By ChristinaChristina writes and edits Travelling Companion. Her writing covers expeditions, food, and culture for the blog. California Dreaming with Dad Trip Report California Dreaming with Dad Overview Delta 757 DCA-LAX Economy Class Review Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel Review Exploring California's Central Coast Exploring Los Angeles Delta 757 LAX-DCA Economy Class Review  101 North Gaviota Pass - Highway tunnel as seen in the movies like The Graduate and Sideways Exploring California's Central Coast Overview Roughly half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Central Coast of California is not well known outside of California. When Californians think of the Central Coast they usually think of the amazing food, beautiful weather, and picturesque scenery. Born and raised in the Central Coast, I was thrilled to be able to share a bit of my "home" with my new mother and father in-law. We had limited time to explore, so I built an itinerary aimed to have a quick overview of what the Central Coast can offer. AttractionsHearst Castle Hearst Castle was one of the homes of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in which he created his own castle with the help of the architect Julia Morgan. The castle was not finished at the time of William Randolph Hearst's death and the property is now being maintained and preserved by the California State Parks. Hearst Castle feels frozen in time as many of the original pieces are on display for visitors to enjoy including art, gardens, artifacts, and furnishings. The property is nestled on a large cattle ranch, in a mountain range, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, giving the castle's location a balance of seclusion and natural beauty. Opulent, bordering gaudy, Hearst Castle had its own zoo, airport, theater, indoor and outdoor pool, a wine cellar built during prohibition, and three guest houses. The main house "Casa Grande" has 38 bedrooms and 42 bathrooms. The property's grandeur made its way into pop culture, including the two famous pools which were used in Lady Gaga's music video, G.U.Y. The castle offers multiple tours, which focus on different aspects of the property and change depending on the season. If you visit you are likely only going to have time for one tour and will want to come back to see different parts of the castle. Elephant Seals BeachJust up the road from Hearst Castle is a beach where the beach goers are limited to elephant seals. Human species are regulated to the sidelines where they can look at the elephant seals bask in the sun and dip in the water. Facts and history are available to read along the walk parallel to the beach regulated to humans. There are a few benches to sit and watch the seals, but we couldn't find any bench available due to the large number of visitors. We visited during mating season, which is from early December through March; the males were quite loud. You can expect to spend about 30-45 minutes visiting with the seals. Pismo BeachAnother hidden gem, Pismo Beach is a sleepy beach town that has appeared in movies and television shows including in Clueless and Looney Tunes. I was excited to show my Bahamian in-laws our version of beach life which is slower and involves lots of surfing. We stopped at Splash Cafe and got ourselves a delicious bread bowl of clam chowder. Then we walked the beach and the pier. My in-laws enjoyed the low-key vibes and the natural beauty at Pismo, but they were shocked on how chilly the water was. It was definitely not as warm as Bahamian waters. Take Away Photo of a winery lined up against the 101 freeway. Farmworkers are visible in the distance. Visiting my hometown with my in-laws was really fun. My in-laws were excited to explore the Central Coast and surprised on how much there was to do. While we were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, I was creating a list of all the things we missed and should do on the next visit such as:
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By RamonRamon is the creator of Traveling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further.
California Dreaming with Dad Trip Report
California Dreaming with Dad Overview Delta 757 DCA-LAX Economy Class Review Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel Review Exploring California's Central Coast Exploring Los Angeles Delta 757 LAX-DCA Economy Class Review
Exploring California's Central Coast Overview
Across both of our stays the Renaissance Los Angeles Hotel stood out as a very good airport hotel. The elite recognition was excellent, the club lounge was solid, and the buffet breakfast stood out for a U.S. hotel. Pros- Excellent elite recognition, solid club lounge, stand out breakfast buffet for a U.S. hotel, free airport shuttle with tracking, airport adjacent location, pool and gym, and friendly service Cons- Poor sound proofing, uncomfortable sofa bed, and no in-room microwave
We stayed at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel before our train ride to the Central Coast of California and before our return flights to Washington DCA. For purposes of this review I will included details from both stays.
Attractions Qasr Al HosnAs the name may infer the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel is an airport hotel within a three-minute drive from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The location is amazing for an off-site airport hotel. About the only way the hotel could be closer is if it was attached to the LAX terminal.
Arrival and Check In
Arriving at LAX was a hot mess with construction happening everywhere in the terminal. Our bags were delivered within five minutes by Delta and we were on our way to find the hotel shuttle. 
Hotel Shuttle
One of the best amenities of the hotel is that it offers a free shuttle. Moreover, the hotel offers the ability to track the location of shuttles via a map on the Marriott app. This was a standout feature that I hadn't seen at any other hotel. When we used the shuttle, it seemed to never take more than 5 minutes to arrive but it could take up to 10 minutes to get to the hotel because of the traffic and poor design of LAX.
Hotel Shuttle Tracker
At check-in we were greeted by a very friendly check-in agent. She recognized Christina's elite status and offered her the choice of a $10 dining credit or 1000 points. We were only going to have the chance to have breakfast at the hotel so we chose the points. In addition, on the weekend, when the lounge isn't open, the hotel offers elites vouchers for complimentary breakfast. During our first stay the agent apologized that there were no upgrades available. However, during our second stay we were upgraded to a One Bedroom Executive Suite and allowed to check-in early at 10 am. During both stays I thought the hotel had excellent elite recognition.
Check-In Counter
Something I appreciated about this hotel was that it had some character including interesting artwork throughout the lobby. Another example of this was a live performance by a signer at the lobby bar during check-in on our first day. Both of these are things you typically don't see at an airport hotel.
Lobby Artwork
Club Queen Room and One Bedroom Executive Suite
During our first stay, we stayed in a Queen Room with access to the hotel's club lounge. The room had two queen beds, a tv, desk, and tub in the bathroom. The beds were soft and comfortable. However, the standout feature of the room were the views of the LAX runways. We ended up having clear views of takeoffs and landings at the airport which I found fun. The standout feature though had a big draw. Throughout the night we could hear the noise from the planes taking off and landing because the room had poor sound proofing. This is result of poor planning since you would think an airport hotel would have good sound proofing. 
Queen Beds
During our second stay, we stayed in an upgraded one bedroom executive suite. The suite had one king bed and a sofa bed. Just like the first room it also features great runway views.
King Bed
The sofa bed was not comfortable and I would have preferred to keep the two queen beds instead of the suite upgrade.
Sofa Bed
The suite also had a desk, tv, tub, and a mini-fridge. One odd aspect of the suite was that it had no microwave. I was disappointed that the suites in the hotel didn't have a microwave and we were informed that there was just one shared microwave for hotel guests.
Amenities
The hotel offered an outdoor pool and a gym which we did not use but stopped by to check out during our stay. The pool was small and shallow but I was impressed that they offered one at all at an airport hotel. The gym was large and well equipped.
Dining
During our first stay, we had a chance to check out the breakfast buffet before our morning train ride to Santa Barbara. The breakfast buffet was impressive and the best breakfast buffet I had seen at a hotel within the United States.
The buffet offered a wide variety of cold food options including fruit (melons, strawberries, bananas), yogurt, cold cuts, lox with cream cheese, bagels, and muffins. It also included hot food options including scrambled eggs, french toast, sausages, potatoes, and bacon. The stand out option though was the fresh omelet station. The omelet options included mozzarella, tomatoes, onions, and ham.
Cold Food Options
The buffet also offers a variety of drinks including orange juice, hot chocolate, coffee, and smoothies. I liked the orange juice, was disappointed with the hot chocolate, which was too milky and didn't include enough chocolate. Christina really liked the coffee and enjoyed the guava and mango smoothie.
Omlet Station
During our second stay, the club lounge was open so we had breakfast and dinner at the club lounge. The breakfast offerings were average and included powered scrambled eggs, potatoes, sauce, bagels, and a variety of fruit. I tried the eggs which I thought were okay and some fruit which I thought was good. Christina also enjoyed the fruit along with the sausage. Overall, this was a let down from the very good breakfast buffet but was better than other complimentary breakfasts I had within the U.S.
The area where the lounge excelled was with the evening hors d'oeuvres which were substantial enough to substitute for dinner. The first night featured chicken and gravy while second night featured penne pasta with turkey meatballs. I thought the penne pasta and turkey meatballs dish was so good that I got seconds.
Evening d'oeuvres
The lounge also featured great plane spotting which we enjoyed during every visit. Overall, I thought the lounge experience especially in the evening was solid.
Service
The service at this hotel was solid. I liked the staff and thought all of the staff were helpful and friendly. During our first day I appreciated that the staff recognized Christina's status, explained all of the elite benefit options and seemed genuinely disappointed to not be able to upgrade us. The biggest area of improvement for service would be to improve the speed responding to requests. During our second stay, two of us had to sleep on the sofa bed, but there weren't extra sheets or pillows in the room. We called and asked for pillows and blankets. While the staff did bring them the delivery took a long time. It would have been good for the staff to respond faster or proactively bring extra pillow and blankets since there were four people on the reservation.
Take Away
My expectations for an airport hotel are typically low. However, the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel really stood out. The hotel offered many things which are not typical of an airport hotel including an excellent breakfast buffet, interesting artwork, and a pool. This all came in addition to the great elite recognition, very close airport location, free airport shuttle, solid club lounge, and friendly staff. While there were areas for improvement including better sound proofing and quicker service this was a very good airport hotel. If you find yourself in need of a hotel near LAX I would definitely recommend the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel. By RamonRamon is the creator of Traveling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further.
California Dreaming with Dad Trip Report
California Dreaming with Dad Overview Delta 757 DCA-LAX Economy Class Review Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel Review Exploring California's Central Coast Exploring Los Angeles Delta 757 LAX-DCA Economy Class Review 
Dad in California
Introduction
In February 2020, I had the pleasure of taking my Dad on a trip to California for his 70th birthday. This was the first time he had traveled to the West Coast of the United States. The planning of the trip began months before when I let my Dad know that for his 70th birthday I would take him anywhere in the world. He narrowed it down to two places he was interested in visiting California, and England. After a lot of discussion, we decided to take a trip to the Central Coast of California to see my wife's family and to check out the sites in the Los Angeles area. For this trip Christina and my Mom also decided to come along and it was the first time all four of us had traveled together. I was happy to have three traveling companions along for the trip. This trip was truly eye opening my for Dad. He really loved the kindness of the people in the Central Coast of California, was surprised by the traffic in Los Angeles, and thought the beauty of the California Coast line was stunning. However, the most memorable line from our trip was him telling me he was shocked by size of California and couldn't believe it was all just one state! It also still amazes me that despite all of my trips just how much more relaxed the vibe is in California versus the East Coast.
Booking Flights
For our flights we decided to book all of the flights into and out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) because it allowed my parent's to only have one stop flight from The Bahamas. My parent's booked flights from Nassau Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) to LAX with a connection in Charlotte on American Airlines. This was the flight that had the best timing and ended up costing $426 per ticket. We had previously broken up with American Airlines and decided to match our American Airlines Gold status to Delta Silver in 2019. Since only American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Delta offered non-stop flights from Washington Reagan National (DCA) to LAX it made our selection easy. One added benefit of flying Delta on this route is that it is a premium route so we would be served a meal even in economy and have the chance (an extremely small chance) to have a same day upgrade to Delta One lie flat seats. 
Delta 757 DCA
Since we had few Delta miles and the mileage cost on this premium route was expensive, we decided to book with cash. Also, Christina had a work meeting back in Washington D.C. so we booked separate tickets. Her roundtrip DCA-LAX ticket was $413 and she earned 2,506 Delta miles which I value at $31. My roundtrip DCA- LAX ticket cost $473 and earned me 2,982 miles which I value at $36.
Booking Train
On our trip we needed to get to and from Los Angeles and Christina and I really don't like driving especially in the Los Angeles traffic. So, we decided to take the Amtrak Surfliner from Los Angeles Union Station to Santa Barbara and back. The cost was ~$30 for each of the three tickets and we redeemed Amtrak Guest Reward Points for one ticket. 
Amtrak Surfliner Train
Booking Hotels
We stayed with Christina's parents in the Central Coast and in hotels during our four nights in Los Angeles. Because my parents' flights arrived at about 11 pm and departed at 5 am we decided to stay in an airport hotel for all four nights in Los Angeles. Because of Christina's Marriott Platinum elite status we chose a Marriott brand hotel the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel. The cost was $167 for the first night and $474 for the second three-night stay. I thought both of these were quite reasonable for a California hotel and after our stay I would say this hotel offers very good value. 
Renaissance LAX
Summary
It was such an honor to take my Dad to California and even now I look back on the trip and it warms my heart. I also feel it was amazing timing since the following month the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most travel and we would have cancelled the entire trip. I look forward to sharing my reviews especially of some of the beauty of California and some interesting attractions in the Central Coast and metropolitan areas around Los Angeles. |
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