Hawthorne Plaza Inn — Hotel in Hawthorne

There was a 3-day seminar being held Oct. 2-4 at the Holiday Inn near LAX. I missed the 1st day due to a lost email and was only aware of the event at the end of the 1st day. Determined to attend, I searched for an inexpensive nearby room online late Friday. That's when I became aware of the Hawthorne Inn. The total price booked online was $77 and change.

This place is a 2-story motel with approximately 30 rooms (101 - 231) but only 23 regular parking spaces, 2 DP spaces and a 5-minute temp space. When I arrived around 5pm on Saturday, about half of spaces were occupied. However, when I went out run an errand around 10pm, all the spaces were filled. If you're driving, try not to arrive too late or you'll have to park on the street. View a Google Satellite image and you'll see what I mean.

There is no lobby to speak of ... only a kiosk of sorts ... a modified doorway with a glass window and pass-thru to hand your ID & credit card to the clerk. Check-in was fast. I was offered a choice of 1st or 2nd floor & given a card key with the free WiFi code on the sleeve.

Near the check-in area there is an ATM, ice machine, junk food machine ($1 & up) and a canned soda machine ($1).

The room (104) appeared to have been recently renovated. It had a working A/C, a thick light-blocking curtain, big queen bed with clean sheets and lots of pillows, flat panel TV with lots of channels, 2-drawer dresser with side desk & office chair, mini-fridge, microwave, coffee maker, ironing board, an end table on each side of the bed, radio / alarm clock, etc. The bathroom had adequate towels for 2 people. The toilet / shower area was designed for wheel chair access. There was plenty of water pressure and the water was plenty hot for me. The WiFi was ok. There are 3 nodes to choose from, so find the one that works best for you.

If you're hungry, there is decent Chinese restaurant (Golden Phoenix) next door.

During check-out, I was in a hurry and was a little disconcerted when there was no one at the check-in window. I rang the "doorbell" 5 times and then called the number twice, to no avail. I saw some maids when I went to check-out, so I went to check with them to see about checking out. That's when the on duty clerk returned to the the check-in area (she had been talking with the maids). I told her that I needed to check-out and she asked for my card key. I told her that I had already returned it via the pass thru. She said thank you and that she didn't need anything else from me, so I left.

Would I stay...

This had to have been the most terrible Hotel I've ever stayed at. I arrived at the hotel and I was unsure if I was in a safe area. I live in Arizona and went with this hotel because the pictures looked nice but like always pictures are deceiving . We got up in the morning and upos getting into our car we were harassed by two other guess that were outside smoking weed in front of their hotel room. Mind you I had to five year old children with me at the time. I then proceeded to contact hotels.com and explain to them our situation and how we did not feel safe and how we wanted to be put into a different hotel. They said that we had to make a formal complaint with the manager of the hotel before they could offer us a refund on our second night. I called the manager and the manager started to yell and scream at me asking me why did not go straight to the office right after the confrontation with the other guests I explained that I did not want to stick around because I was in fear of my children's safety and she still expected me to walk to the front of the lobby to make a complaint while the two guests who seem to be running the place as if they were slinging drugs out of there hotel room were still around. The manager then yells and screams at me and tells me I can have my refund on my second night but that she was kicking me out of the hotel and this was before the check out time for the first night. Hotels.com proceeded to contact the manager to get approval so I can get my refund for the second night but with her great customer service skills the manager kept hanging up every time they tried to contact her. I personally would not ever suggest anyone stay at this hotel unless you were slinging drugs or you're a hooker this place is disgusting and the manager is a terrible person who does not care about her guests safety. Please spend your...

Booked a 4 night stay; upon booking there was nothing written about late arrivals. We had a bit of delayed arrived a little over midnight expecting someone to be there that can help us check in. Upon our arrival the lobby was pitch black no one was in there. There’s a bell on the door and a number that we can reach out but after half an hour of standing in front of a completely dark space we decided to leave. We were basically left stranded not knowing where we can stay. After a long travel the least I would want is to be crept by the thought of having to be homeless for the night. The next morning I requested a refund on the internet platform I have used to book the hotel. We were contacted and was told that the hotel is willing to have the rest of the days refunded but not the first night. ||Of course we were outraged. I tried to contact the hotel. It was great that someone picked up immediately but after explaining that there was nobody to check us in that time, they questioned us and stated it was “impossible” after mentioning that I took a picture of the pitch black lobby she told us to wait as she grabs the manager but then ended up hanging up on us instead. I immediately called back but I was sent directly to voicemail. After a few trials for the next 2 hours I decided to use a different phone number to call. I was sent to voicemail but I got a call back within 2 minutes.||Overall I am very disappointed with the service. The least you can do is apologize for the inconvenience it has caused us rather than just hanging up and denying the fact that there was actually no one there in the lobby. There is also cameras on the premise in front of the lobby. I hope they do check the cameras and see how lost we felt instead of claiming that there was definitely someone...