling around 17 hours with three different airports and probably quite a few drinks on board.
All we need is a reasonably-priced bed and somewhere nearby to pick up a car rental that is going to be considerably cheaper than renting from the airport.
We'll be hitting the road after breakfast the next morning.
As I mentioned upthread I'm really only after any personal tips from someone who might have done something similar.
But thank you for all your suggestion so far.

Duckyduck

I was in LA about a month ago, and the hotels around the airport were generally cheaper than many areas of the city, plenty of chain hotels and most with shuttles so just choose your preferred brand or add the airport shuttle filter when searching online.

Are you intending to drop the car off in Oregon? I know there’s no one way fees imposed within California and Nevada, not sure if Oregon is included. If you’ll incur one way fees then check who is cheapest and go with them as that saving probably offsets the taxi ride (Uber would be cheaper and some offices may even pick you up from you’re hotel if you ask)

cubegame

LA is a hole. In seeing the airport you've seen huge best bit. Get out ASAP.