hotel Archives - Agoura Hills Mom

Staycation at Residence Inn LAX – Part 1 of 3

After a 1.5 hour slog through Sunday traffic, we finally arrived at Residence Inn LAX.

Over the summer I was invited by Residence Inn to stay at their LAX property. I finally accepted when it was clear that I need some quality time with my 10-year-old. The summer had been so busy that we didn’t get much time together, just me and him. Plus, he loves staying in hotels, and as I found out, he loves other key components of travel, so this turned out to be a perfect little excursion for us.

Normally I wouldn’t choose the airport area as a destination, but there are a few reasons that our night at Residence Inn LAX turned out to be wonderful: a comfortable, clean room to relax and snuggle in after spending time at a great restaurant and a picturesque local attraction that would otherwise take us over an hour to get to by car.

Part I: The Hotel

The Residence Inn LAX just opened this summer with a simple, elegant contemporary decor. The lobby is spacious and bright and there are some cool digital conveniences for guests, including an interactive map of local attractions (but curiously not local restaurants — there is nothing notable in walking distance of the hotel, if you ask the front desk they will send you to places that require a drive), and a live departures screen for flights leaving from LAX, as well as a luggage scale.

The pool area is small but has plenty of room, with comfortable seating and shade and even a cool fire pit for nighttime socializing. There is a special needs chair lift for the pool, and plenty of towels.

Our room was gloriously spic and span. I mean, you’d expect that from any hotel of Residence Inn’s fame, but I especially appreciated it because my own house has been such a sandy, dusty disaster due to neglect and beach visits. It was just so nice to get away from household duties for a night! And the goodies left for us were a lovely touch.

(FYI – no bathtub, just a sleek and clean shower)

Guests are given BOGO vouchers for use at the on-site fast casual restaurants, Z Pizza or Jersey Mike’s. We opted to go off-property for dinner, but we did use the free beverage at the also on-site Starbucks to get hot coffee and chocolate in the morning.

Residence Inn’s usually awesome continental breakfast hit a hiccup on the Monday morning when we were there, because an expected delivery hadn’t come in. Otherwise we would have eaten there. Instead we took our Starbucks drinks back up to our room and watched the rest of a movie we had started the night before. Cool thing: the rooms have Netflix on the TV’s, and you can log in with your own account. That was perfect for this mom and 10-year-old. We selected “Are We Done Yet?” which incidentally I recommend for helping you go to sleep. Watching the end of it in the morning wasn’t so bad.

I enjoyed the view while I took notes

In separate posts I will talk more about how we passed the time. Once we arrived at the hotel Sunday evening, we spent about 20 minutes at the pool before it got too windy, and then considered what’s close by and set out from there. Parking for guests ($24 per night) is in a garage behind the building and coming and going is easy. Wifi is free in the room and works just fine. There is also an airport shuttle, so this is a great lower-cost place to stay the night before if you have a super early morning flight.

Residence Inn LAX
5933 West Century Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90045 USA
Rooms and Rates

Staycation in Oxnard

For a short trip to a nice, affordable beachside town, consider Oxnard.

I know. It was a surprise to me too. But when Aunt Kathy and Aunt “Zoo” came from out of town and booked a suite at the Residence Inn there, I shrugged my shoulders and said “Why not?”

There really isn’t a reason why not. But there are plenty of reasons why.

The Beach – the beaches in Oxnard are rimmed with miles of white sand. The waves crash big and cold. There are two harbors to stroll along – Channel Islands and Ventura. On this trip with the kids, the evenings and days were a bit windy, so we favored Oxnard Beach Park with its imaginative play structures, vast stretches of grass, tumbling dunes, and endless beach.

The Residence Inn is on the edge of the River Ridge golf course (which is not at all the same property so if you are tempted to take a shortcut by walking on the golf course, don’t). Arranged in a condo village pattern, this property has tennis courts, several pools, and a vast ballroom for conferences and events. One penthouse suite was enough to house three adults and two kids. There is a loft with a double bed, a bedroom with a king bed, a sofa with a pullout double bed, and two bathrooms. There is a sitting area for a “living room” and a kitchenette. Our room was pretty close to a small hot tub, but there were also several pools with more hot tubs just short walks away.

It’s pretty tough to get a room there in the summertime, though, because the Dallas Cowboys take over the entire property for summer training. The sales rep who walked around with me dropped this casually into our conversation, but I kept stopping her to get more information about this. I mean, what?! A professional football team takes over…a Residence Inn, in Oxnard? Apparently it’s true, and also I am one of the last people on Earth to learn about it.

Points of interest, aside from the beach, include every major street around there because of all the fruit stands because of all the farms. We bought the last flat of strawberries off a truck by the side of the road that tasted like they jumped right off the plants. We also found a historic old Woolworth Building that now houses a little museum and a cafe right at Woolworth’s old lunch counter called Fresh and Fabulous.

This is a good spot if you are a golfer, (and if you like football and golf, try footgolf) but I also enjoyed it as a person who likes to walk. The days we spent there were balmy and gorgeous, and I strolled to a local park that was deserted except for one old lady who was doing laps around me.

Between the hotel pool, the beach, and some driving around, we were tired enough each night to go to bed early, rising again early the next day eager to plunder the complimentary buffet breakfast.

Oxnard, everybody. Now you know!

Staycation at Residence Inn LAX – Part 1 of 3

Part I: The Hotel

Staycation in Oxnard

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