We are locals to this hotel. My wife, daughter (15) and I decided to try this place. Please note that our home was within 5 miles of the Ayres Hotel this is one of several reasons for choosing Ayres. We had hundreds of places to chose from. First, our home was being fumigated for termites. This is a process where the home is tented, gassed, aired out and tents removed. It takes 4 days to complete. The next reason, my older daughter was married there and we had an excellent time. Finally, Ayres has donated a free night in a Cancer silent auction which we bid on and won. Finally the elegance of the place is something to behold. So we packed our bags and headed for our mini vacation. The check in staff was courteous and friendly. The rooms are drop-dead gorgeous. The first floor has 12 foot ceilings, pretty wallpaper, elegant linens, European old style furniture and LOTS of room. The beds are marvelous and I immediately took a 2-hour nap after I checked in. There was a full free breakfast bar with pancakes, sausage, fruit, waffles, scrambled eggs, coffee and such. This was a big plus for us. The shower was very nice ( I love American plumbing!) and there was space for all three of us to spread out our "stuff". We met several people there and had nice talks with them; even a antique lock convention held there was interesting. We met up with our friends and enjoyed the day out in West LA and the Skirball Museum. The next day was church stuff and other stuff.
We had some minor issues with a leaking toilet and a partially plugged sink which was taken care of very quickly and without disturbance.
One thing seemed odd. The staff in the restaurant seemed aloof and not wanting to be there. Most did not seem to speak English well or just didn’t want to be friendly.
On the final day, we noted that the herbal teas that were out on Sunday morning were not available on Monday morning. We asked for a teabag for our sick daughter (who we found out later was in the first staged of pneumonia) was not feeling well. The waiter went to ask their manager if we could have a bag of herbal tea. He came back and said that he could not and would have to charge us extra. He didn't even offer us one or tell us what the charge would be. I went to my vehicle and scrounged up my own tea bag for my daughter. Another guest in the restaurant remarked that what service is this that we could not get an herbal tea bag. We were put off a bit.
After a doctor visit, our daughter is now under medication and is slowly recovering.
We have no need to go back but we would recommend this place to others.

My stay at the Ayres At Hawthorne / Manhattan Beach / LAX was EXCELLENT! The staff were very friendly and helpful. The restaurant staff was also excellent, the food was great, and the service was incredible. I was really happy to have the opportunity to use the hotel's shuttle service because I am not very familiar with the area, and they took me right to where I needed to be. I didn't have to worry at all about getting to my destination, and I was able to focus on the business task I was working on. I highly recommend this hotel to any person who is traveling in the Southern California area on business and / or pleasure.

We stayed in the Executive Suite with a sliding door in our living room out to the Terrace on the second floor. I felt as if I were back in Italy on vacation with the decor. We had wine and cheese right outside our room on the terrace in the late afternoon. The happy hour is wonderful as well...food is delicious.

Overall a very nice stay for my wife, my 2 year old, and me. We booked a standard King room. There was enough space to put the playpen the hotel provided in a nook where the sink was outside the bathroom, away from the windows and our bed. Room came with a mini-fridge and microwave. Beds were very comfortable with pillowtop mattress and plush bedding like in more expensive hotels. Our room faced the 405 but we didn't hear the traffic as long as we kept the thermostat in the room in the "on" position instead of "auto". Breakfast was included in the price of the room and pretty good. Eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon or sausage, and fresh fruit every day. Also, free internet (though the font desk should have provided the access code when we checked in, but didn't) and plenty of free parking and easy access to the 405 in either direction. Staff was helpful and pleasant. Our only complaints were that the hot water in the shower took several minutes to get up to our room on the 4th (top) floor. The shower head was also a cheap, generic one that didn't provide much pressure at all. Since I like a good, strong shower, this was a bit of a bummer and resulted in 4 instead of 5 stars. They also ran out of complementary USA Today's pretty early in the morning. They don't leave them at your door, so you need to race to the front desk to get them.