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Air New Zealand Flights from Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL) to Los Angeles (LAX)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Air New Zealand, which operates 4 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 8:30am and 6:00pm, and one additional non-stop flight regularly scheduled to depart at 9:55pm and arrive at 11:20pm, Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. Usually an Airbus A319 or Airbus A320 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Guadalajara, Mexico to Los Angeles, CA is 3 hours and 25 minutes.*
* Some flights must be used with additional international service on this airline.
During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
The Southwest Museum
This is the city's oldest museum, considered by some a "best-kept secret" that suffers from lack of recognition and space for its superlative collection. Originally opened in 1907 by amateur historian and Native American expert Charles F. Lummis (who also designed Downtown's landmark "castle," El Alisal), this privately funded anthropological museum contains the finest examples of Native American art and artifacts found anywhere, including rare paintings, weapons, and a Cheyenne summer tepee. The largest exhibition chronicles 10,000 years of history of the people of the American Southwest. The California Hall focuses on the lifestyles of the first Californians; a separate two-level hall is dedicated to the culture of cold-climate tribes. The museum has a particularly active events calendar that includes a Native American Film Festival, regular lectures, and special children's programs (log onto the website for more info). In the shop, you'll find authentic Native American drums, kachina dolls, pottery, and sterling-silver jewelry by Native American artist Vernon Begaye. Tours are available by request. Tip: You can purchase a $12 two-site ticket that also includes entry into the excellent Museum of the American West; it's valid for 3 months.
Museum of Tolerance
The Museum of Tolerance is designed to expose prejudices, bigotry, and inhumanity while teaching racial and cultural tolerance. Since its opening in 1993, it's hosted 3.5 million visitors from around the world, including King Hussein of Jordan and the Dalai Lama. It's located in the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an institute founded by the legendary Nazi-hunter. While the Holocaust figures prominently here, this is not just a Jewish museum -- it's an academy that broadly campaigns for a live-and-let-live world. Tolerance is an abstract idea that's hard to display, so most of this $50 million museum's exhibits are high-tech and conceptual in nature. Fast-paced interactive displays are designed to touch the heart as well as the mind, and engage everyone from heads of state to the MTV generation.
J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center
Since opening in 1997, the Richard Meier-designed Getty Center has quickly assumed its place in the L.A. landscape (literally and figuratively) as the city's cultural acropolis and international mecca. Headquarters for the Getty Trust's research, education, and conservation concerns, the postmodernist complex -- perched on a hillside in the Santa Monica Mountains and swathed in Italian travertine marble -- is most frequently visited for the museum galleries displaying collector J. Paul Getty's enormous collection of art. Always known for antiquities, expanded galleries now allow the display of Impressionist paintings, truckloads of glimmering French furniture and decorative arts, fine illuminated manuscripts, contemporary photography, and previously overlooked graphic arts. The area that's open to the public consists of five two-story pavilions set around an open courtyard, and each gallery within is specially designed to complement the works on display. A sophisticated system of programmable window louvers allows many works (particularly paintings) to be displayed in the natural light they were created in for the first time in the modern era. One of these is van Gogh's Irises, one of the museum's finest and most popular holdings. Trivia buffs will enjoy knowing that the museum spent $53.9 million to acquire this painting; it's displayed in a complex that cost roughly $1 billion to construct.Visitors to the center park at the base of the hill and ascend via a cable-driven electric tram. On clear days, the sensation is of being in the clouds, gazing across Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean (and into a few chic Brentwood backyards). If you're like me and don't remember a thing from your college art appreciation class, plunk down $3 for a self-guided audio tour that gives a brief overview of the 250-plus works in the collection. The 45-minute architectural tours, offered throughout the day, are also worth looking into. Dining options include several espresso/snack carts, a cafeteria, a self-service cafe, and the elegant (though informal) "Restaurant" offering table service for lunch (Tues-Sun) and dinner (Fri-Sat), with breathtaking views overlooking of the ocean and mountains (reservations are recommended, though walk-ins are accepted; call tel. 310/440-7300 or make reservations online at www.getty.edu).Realizing that fine-art museums are usually dreadfully boring for kids, the center provides several clever programs for kids, including exploratory games such as Perplexing Paintings and The Getty Art Detective; a Family Room filled with puzzles, computers, picture books, and games; mythical storytelling sessions on weekends at 11am, noon, and 1pm; weekend family workshops; and self-guided audio tours made specifically for families.Entrance to the Getty Center is free -- they don't need your money -- but parking reservations are required weekdays (though we've heard of people getting in without one on slow days). College students with current ID and those arriving by public transportation, motorcycle, or bicycle do not require reservations. Reservations are not required after 4pm or all day Saturday and Sunday. Cameras and video cams are permitted, but only if you use existing light (flash units are verboten).
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Los Angeles area, including:
Saga Motor Hotel
This 1950s relic of old Route 66 has far more character than most other motels in its price range. The rooms are small, clean, and simply furnished with the basics. The double/doubles are spacious enough for shares, but budget-minded families will prefer the extralarge configuration dedicated to them, which has a king and two doubles. The best rooms are in the front building surrounding the gated swimming pool, shielded from the street and inviting in warm weather. The grounds are attractive and well kept, if you don't count the Astroturf "lawn" on the pool deck. The location is very quiet and very good, just off the Foothill (210) Freeway about a mile from the Huntington Library and within 10 minutes of both the Rose Bowl and Old Pasadena.
Century Wilshire Hotel
This amiable and pretty hotel, located just south of UCLA, is a good choice for discerning travelers without a lot of money to spend. The older building boasts a European flair and an English country-style lobby that leads to a pleasant courtyard, around which 99 guest rooms sit garden style. The individually decorated rooms are simple yet attractively furnished. Units are large, with good closet space; the double/doubles are spacious enough to house four who don't mind sharing to save a few dollars. Junior-, one-, and two-bedroom suites offer fully equipped kitchens. Rooms open either onto the courtyard, with pretty wrought-iron cafe tables, or onto a very nice pool. A complimentary continental breakfast (served alfresco on nice days) and parking add to the wallet-friendliness, and discounts on longer stays make a good value even better.
St. Regis Los Angeles
The former tower of the Century Plaza has been transformed (for a mere $43 million) into one of L.A.'s finest hotels, easily a competitor for best overall in a very competitive luxury market. Everything is right on target here, from the richly paneled, Oriental-carpeted lobby to the oversize guest rooms with classic-goes-contemporary decor in creamy mustard, chocolate, and tobacco hues. The cutting-edge luxury includes extralong California king beds dressed in 300-count Frette linens, bedside controls for everything -- climate, lighting, the DO NOT DISTURB sign -- plus a 21st-century system that lets you reach almost anybody in one touch, a sitting area with sofa and ultraplush wool throw, an executive leather-top worktable with desk-level inputs, floor-to-ceiling windows with balconies, and gorgeous mahogany-and-marble bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and separate showers. State-of-the-art services include coffee or tea delivered with your wake-up call, plus "day before" check-in for red-eye flyers; Grand Luxe rooms also benefit from 24-hour butler service.The tone is sedate and effortlessly elegant, the crowd more Hugo Boss than Gap. Indoor/outdoor Encore is a stunning botanically inspired setting for sophisticated Provençal dining. High tea, light meals, and cocktails are served in the St. Regis Lounge, but the best spot for martinis is the richly paneled St. Regis Bar, presided over by a stunning Goya-inspired mural (a la New York's landmark King Cole Bar). The European-style spa offers an extensive treatment menu and a view-endowed, cutting-edge fitness center.Facilities: Restaurant; St. Regis Lounge for high tea and light meals; St. Regis Bar; outdoor heated pool and Jacuzzi; 6 outdoor tennis courts; state-of-the-art exercise room w/personal trainers; full-service spa w/steam and sauna; 24-hr. concierge; courtesy car within 5-mile radius; salon; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; babysitting; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; executive-level rooms; butler-assisted unpacking/packing; early "day before" check-in.
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