kathieAHPlanner

We're looking for a hotel for a family of 6 with easy access to Universal Studio, Magic Mountain and to LAX. The kids are older (15-20) but the family would still like to be in one room if possible. Does anyone know of a small inexpensive hotel? They picked out the Skyview Motel near Disneyland for part of their stay (which the mom has stayed at before), and it has one room with 3 queens. This is the type of motel they are looking for. Thanks for any help.

janisj

"Inexpensive motel for family of 6 near LAX, Universal & Magic Mountain "

These sites are not near each other so no motel will be close to all three.

They found a place in Anaheim because there are many motels surrounding the park who have rooms sleeping 6 or even 8. Cheap 'Family suites' are thick on the ground around DL. In other areas, rooms sleeping 6 are a bit harder to find. Embassy Suites and such are not really low cost accommodations. What is their budget?

bardo1

I'm guess "inexpensive" for a family of 6 is around $50/person a night before taxes.

janisj

bardo: My guess is they probably wouldn't consider $300 'inexpensive'. But we'll have to wait and see what the OP replies . . .

kathieAHPlanner

Thanks janisj and bardo1 for the replies. The place they found in Anaheim is $100 for the room per night! For Universal and MM, I had suggested a package deal that included tickets to the amusement parks and transportation but the mom asked if I knew anything like the Skyview. I thought I'd see if anyone here did because I know cheap motels can be kind of dicey. I had a pretty good deal, but it was for 2 rooms so I was wondering if there was something like the "Family suites" as you said janisj but it sounds like they're kind of a DL thing. The package deal I had was coming in around $375 for 2 rooms per night including transportation (not including tickets to the parks). So less than that.

Jean

The Marriott Courtyard Inn LAX in El Segundo has rooms that will accommodate 6 people. Using a random mid-week date in May, the nightly rate was $199, but "Last Minute Weekend" offers run as low as $104/night for a 2-night minimum stay.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...ax-el-segundo/

PeaceOut

Venice Beach is relatively close to LAX, but not Universal and Magic Mountain.

The Inn at Venice Beach has a loft room with a queen bed, a pullout sofa, and floor space for rollaways. It is less than $300. You'd have to call them, because the website won't process for 4 kids, only 2.

We have stayed at this Inn a few times, and they just renovated it. There is an inner courtyard with tables and a fountain, where free continental breakfast is served. Their private parking is about $7/night.

tracys2cents

St. George Motor Inn will put them 20 min drive from LAX, 15 min drive from Universal, and 30-40 min drive from Magic Mtn.
It's close to the freeways for all of those places, and it's the cheapest clean/decent place in the area.

They'll have to pay close attention to traffic times. Wait til 10am to head to Universal, and don't head back to the motel between 4pm and 7pm (maybe go to Griffith Observatory after Universal?). For Magic Mountain, leave the motel at 7am and have breakfast up near MM, or wait until 10am to hit the freeway.

Actually, depending on their flight time, they may want to stay closer to LAX on their final night. Traffic is pretty dismal from 7:15 to 10am towards the airport. Well, it's dismal all the time really, but much worse during those hours.

tracys2cents

Be careful around L.A. because most hotels with inside corridors do not allow more than 4 persons to a room. Some people think they can squeeze 6 people into a room with 2 beds and a sofabed, but the front desk will watch for this because of fire laws. Motels with outside corridors usually allow extra persons in the room, but you'll have to pay attention when booking the rooms. If the booking says only 4 or 5 persons allowed in the room or suite, believe it.

kathieAHPlanner

Thanks for the info everyone. I will check out the Marriott Courtyard Inn LAX in El Segundo, the Inn at Venice Beach and St George Motor Inn. tracys2cents - their flight isn't until 4:45pm so they should be ok, but thanks for the info.

tbbeach

If you stay in Santa Clarita (near Magic Mountain) you will be 20 min from Universal, 5 min from Magic Mountain. I would use priceline and bid. You will save a ton of money and if you are only looking for a place to sleep you can safely bid a 3* hotel in Santa Clarita and either get the Residence Inn or Comfort Suites. Traffic around LAX is a bummer especially if you will be going back and forth from the valley areas.

janisj

tbbeach: How can they bid priceline? It is a party of 6.

Jean

The Courtyard Marriott in Valencia (near Santa Clarita) has rooms that will accommodate 6 people. All the budget chains have properties in the area (Fairfield Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Garden Inn, etc.), so there may be other options.

However, I would look at a map and decide whether you want to drive that far north before/after Disneyland and be that far from other sights in Los Angeles. As janisj's said in the first post, "These sites are not near each other so no motel will be close to all three."

PeaceOut

There is also a Marriott Courtyard in Marina del Rey. We have stayed there. Very nice pool, free parking. Not sure if they can accommodate 6, but if the other Courtyards do, then probably they do as well.

kathieAHPlanner

Thank you everyone. We are still working on this trip. Will let you know what happens.