what should we do?

We arrive at LAX at 11pm. We were planning on staying at Orchid Suites in Hollywood for 2 nights (have stayed there once before) but by the time we pick up our rental car we will not leave LAX area until after midnight.

Would we be better off and is it cheaper for us to stay at an LAX hotel for the night and transfer to Orchid Suites the following day?

Happy New Year to everyone!

what should we do?

You might save a little money by staying at a motel near LAX, but I don%26#39;t think it is worth it. If you stay in Hollywood, when you wake up the first morning you will be right in Hollywood ready to enjoy your visit. If you stay near LAX, when you wake up you would have a drive through rush hour traffic (except Sunday) to Hollywood where your Hollywood hotel probably would not let you check in until afternoon. You would waste time checking in and packing and unpacking an extra time.

what should we do?

You%26#39;ll want to get to your hotel ASAP. While you might assume that transferring to an LAX hotel would be quicker than going to Hollywood, consider the following:

At such a late hour, the hotel shuttle buses aren%26#39;t going to be running that frequently. It could take 10 or 15 minutes (or longer) for the shuttle to arrive plus another 5 or 10 minutes to reach your hotel.

Instead, jump in a taxi and you%26#39;ll be in Hollywood in about 30 minutes. That%26#39;s just 10 or so minutes longer than the ';airport hotel%26#39; option. True, the taxi will cost more than the free shuttle, but it%26#39;s your holiday so why not treat yourself well? (Besides, you were going to pay for a car starting with that evening). And, as mentioned above, you%26#39;ll save the time and trouble of an extra ';packing/unpacking'; and be able to start your first day in L.A. as soon as you awaken.

You can hire a car from Hollywood (when you need to). There%26#39;s a Budget office (budget.com) across the road from the Hollywood %26amp; Highland Center mall (on the south side of Hollywood Bl, just west of Highland Av). There%26#39;s also a Hertz counter (Heetz.com) in the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel (around the corner of Highland Av, just north of Hollywood Bl) or you can call the local Enterprise office (enterprise.com) and they will pick you up at no charge and take you to their office to get the car).

Renting a car from a non-airport location and returning it to the airport will be more expensive than picking it up from either location and returning it to the SAME location, so I would recommend dropping off the car in Hollywood and taking other transportation (%26#39;shared van';, metro rail + flyaway bus, even a taxi -- in some cases) rather than picking the car up in one location and dropping in the other. This will also save on gasoline.

Have fun!

There should be no traffic after midnight,so you will have a quick ride to hollywood around that time.Otherwise you check out in the morning,wrestle with rush hour traffic and have a hassle getting to your hotel. Just head str8 to Hollywood at night,so you can enjoy your stay to the fullest the moment you wake up in the morning

Thanks for the posts.

We will pick up the car from LAX and head straight to Hollywood. This trip we are picking up the car, driving out to the GC south rim, onto sedona, PIMA museum in Tucson (hubby is an aviation junkie), then onto Anaheim/Disneyland with the kids for a couple of days then back to Oz. Given this itinerary we have decided it will be easier to pick up car when we arrive at LAX and return to LAX.

Dog drinking too much