Qantas Airways Flights from Melbourne, Australia (MEL) to Los Angeles (LAX)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Qantas Airways, which operates a daily non-stop flight from Melbourne, Australia (MEL) to Los Angeles (LAX) regularly scheduled to depart at 12:20pm and arrive at 7:30am. Usually a Boeing 747-400 is flown for this route. Generally, a movie is offered on this route, as well as audio programming. The average travel time from Melbourne, Australia to Los Angeles, CA is 14 hours and 10 minutes.
During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
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.
Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
The Huntington Library is the jewel in Pasadena's crown. The 207-acre hilltop estate was once home to industrialist and railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927), who bought books on the same massive scale on which he acquired businesses. The continually expanding collection includes dozens of Shakespeare's first editions, Benjamin Franklin's handwritten autobiography, a Gutenberg Bible from the 1450s, and the earliest known manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Although some rare works are available only to visiting scholars, the library has a regularly changing (and always excellent) exhibit showcasing different items in the collection.If you prefer canvas to parchment, Huntington also put together a terrific 18th-century British and French art collection. The most celebrated paintings are Gainsborough's The Blue Boy and Pinkie, a companion piece by Sir Thomas Lawrence depicting the youthful aunt of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. These and other works are displayed in the stately Italianate mansion on the crest of this hillside estate, so you can also get a glimpse of its splendid furnishings. American art and Renaissance paintings are exhibited in two additional galleries.But it's the botanical gardens that draw most locals to the Huntington. The Japanese Garden comes complete with a traditional open-air Japanese house, koi-filled stream, and serene Zen garden. The cactus garden is exotic, the jungle garden is intriguing, the lily ponds are soothing -- and there are many benches scattered about so you can sit and enjoy the surroundings.Because the Huntington surprises many with its size and wealth of activities to choose from, first-timers might want to start with a tour. One-hour garden tours are offered daily; no reservations or additional fees are required. Times vary, so check at the information desk upon arrival. I also recommend that you tailor your visit to include the popular English high tea served Tuesday through Friday from noon to 4:30pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:45am to 4:30pm (last seating at 3:30pm). The tearoom overlooks the Rose Garden (home to 1,000 varieties displayed in chronological order of their breeding), and since the finger sandwiches and desserts are served buffet style, it's a genteel bargain even for hearty appetites at $15 per person (please note that museum admission is a separate required cost). Phone tel. 626/683-8131 for tearoom reservations, which are required and should be made at least 2 weeks in advance.
Farmers Market and The Grove
The original market was little more than a field with stands set up by farmers during the Depression so they could sell directly to city dwellers. Eventually, permanent buildings grew up, including the trademark shingled 10-story clock tower. Today the place has evolved into a sprawling marketplace with a carnival atmosphere, a kind of "turf" version of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. About 100 restaurants, shops, and grocers cater to a mix of workers from the CBS Television City complex, locals, and tourists, brought here by the busload. Retailers sell greeting cards, kitchen implements, candles, and souvenirs, but everyone comes for the food stands, which offer oysters, hot donuts, Cajun gumbo, fresh-squeezed orange juice, corned beef sandwiches, fresh-pressed peanut butter, and all kinds of international fast foods. You can still buy produce here -- it's no longer a farm-fresh bargain, but the selection's better than at the grocery store. Don't miss Kokomo (tel. 323/933-0773), a "gourmet" outdoor coffee shop that has become a power breakfast spot for showbiz types. Red turkey hash and sweet-potato fries are the dishes that keep them coming back. The seafood gumbo and gumbo ya ya at the Gumbo Pot (tel. 323/933-0358) are also very popular.At the eastern end of the Farmers Market is The Grove, a massive 575,000-square-foot Vegas-style retail complex composed of various architectural styles ranging from Art Deco to Italian Renaissance. Miniature streets link The Grove to the Market via a double-deck electric trolley. Granted, it's all a bit Disney-gaudy, but the locals love it. Where else can you power-shop until noon, check all your bags at a drop-off station, get a spa treatment at Amadeus Spa (tel. 323/297-0311), see a movie at the 14-screen Grove Theatre, have an early dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy (tel. 323/965-9665), and be home by 7pm?
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.
Wyndham Bel Age Hotel
This high-rise all-suite hotel is one of West Hollywood's best. The Bel Age has it all: huge, amenity-laden suites, excellent service, terrific rooftop sun deck with pool and Jacuzzi, and A-1 location just half a block off the Sunset Strip, but removed from the congestion and noise. What's more, thanks to an excellent art collection (assembled by the hotel's original owners) that fills the public spaces and guest rooms, the hotel has far more personality than your average chain hotel.Accommodations hardly get better for the money. The monster-size suites offer contemporary decor with a few classic touches and a soothing palette of navy, burgundy, and gray. Selected to suit every need -- including those of families and business travelers -- luxuries include pillow-top mattresses with cushioned headboards and plush bedding, a sleeper sofa in the living area that opens into a queen bed, plus an excellent work desk with an ergonomically correct Herman Miller desk chair. The bathrooms come with generous counter space and robes. The best rooms face south; on a clear day, you can see all the way to the Pacific. Be sure to make reservations before you leave home for a special meal at the Franco-Russian Diaghilev restaurant.Note: As we go to print, this property has been bought by Blackstone and will be converted into an LXR Luxury ResortIn room: A/C, TV/VCR w/pay movies, Sony Playstation, and onscreen Internet access; CD, dataport and high-speed connection, minibar, coffeemaker, hair dryer, iron.
Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows
Behind the famous facade (remember the Eagles'Hotel California album?) lies this star-studded haven where legends were, and still are, made: The "Pink Palace" was center stage for both deal- and star-making in Hollywood's golden days. Today stars and industry hotshots, or as one member of the staff joked, "all the current rulers of the universe," can still be found lounging around the Olympic-size pool (into which Katharine Hepburn once dove fully clothed) or digging into Dutch apple pancakes in the iconic Polo Lounge, where Hunter S. Thompson kicked off his adventure to Las Vegas, and where Ozzy Osbourne has been known to sip his afternoon tea. I had the pleasure of staying here recently and was so impressed with the entire experience that the Beverley Hills Hotel has become my new favorite among every other hotel in Los Angeles. It is a truly world-class property, and improvements over the years have only added to its luster.Following a $100 million restoration a few years back, the hotel's grand lobby and impeccably landscaped grounds retain their over-the-top glory, while the lavish guest rooms -- each uniquely decorated in a subdued palate of pinks, greens, apricots, and yellows -- boast every state-of-the-art luxury, including extralarge bathrooms with double Grecian marble sinks and TVs. The management has assembled a refreshingly unpretentious, service-oriented staff who seem genuinely bent on guest comfort, and the best original touches have been retained, like butler service at the touch of a button. Many rooms feature private patios, Jacuzzi tubs, kitchens, and/or dining rooms. The 21 bungalows are more luxurious than ever, and the lush, tropical-like grounds are brimming with exotic trees and flowers that emit divine aromas. Even the outdoor pathways are carpeted, to keep noise to a minimum. Tip: The inexpensive and informal Fountain Coffee Shop, open daily for 7am to 7pm, is a great excuse to visit the hotel for an hour, and you never know who might be sitting on the stool next to you slurping down a chocolate malt.Facilities: 3 restaurants (Polo Lounge, Fountain Coffee Shop, alfresco Cabana Club Cafe); 2 lounges (Sunset Lounge for high tea and cocktails, bar in Polo Lounge); Olympic-size outdoor heated pool; 2 outdoor tennis courts (lit for night play); fitness center; whirlpool; concierge; car-rental desk; courtesy limo; business center w/computers; salon services; 24-hr. room service; in-room or poolside massage; babysitting; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; video rentals.
