American Airlines Flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington (IAD)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on American Airlines, which operates 3 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Washington (IAD), departing between 8:30am and 10:05pm. Usually a Boeing 757 or Boeing 737-800 is flown for this route, with in-seat power sources available. Generally, a movie is offered on this route, as well as audio programming. The average travel time from Los Angeles, CA to Washington, DC is 4 hours and 45 minutes.
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During your Washington vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Phillips Collection
Conceived as "a museum of modern art and its sources," this intimate establishment, occupying an elegant 1890s Georgian Revival mansion and a more youthful wing, houses the exquisite collection of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips, avid collectors and proselytizers of modernism. Carpeted rooms with leaded- and stained-glass windows, oak paneling, plush chairs and sofas, and fireplaces establish a comfortable, homelike setting. Today the collection includes more than 2,500 works. Among the highlights: superb Daumier, Dove, and Bonnard paintings; some splendid small Vuillards; five van Goghs; Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party; seven Cézannes; and six works by Georgia O'Keeffe. Ingres, Delacroix, Manet, El Greco, Goya, Corot, Constable, Courbet, Giorgione, and Chardin are among the "sources" or forerunners of modernism represented. Modern notables include Rothko, Hopper, Kandinsky, Matisse, Klee, Degas, Rouault, Picasso, and many others. It's a collection you'll enjoy viewing for an hour or so, although some of those masterpieces mentioned above may not be on view; 50 of the museum's best loved works, including Luncheon of the Boating Party, are on tour to other museums, while the Phillips finishes a renovation. The 50 paintings are due to return by the summer of 2005. Meanwhile, don't be put off by the sight of the construction, which is expanding the Phillips Collection's annex building while keeping the main building open throughout.A full schedule of events includes temporary shows with loans from other museums and private collections, gallery talks, lectures, and free concerts in the ornate music room. (Concerts take place Sept-May on Sun at 5pm; arrive early. Although the concert is free, admission to the museum on weekends costs $8.) On Thursday, the museum stays open until 8:30pm for Artful Evenings with music, gallery talks, and a cash bar; admission is $8.On the lower level is a gift shop, which holds clever collectibles tied to the art of the museum.
Marian Koshland Science Museum
The National Academy of Sciences operates this museum, which was conceived of by molecular biologist Daniel Koshland, in memory of his wife, the immunologist and molecular biologist, Marian Koshland, who died in 1997. The museum opened in April 2004 in the heart of downtown D.C. Recommended for children over 13, and especially for those with a scientific bent, the museum presents state-of-the-art exhibits that explore the complexities of science. Three exhibits currently on show are the Wonders of Science, which includes animations of groundbreaking research and an introductory film about the nature of science; Global Warming Facts and Our Future; and Putting DNA to Work, which covers the details of current approaches to DNA sequencing, from tracking the origins of SARS to criminal forensics.
The House Where Lincoln Died (the Petersen House)
After he was mortally wounded at Ford's Theatre, the doctors attending Lincoln had him carried out into the street, where boarder Henry Safford, standing in the open doorway of his rooming house, gestured for them to bring the president inside. So Lincoln died in the home of William Petersen, a German-born tailor. Now furnished with period pieces, the dark, narrow town house looks much as it did on that fateful April night. It takes about 5 minutes to troop through the building. You'll see the front parlor where an anguished Mary Todd Lincoln spent the night with her son, Robert. In the back parlor, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton held a cabinet meeting and questioned witnesses. From this room, Stanton announced at 7:22am on April 15, 1865, "Now he belongs to the ages." Lincoln died, lying diagonally because he was so tall, on a bed the size of the one you see here. (The Chicago Historical Society owns the actual bed and other items from the room.) In 1896, the government bought the house for $30,000 and it is now maintained by the National Park Service.
Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC
I took the Metro to the Mandarin Oriental, which is easy to do, since the 12th Street exit of the Smithsonian Metro station is only a 5-minute walk from the hotel. The Mandarin does not really cater to Metro-riding guests, however. If you stay at this sumptuous hotel, you're more likely to arrive by car, limo, taxi, or perhaps yacht (the Washington waterfront is behind the hotel, across a roadway or two, but a pedestrian footbridge connects the complex with the marina and Tidal Basin). My point is that the Mandarin Oriental is fabulously posh, but its location is odd. The hotel is situated at the end of a concrete peninsula, known as the multipurpose Portals complex, which is set to include offices, retail shops, and restaurants. The government building neighborhood is not attractive and at night you will not be where the action is: These streets are not meant for strolling.Having said all that, the opening of the Mandarin Oriental in March 2004 upped the ante on luxury in the capital. The service is positively sublime, everyone sweetly gracious. Hotel decor richly combines Asian and American traditions. The two-story lobby is a light-filled, glassed-in rotunda, the circular design used here and throughout the hotel to invite good luck. Each guest room is laid out in accordance with the principles of feng shui (for example, the mirror does not face the entry door, to prevent the reflection of good fortune out of the room), and furnishings include nightstand lamps of contemporary Japanese lantern design, replica pieces from the Smithsonian's Asian art galleries, the Sackler and Freer, and tapestries of hand-woven Thai silk panels. On the thick-mattressed beds are sensuously beautiful linens that make you reach out your hand to touch.Finally, the setting that separates the hotel from the rest of the city also helps create a feeling that you are away, but not away. You may not want to roam the neighborhood but you can walk around the hotel's property, which includes terraces of landscaped gardens and views of the Tidal Basin and marina, the Jefferson Memorial, the Virginia skyline, and District buildings. Guest rooms offer these same views. And when you are on the inside, looking out from the soundproofed, very quiet, and elegant refuge of your room, even nearby Interstate 95 appears rather magnificent.Note: Not open at the time of research, both the restaurant (with a chef coming from the West Coast's acclaimed French Laundry) and the spa are expected to be world-class.Facilities: 2 restaurants (French American, Asian-influenced cafe cuisine); 2 bars; lap pool in spa; fully equipped fitness center; 10,400-sq.-ft. full-service spa; 24-hr. concierge; business center with full Internet access; 24-hour room service; same-day laundry/dry cleaning; club levels; several rooms for those w/limited mobility. In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies and HDTV, 3-line phone w/dataports, minibar, coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron, safe, robes, DVD/CD player, high-speed Internet access ($12 per day).
George Washington University Inn
Rumor has it that this whitewashed brick inn, another former apartment building, used to be a favorite spot for clandestine trysts for high-society types. These days you're more likely to see Kennedy Center performers and visiting professors. The university purchased the hotel (formerly known as the Inn at Foggy Bottom) in 1994 and renovated it. The most recent refurbishment, in 2001, replaced linens, drapes, and the like in the guest rooms. Free high-speed Internet access was added in 2004.Rooms are a little larger and corridors are a tad narrower than those in a typical hotel, and each room includes a roomy dressing chamber. More than one-third of the units are one-bedroom suites. These are especially spacious, with living rooms that hold a sleeper sofa and a TV hidden in an armoire (there's another in the bedroom). The suites, plus the 16 efficiencies, have kitchens. The spaciousness and the kitchen facilities make this a popular choice for families and for long-term guests.This is a fairly safe and lovely neighborhood, within easy walking distance to Georgetown, the Kennedy Center, and downtown. But keep an eye peeled -- you have to pass through wrought-iron gates into a kind of cul-de-sac to find the inn.Off the lobby is the restaurant, Nectar, which opened in spring 2003.If it's not full, the inn may be willing to offer reduced rates. Mention your affiliation with George Washington University, if you have one, to receive a special "GWU" rate.Facilities: Restaurant (upscale contemporary American); complimentary passes to nearby fitness center; room service; coin-op washer/dryers; same-day laundry/dry cleaning; 5 rooms for those w/limited mobility, 1 with roll-in showers. In room: A/C, TV w/pay movies and Nintendo, 2-line phone w/dataport, fridge, coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron, safe, robes, umbrella, CD player, free high-speed Internet access, microwave.
Renaissance Mayflower
Superbly located in the heart of downtown, the Mayflower has been the hotel of choice for guests as varied as Kurt Russell and Wynton Marsalis. The lobby, which extends an entire block from Connecticut Avenue to 17th Street, is always bustling -- read chaotic, at check-in/check-out times -- since Washingtonians tend to use it as a shortcut in their travels.The Mayflower is steeped in history: When it opened in 1925, it was the site of Calvin Coolidge's inaugural ball (though Coolidge didn't attend -- he was mourning his son's death from blood poisoning). President-elect FDR and family lived in rooms 776 and 781 while waiting to move into the White House, and this is where he penned the words, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." A major restoration in the 1980s uncovered large skylights and renewed the lobby's pink marble bas-relief frieze and spectacular promenade.In 2004, the hotel completed a $9 million, top-to-bottom renovation that transformed the guest rooms into individual refuges of pretty elegance: silvery green bed coverings, embroidered drapes, silk wall coverings, pillow-topped mattresses, and sink-into armchairs are some of the finer touches. Certain gracious appointments remain: Each guest room still has its own marble foyer, high ceiling, mahogany reproduction furnishings (Queen Anne, Sheraton, Chippendale, and Hepplewhite), and Italian marble bathroom. The Mayflower now has a club level on the eighth floor, as well as 74 executive suites.In the hotel's lovely Café Promenade, lawyers and lobbyists continue to gather for weekday power breakfasts, and a full English tea is served Monday through Saturday afternoons. The clubby, mahogany-paneled Town and Country Lounge is the setting for light buffet lunches and complimentary hors d'oeuvres during cocktail hour. Bartender Sambonn Lek has quite a following, as much for his conversation as for his magic tricks, so the place is jumping.
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Other direct flights to Washington (IAD) on American Airlines
