Review: H Hotel Los Angeles, Curio Collection by Hilton

If anyone knows me, I find it a struggle to find a decent LAX airport hotel. I've gotten close with both the Hyatt Regency and the Marriott, however for the true AvGeek, there is only one hotel you should be staying at. The H Hotel, which is a Hilton Curio Collection hotel, features a massive outdoor roof area with views directly down on the LAX airport. It's an AvGeek dream. But how was it staying there?

Booking

Staying at the H Hotel is not cheap, period. Being a part of the Curio Collection means the rooms will go for a premium. The lowest that I've managed to book the H Hotel was $215, not including taxes. Meaning, you are looking at nearly $250 per night on the lowest end, and it only goes up from there.

You can book the Homewood Suites, which occupies the first few floors of the hotel. However, you won't get nearly as much reprieve from high rates as you trade off luxury for long term stay amenities, that also demand a premium.

I hate to say it so early, but I would only find myself at this hotel in the future on a free night award or redeeming points.

Location

Despite all the drawbacks on price, you can't beat the price. The hotel is an easy walk directly from the terminal without the complimentary shuttle. Sitting just a block off the airport property, the only closer hotel is the Hyatt Regency which is directly across the street, however it doesn't have a rooftop overlook of the airport.

Check-In

The H Hotel is actually two hotels in one. The lower floors are taken up by the Homewood Suites and the upper floors are H Hotel rooms. As such, there are two desks in the lobby, one dedicated to each part of the hotel. However, they work in unison and if one desk is busy, the other can help you.

I ended up on a morning flight into LAX and arrived just before noon. The day that I was arriving, Cranky Dorkfest was in town and taking up a majority of the hotel. Despite that, my room was ready at noon and I didn't have to wait.

I did hear that some guests did wait until 6PM for rooms due to the high occupancy and late checkout from some hotel guests. So your mileage may vary depending on how busy the hotel is and what status you hold.

For reference, I'm only a Gold with Hilton, which doesn't amount to much.

The Room

The rooms are quite nice, and the ultra-high ceilings are extremely nice to have, and they help to make the room feel bigger and more spacious. That being said, they are quite basic for what they are. There's the bed, a bench at the end of the bed, a lounger by the window, and a very small desk area just barely big enough to set up your laptop and work.

The bathroom is quite nice with a double vanity, large standup shower, and a separate toilet area. Lacking of course is any toiletry items, a small soap bar is shared on the dish between the sinks and everything else is affixed to the wall in large pump bottles.

The water pressure was adequate, however the pump handle on the body wash bottle was broken, and I had to struggle to get enough out to get myself clean.

I do appreciate the coffee maker and complimentary water in the room. Not even Marriott gives out regular complimentary waters for elite members.

The bed was large and comfortable, and having easily accessed power plugs next to the bed was essential that some hotels seem to struggle with lately.

As for room views, if you pick the north or west side of the building, you can catch some glimpses of airplanes as they fly by. But, due to the structure of the building, it's hard to get an unobstructed view of the outside.

Food

If you get hungry during your stay, there is a grab-n-go market area with snacks and drinks, even ice cream if you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.

If you are more hungry, there is a full bar serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. During my stay, I did not get to enjoy any of the fine dining. But from others that I knew staying at the hotel, it was understaffed and slow service.

If you do need a quicker bite, there is a coffee shop, Subway, and Krispy Kreme on the backside of the hotel. They will sell doughnuts right in the lobby, however for over $2.50 a doughnut, I think that's a little steep for a Krispy Kreme. And while they will sell the old leftovers in the lobby all night long, the price does not come down the older they get, which is a big shame.

I think you could get the late night crowd easily for some doughnuts as they go up to their room at night.

Service

Service was just... lacking. You could tell the operators have left the hotel severely understaffed and put on other duties. I only ever once saw one people working both front desks. And I only ever saw one server in the bar, serving the entirety of the bar area. Also, from those I knew also staying at the hotel, the housekeeping was slow with an obvious understaffing at that department too.

You could really tell that the hotel has so much promise of being great if they had just a little more staff around to handle the amount of guests they had.

That being said, generally the front desk staff did not look happy to see you. It was often that I saw others being checked in and having to prompt or ask for things that normally would be addressed during check-in naturally.

With how understaffed they looked, they probably were overworked and in need of help.

The rooftop overlook is the most redeeming feature of the hotel, with lots of seating and great views over the airport. It really is the place to be if you have some extended time at LAX and want to get some plane spotting done.

Final Thoughts

It is without a doubt, the biggest draw for the H Hotel is the rooftop viewing area of LAX, that is why I believe most people book the hotel. The big, spacious feeling rooms are a big draw for those of us who don't like lower ceiling rooms. It is disappointing seeing the hotel so severely understaffed and generally unfriendly or emotionless staff. The high price the hotel demands for the luxury of staying next to the airport is a hard ask.

While I had an alright time, I feel like my money is much better spent elsewhere.