Burbank Airport Marriott

[Bette]

Hi all,

Living here in SoCal I decided to take a drive out to the Fest Hotel for this year, the Burbank Airport Marriott, just to look around and acquaint myself with the neighborhood. I'm glad I did because there are some major things going on there right now.

First of all, for those who are driving, there is MAJOR construction going on at the hotel, and the entrance, which is listed as being on Hollywood Way, is closed. You have to drive around the corner to Thornton Ave and enter the parking area. There are plenty of signs once you drive in, and the parking lot is pretty big, but you will probably have to slog your bags quite a way to get to the registration desk--which is a temporary small desk just inside the building. The lobby itself is for the most part closed, and there is a path you have to follow to get through the construction to the elevators, pool, restaurant, etc. I have no clue where the Fest will be held. They have a separate convention center as well as meeting rooms. The lady at the registration desk said that the lobby should be open by the end of July, so don't know what will be the situation for the Fest. This is not good news for those who have the habit of sitting around in the lobby waiting to greet old friends.

There is only one restaurant in the hotel--the Daily Grill (a national chain). My companion and I had lunch there today and it was quite good. There is also a small area to get coffee and pastries, located right near the restaurant.

The area around the airport is mostly residential, but located at the corner of Thornton and Hollywood Way, across from both the airport and the hotel is a mini-mall where I saw a McDonalds and a few other fast food places. There may be other restaurants there too. I didn't notice.

There were two different, and very obvious, airport shuttle waiting areas, which look to be convenient for those of you who are flying into Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport.

I hope this info is of help to my fellow Fest goers. See you in a few weeks!   

Bette

[borgosi]

Thanks for the info. It is a big help. I don't plan to rent a car so the mini-mall is good news.

[mspeel007]

Thanks so much for the advance warning! I have never been to Burbank, so I have no idea what to expect! I hope they have the construction finished by the fest(you'd think they would)! And only 1 restaurant?? ?? I bet that stays VERY busy!!!!! Oh well, I'm STILL gonna have a BLAST!!!!!

[ProfStokes]

Yeesh, the news about the construction is a real bummer.  It doesn't sound like there will be much of a place for after-Fest partying.

I had always figured the events would be in the convention center; I've attended two other conventions in this same spot back when the hotel was a Hilton.  It's a small building, but then CA attendance does tend to be smaller anyway.

I was out near the hotel back in April, and from my recollections, the mini-mall also has a Panda Express, a Subway, and a small Greek restaurant that had recently opened.  There was also a Denny's under construction.  These additions were a huge relief to me.  The Daily Grill is a nice enough restaurant, but it's not exactly budget-friendly; also, during the weekends most Daily Grills have only a (very) limited menu.

ProfStokes

[borgosi]

Is there someplace near by to by adult drinks or maybe supplies to fix them ourselves?

[Bette]

Is there someplace near by to by adult drinks or maybe supplies to fix them ourselves?

There is a bar in the hotel. I think it is a part of the Daily Grill. It looked to be pretty good size. Don't know about the availability of liquor stores nearby, but I'll bet Midnite will find it if there is one within hailing distance. 

[borgosi]

Midnight, we need to talk!

[Midnite]

'Kay, borgosi.     Unfortunately, there isn't a liquor store within walking distance, but there's one only about 5 minutes away if you follow Hollywood Way south to Victory.  It's not far at all, but I'm remembering that you can't turn left out of the hotel onto Hollywood Way so you'd have to turn right and then turn around as soon as you can; is that right, Bette?

BTW, if you want something other than the chain restaurants that's still fairly close to the hotel, there's the Ramp:  http://www.garybricsramp.com/ for fish, steak, and a decent bar.  The place is on Hollywood Way heading north, just before the 5 freeway.  I don't think it's expensive.

Also, by Fest time, a ban on the use of handheld cell phones while driving will have gone into effect!

[Nancy]

Oh foo - Unfortunately, I can't go to the California fest now.  Wah.  You'all have fun.
Nancy

[Midnite]

Oh yeah, there's a Burbank Store2Door that delivers liquor, beer, wine, mixers, sodas, munchies, etc. for $3.99 per order, no minimum.


Nancy!!!!  Oh crap.

[Bette]

I'm remembering that you can't turn left out of the hotel onto Hollywood Way so you'd have to turn right and then turn around as soon as you can; is that right, Bette?

You can't turn on to Hollywood Way at all from the hotel. That is the construction area.You have to use the Thornton entrance/exit, and I think that you can turn left on to Thornton, then either left or right on to Hollywood Way.

[Midnite]

Ugh.  Thanks!

[CrazyJenny]

Oh foo - Unfortunately, I can't go to the California fest now.  Wah.  You'all have fun.

That's too bad.  We'll have fun for you.  Don't worry.

[borgosi]

Thanks for the info. midnight, I think I'll send for something.


Is there a place close enough to walk to where we could all meet? Maybe for lunch Friday?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm surprised that the hotel hasn't sent out an e-mail or snail mail to people with reservations to inform them of this major construction. Back in '01 when I booked a room at the Marriott Financial rather than stay at the World Trade Center Marriott (because I like the Financial better and the WTC was only a half a block away), at least a good month and a half, maybe even closer to two months before the convention date the Financial sent out an e-mail to explain that they were doing some renovations to the main entrance and apologized for any inconveniences that might have caused (it actually caused very little inconvenience by convention time) - and from what I saw that renovation was nothing compared to what this situation sounds like.

Perhaps they will mail out notices as the convention draws nearer. Or perhaps they have hopes that everything will be completed before the convention. But still - and it certainly doesn't sound that way from Bette's descriptions...

Maybe, even though the reservations are for a convention at the hotel, they fear that if people get wind of the renovations, they'll cancel and book rooms elsewhere? Though even that seems unlikely at this late date when rooms aren't very likely to be available elsewhere for everyone. Or maybe in this economy they fear even losing a small amount of reservations? Though even at that, it's not at all professional behavior to leave their guests in the dark until they arrive to check in...