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Flights to Los Angeles (LAX) from Seattle (SEA) on Asiana Airlines
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Asiana Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Seattle (SEA) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 6:35am and 11:49am. Usually an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737-300 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA is 2 hours and 33 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:
Museum of Contemporary Art/Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
MOCA is Los Angeles's only institution devoted to art from 1940 to the present. Displaying works in a variety of media, it's strong in works by Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, and Mark Rothko, and shows are often superb. For many experts, MOCA's collections are too spotty to be considered world class, and the conservative museum board blushes when offered controversial shows (they passed on a Whitney exhibit that included photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe). Nevertheless, I've seen some excellent exhibitions here.MOCA is housed in three buildings: The Grand Avenue main building (250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles) is a contemporary red sandstone structure by renowned Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. The museum restaurant, Patinette (Mon, Wed, Fri 11am-5pm; Thurs 11am-8pm; Sat-Sun 11am-6pm; tel. 213/626-1178), located here, is the casual-dining creation of celebrity chef Joachim Splichal (see Patina). The museum's second space, on Central Avenue in Little Tokyo (152 North Central Ave., Los Angeles), was the "temporary" Contemporary while the Grand structure was being built and now houses a superior permanent collection in a warehouse-type space that's been renamed for entertainment mogul and art collector David Geffen. An added feature is a detailed timeline corresponding to the progression of works. Unless there's a visiting exhibit of great interest at the main museum, I recommend that you start at the Geffen building, where it's also easier to park. The third gallery, which opened in January 2001, is at the Pacific Design Center (8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood) -- it's the compact building next to the Pacific Design Center. Unlike the other two, admission to this galley is only $3, and emphasis is on contemporary architecture and design, as well as new work by emerging and established artists.
Schindler House
A protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright and contemporary of Richard Neutra, Austrian architect Rudolph Schindler designed this innovative modern house for himself in 1921 and 1922. It's now home to the Los Angeles arm of Austria's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). The house is noted for its complicated interlocking spaces; the interpenetration of indoors and out; simple, unadorned materials; and technological innovations. Docent-guided tours are conducted at no additional charge on weekends only.The MAK Center offers guides to L.A.-area buildings by Schindler and other Austrian architects, and presents visiting related exhibitions and creative arts programming. Call for schedules.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The strikingly beautiful Walt Disney Concert Hall isn't just the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; it's a key element in an urban revitalization effort now underway Downtown. The Walt Disney family insisted on the best and, with an initial gift of $50 million to build a world-class performance venue, that's what they got: A masterpiece of design by world-renown architect Frank Gehry, and an acoustical quality that equals or surpasses the best concert halls in the world. Similar to Gehry's most famous architectural masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the concert hall's dramatic stainless-steel exterior consists of a series of undulating curved surfaces that partially envelop the entire building, presenting multiple glimmering facades to the surrounding neighborhood. Within is a dazzling 2,273-seat auditorium replete with curved woods and a dazzling array of organ pipes (also designed by Gehry), as well as a Joachim Splichal's Patina restaurant, the hip Concert Hall Cafe, a bookstore, and a gift shop.The 3 1/2-acre Concert Hall is open to the public for viewing, but to witness it in its full glory, do whatever it takes to attend a concert by the world-class Los Angeles Philharmonic. Also highly recommended are the $10 audio tours, which lead visitors through the Concert Hall's history from conception to creation. The 45-minute self-guided tour is narrated by actor John Lithgow and includes interviews with Frank Gehry, Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, among others. One big caveat is that you see just about everything except the auditorium: There's almost always a rehearsal in progress and the acoustics are so good that there's no discreet way to sneak a peak. The audio tours are available on nonmatinee days from 9am to 3pm and matinee days from 9am to 10:30am.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Los Angeles area, including:
Hyatt West Hollywood
An extensive $7 million renovation of this legendary 13-story Sunset Strip hotel erased any last remnants of its former debauched life as the rock 'n' roll "Riot Hyatt." It doesn't even look like other Hyatts, since the management eschewed the standard corporate decor and contracted locally; the end result is a stylish cross between the clean black-and-white geometrics of a 1930s movie set and a Scandinavian birch-and-ebony aesthetic. While not as fancy as the Mondrian across the street, neither is it as expensive or snobbish. Rooms have beautiful city or hillside views (about half have balconies), but stay away from front-facing rooms on the lower floors -- too close to noisy Sunset Boulevard. Beyond the smart decor, the standard rooms bear generic but just-fine comforts. Suites have VCRs, CD players, wet bars, plus a groovy tropical aquarium built into the wall and stocked with colorful temporary pets who make the suites worth the extra bucks all by themselves. The rooftop pool is a real plus, offering cushy lounge chairs and a killer perch for peeping into the luxury homes that dot the hill behind the hotel. The talk of the town lately is the Hyatt's trendy new dim sum restaurant, Chi, which is part-owned by Justin Timberlake and way overpriced ($8 for a barbecue pork bun?).Facilities: Indoor/outdoor restaurant; bar; coffee/pastry kiosk in lobby; rooftop heated pool w/chaises and terrific views; state-of-the-art exercise room; concierge; business center; room service (6am-midnight); laundry service; dry-cleaning service; executive-level rooms.
Wilshire Grand Los Angeles
This former Omni hotel is now independently operated and dedicated to business travelers, but weekend rates can be stellar for bargain-hunting vacationers. The taupe-toned rooms are business hotel average; the best ones have city views or overlook the swimming pool. The executive-level rooms and suites feature extras like a fax machine, plush bathrobes, extra towels, and top-floor views -- plus access to the Executive Lounge, which offers free continental breakfast, all-day beverages, and hors d'oeuvres at cocktail hour. The 16-story hotel is centrally located in the heart of Downtown shopping, theater, and dining. Five restaurants and bars on-site include an American grill, an upscale Korean barbecue, an Italian trattoria, a tropical lounge in the Trader Vic's vein, and a coffee bar featuring Starbucks brew. I prefer the Omni, but this is a fine choice if you can snare a good rate.Facilities: 4 restaurants; bar; large outdoor heated pool and hydrotherapy pool; 24-hr. fitness room; concierge; Enterprise car-rental desk; courtesy car; business center w/secretarial services; salon; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; executive-level rooms.
Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas
This sprawling Mediterranean-style all-suite hotel is the ultimate music-industry hostelry, regularly hosting the biggest names in rock (The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, U2, and even Eminem are all repeat customers). In fact, to lure in the megastars the hotel even installed a state-of-the-art recording studio in the basement. After their recording session, the musicians can then retire to the dark and sexy Whiskey Bar (a favorite refuge of celebs), where their newly recorded session can be piped in directly. Of course, unless you're staying at the hotel, you'll never get in (which, in itself, is reason enough to stay). The hotel is located a short walk from the rowdy Sunset Strip, but it feels a world away, with its lush gardens, koi ponds, exotic birds, brick paths, and tropical foliage. The only shortcoming used to be the standard suites, outfitted in traditional motel style -- until now, that is. They were remade in a practical but attractive and comfortable modern style, with clean-lined furnishings in mahogany, metal, and nubby textiles, earth-toned fabrics, Noguchi Akari rice-paper lamps, and marble counters. The villas take hospitality to a totally new level -- they have private alarm systems and butlers, plus select features like baby grand pianos and Jacuzzi tubs.Facilities: Restaurant; bar; 2 outdoor heated pools; exercise room; Jacuzzi; sauna; excellent 24-hr. concierge service; business center; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; babysitting; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; 48-track/112-channel automated recording studio.
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