Regarding Santa Monica, it's about 10 minutes from the LAX airport. I takes me about 20 minutes to get to Santa Monica on the freeway, and I live south of the airport.
As for the quality of the beach there - I live near Redondo & Hermosa Beaches, so I usually go there (when I go). The times I have been to Santa Monica I thought it was nice. There are good areas there and "old" areas there. The pier is fun, and there is a 3rd Street Promenade that my in-laws loved when we visited there a couple of years ago - it has a lot of shops, eateries, street shows, etc. Santa Monica is also close to Hollywood, LA, etc.
On a good day, it would take about 45 minutes to get to Disneyland, but there seems to always be traffic, so I would think planning on an hour to an hour fifteen minutes would be good.
North of Santa Monica is Malibu, and south you'll find Venice, Dockweiler (under the path of the airplanes taking off & has firepits), El Segundo, Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, & Torrance Beaches -- these are all nice beaches to visit if you are in the area. Also, Marina del Rey will be a little south of you and they have some nice restaurants in the area.
I can't speak of Lowes Hotel since I live in the area.
