jgg

We will be in LA for one day, arrive at 6pm and then leave the next day at 9:30pm for Bangkok. We plan on visiting Pomona and Occidental while we are there for my daughter. We need someplace to stay near Pomona College for the one night as our tour will be at 10am. Then we will head over to Occidental for a 3pm tour before heading back to the airport. Is there a Courtyard Marriott or something similar near Pomona?

Also at that time of day (about noon) how long will it take to get from Pomona to Oxy (actually Pasadena as we will probably have lunch there first).

Thanks!

easytraveler

We've found that the best place is the Sheraton Suites Fairplex. Don't stay at the Claremont Inn, it's really old and not all that charming.

When going from the Claremont Group of colleges to Pasadena for dinner, we've found that it usually takes an hour. So I'd budget at least an hour to 1 1/2 hours to get from Pomona to Occidental.

Take Foothill to Towne, right on Towne to I-210, then to Highway 2 (believe it's called the Glendale Freeway). I-210 is better and faster than I-10.

If you are looking at Pomona, I'd suggest budgeting more time and looking at the rest of the Claremont Group of colleges. Look at Scripps in particular, Pitzer has more of a reputation as a 'party" school. Although they are all not bad. Try driving around before your 10am tour.

If you are departing LAX for Bangkok, you really don't have too much time at Occidental. You should arrive LAX no later than 7pm in order to return the car. If you are travelling business or first class, you can plan on arrival about 30-45 minutes.

Arrival at LAX at 7pm means that you have to cut cross town from Occidental to the airport at peak traffic time. The freeways will be bumper to bumper. I'd suggest planning on leaving Occidental no later than 5 or 5:30pm

Good luck and have a good trip!

jgg

Thanks easytraveler. We were hoping to visit Claremont McKenna as well but the tour times just won't work out, but we do plan on atleast walking over there and picking up some info.

Hubby and I are Occidental grads so are very familiar with the campus, but really want our daughter to get a chance to visit since she hasn't been since she was in a stroller!! She is only a sophomore so I'm sure we will be making another trip to LA just for that purpose in the future.

Thanks for the tips about getting to LAX - I'm sure the traffic is even worse than we remember! We were planning on leaving Oxy by 5pm getting to the airport checking in and then finding something to eat. I hope that plan will work.

Thanks for the Sheraton recommendation it looks like just what we need and they have some good internet specials. Is there a place nearby to have a nice breakfast or should we just go with the one in the hotel?

easytraveler

Where to have breakfast?

I can't really remember the breakfast at the Sheraton Fairplex. Guess it'll be like any hotel breakfast.

If you want an "experience", then i'd suggest an early departure from the hotel and go to Claremont Village.

There's a nice breakfast place called Food of Life or Full of Life (something like that) - there's also another coffee shop place on the "main drag" of Claremont Village - sorry, memory failure.

You can just drive around the several blocks of Claremont Village and see what strikes your fancy.

Have a great trip!

Oh, BTW, if you haven't done so already, check out the Asia board for a lot of great information on Bangkok! That's the most popular destination on the Asia board.

jgg

Thanks for the info. I've been on the Asia board dilligently for the past 6 months. My trip was planned with all their help! We leave in 2 1/2 weeks!