Oh, Josh, it's sad to think of you visiting L.A. and staying in a Travelodge with a Denny's! Two very middle of the road places. You sure you need to sleep before that long flight? Don't want to go to Manhattan Beach or elsewhere that has charm?

I really think for the short time you have, I would stay at one of the airport hotels.

Luggage is never checked straight thru to Hawaii from the UK. It always has to be collected at first point of entry in the US and then rechecked. Even when it is a connecting flight. I would suggest a hotel even for a few hours. It is such a long journey - we have done it a few times and find that getting to LAX is OK but the wait for the next flight, even if only couple hours, is a killer.

Last time we split the journey and stayed overnight at La Quinta Hotel and flew next day which made the journey much more bearable.

PeaceOut, I love my town, but the charm of Manhattan Beach would be hard for the OP to appreciate between the hours of 1:00 and 6:00 a.m. But I agree about the Travelodge and Denny's. Blech. I'd spend more and stay somewhere nicer, even the Hacienda Hotel which has 24-hour dining. I would have said the Custom Hotel in the other direction, except they don't offer shuttle services between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. or 24-hour dining.

I don't believe there are any direct flights from the UK that would arrive at 00:45am. So perhaps it's a connection eg via IAD which arrives at 00:58? In which case customs/immigration is already cleared before reaching LAX.