Anyone Stayed at Hotel Hermosa?
 

This hotel's prices are too good to be true. I am wondering why?

I haven't stayed there, but I've driven by more than a few times in my lifetime. It doesn't look like a complete dump, and tripadvisor.com user comments have been good. I think a couple of things are holding down its price:

-- Location: You may have ocean views, but you're about a quarter-mile from the beach;

-- Age and décor: The place dates from over 90 years ago, but judging from its website hasn't seen a renovation or redecoration since the 1980s.

I'm sure it's fine. I'd personally save up the sheckels to stay at the Beach House instead-- a much better-located property. But that's me.

Haven't stayed there. We live in Manhattan Beach "next door."

The location of Hotel Hermosa is less than desirable. It's located at a very busy intersection, so noise is definitely a factor. Within reasonable walking distance is a nice El Torito but otherwise it's an area of strip malls (Kinko's, pizza, supermarket, etc.).

I don't know what rate you're contemplating, but I'd explore other options in the area. There are numerous chain properties in Manhattan and El Segundo. They are also located on busy streets (with a few exceptions) but are much newer in construction and decor.

Thanks for the quick response! I was offered a "loft suite" with a "beautiful ocean view" for $149 & I couldn't believe it, after being quoted $250 on up at the Beach House. Keep hoping I'll find a better price there, but so far no luck on Orbitz or Lodging.com

I have booked a standard room (no ocean view) for $224 a night. Adding on 10% tax & $20 a day parking, it is a splurge for us. Just hope we're not disappointed with no ocean view.

Sorry, to clarify - I just booked a standard room at the Beach House. If anyone has stayed in one of these rooms with no ocean view, would appreciate your comments.

The Beach House and the Hotel Hermosa shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence! You really can't compare the two.

Besides the aforementioned loud & busy location, the HH is more on par with a Holiday Inn.

I think you made the right choice, even without the ocean view. You'll be so close to the beach. You can leave your car in their structure and walk to any number of fun places from the BH.

Let us know if you need any specific restaurant recommendations for HB & surroundings.

The Beach House location is great. Just understand that no beach view means a pretty crap view (possibly of a parking structure). However, you can walk out 10 feet and see plenty of beach. It really is a much better location, and very convenient to going out to many of the local restaurants. You can literally stumble back to your hotel.

20 dollars a day parking seems steep. I wonder what time the parking structure next door closes? Most evenings, unlimited parking is $6. I wonder if that structure has a cheaper daily rate. Although it can get crowded there at times, and there are no in and out priviledges, so there might be the key for you.

Anyway, have a great time!

I don't want to confuse your planning, but you might consider the Sea View Inn in Manhattan Beach. www.seaview-inn.com.

The Beach House in Hermosa is very nice, but, as Crazymina points out, if it's not an ocean view, it's a nothing view. At that rate ($224) plus parking but no view, it really is a splurge. But there is a lot of action (day and night) just a few steps away.

If you're more interested in a relaxing stay at the beach and less into clubs and bars, the Sea View Inn might be more to your liking. Parking and bicycles are free, and there's a pool. The inn is two blocks to the beach. There are restaurants and a few shops very nearby.

We have stayed at the Beach House a couple of times and love it.I don't know when you are going, but both times we went they offered a special(a 2 nt. stay oceanview for $225/nt.) I would call and ask them about any specials.Also, last year the special did not appear until 1 month prior to our stay, so keep trying.On beach-house.com click on specials every once and a while and check.
You'll love the Beach House.A good continental breakfast is included in the price.To save money on parking, there is a parking garage very close(the same one that they use to valet park your car.) You may be able to save money by self-parking.

Thanks everyone! Will check out the next door parking. Any suggestions on restaurants would be great. No sushi, Chinese okay, love Mexican, casual dress attire please.

Italian - Bottle Inn (walking distance from the Hotel) Also Italy's Little Kitchen on the corner of Pier and Hermosa is OK...it is also a chain. In Manhattan Beach, Mangiamo is better, and Mama D's is very very popular for downhome, simple, affordable Italian food.

Mexican - El Sombrero...the next beach over in Manhattan, on Manhattan Ave. Cheap cab ride. Hole in the wall, try the wet chicken or regular burrito. Really huge, and pretty darn good. There is also a Mexican Restaurant in the square on Pier Ave, called the Cantina, I believe. I have never eaten there though (I head to El Sombrero if I want Mexican.)

Happy Hour at Sharkeez. Now, I personally can't stand the meat market ambience of the place, but they have two for one beers at Happy Hour...and that includes the good stuff.

If you like Tapas, Mediterraneo is fairly new (also in the pedestrian square). This is pretty close to "real" tapas in that the little plates are actually LITTLE plates with little foods. Nice if you aren't hungry and want a tiny bite to eat with some wine. For larger portions of spanish food, across the way is Sangria. Affordable, and decent.

The nice thing about Hermosa (and Manhattan, where I prefer the restaurants) is that since it isn't a monster tourist area, the restaurants in the well trafficked areas actually have decent food. They have to if they want to draw the local residents there. I really don't think there are too many horrid ripoffs in the area.

Oh, if you like blues/jazz, Cafe Boogaloo has live music wed-sat nights (cover charge is on weekends), and has so-so cajun style food. Another cajun restaurant "rajun cajun" (if I spelled that right) is up the street. I remember it being ok too.

The is apparently a french restaurant on Pier that is supposedly good too, but I've only been told about it. Sorry, the name escapes me on that one.

Hope that helps.

btw, I'd be very interested in seeing what the other local fodorites like. I'm always looking for new eats around here! :)

Questions for you Crazymia...Do Sushi Sei, Hennessey's, The Lighthouse and Lapertt's ice cream (yummm) still exist right on Pier in Hermosa? Also the best burgers around used to be at Fat Face Fenner's Falloon (FFFFs). Any of that still around? Tony's on the Redondo Pier always had better than average seafood with a great view. I've heard Lomelli's is gone (sigh)...there was a really cheap hole in the wall good mexican restaurant also on PCH about a block away...had a woman's name I think...

Yes, I was just at Sushi Sei last week. Hennessey's is still there, as I believe is Lighthouse. Lapertt's, which I have never been to, believe it or not (I just know there is an ice cream place in the square, and I assume that's it), I think was closed for renovations not too long ago, but may be open again. The burger place I'm not familar with...where is it located? Tony's is still there, and I think it's good value, because the quantity of food you get is massive. We used to go there for the MaiTai's and sit in the bar upstairs. The Mexican restaurant, I'm not familar with either.

Food's not too bad in this little corner of our world, eh? ;)

I lived in Hermosa from 1988 to 1992 while single and in my twenties and wouldn't have traded this experience for anything. Did meet my husband at Cassidy's in MB (which I hear is no longer there). Lappertt's is the Hawaiian ice cream - very creamy and good. FFFF's was down Hermosa Ave closer to 4th or 5th. Great, great burgers and fries...Does Good Stuff still exist right on the strand? THere was a mexican place that opened in Redondo called Riviera Grill I think with the most awesome mangoritas...and kind of across the street from that was Louisa's - casual italian. We used to go for great steaks at the Seafarer also in MB right on PCH...a real hole in the wall with fishing nets on the walls and all the waitresses were at least 70 and called you "hon". The food was good though and all locals!

Yup, I remember you saying that in another post that you lived here for awhile. I recently went to the Riviera Grill for the first time...not bad at all! Good Stuff is still here in Hermosa. I used to stop by for breakfasts when I was training for the marathon. Nothing like running for miles and then collapsing into a restaurant off the strand for some decent eats!

Hermosa is still a great place to live if you're single and in your twenties. Unfortunately, it's even more expensive now!

The Lighthouse used to showcase some great local music for a really minimal cover (actually I think if you got there before 9 there was none). Does the movie theatre still exist? They were always good for indie films and the animation/claymation film festival. Also, is the art festival still there over Memorial day weekend? I still have the lamp and bracelet I got there. And what's the name of the bookstore as you wind up pier? Great place....ahhh the memories. What really blows my mind is when I was there and played beach volleyball, the AVP tourney was very casual; you'd bring your sand chair to the beach and watch the matches...no bleachers... no big deal. Now, it's televised nationally and it's really built up...I kinda liked it when it was a local secret and unspoiled...does it still feel that way?

Most of the places in Hermosa don't charge cover if you get there early and dine. However Hermosa has probably changed a bit since you've lived here. Now on weekends, the pedestrian area (which you used to be able to drive into years ago) is PACKED with people (most from not around here) wanting to get into all the restaurants turned "clubs". Quite frankly, the Hermosa weekend scene down on Pier is not my thing. Way too crowded and way too young. And I'm only 31!

I believe the movie theater is gone, but don't remember for sure. The fair still happens on memorial weekend (and labor day weekend, I think). For the most part, most of the festivities down in this area still feel pretty local, and pretty unspoiled. Where do you live now?

We stayed two nights at Hotel Hermosa while our house in MB was being tented for termites. We stayed in a loft suite with a fantastic view of the ocean and Palos Verdes Hills. There was no traffic noise on the inside of the hotel where the view rooms are, but I can see if you have a cheap room facing Pacific Coast Hwy, it would be less than desirable. This was about 4 years ago, so don't know about the interior now, but we were happy then with our stay.

If you love mexican you can walk right down to the pier and eat at Catina Real.Great food and margueritas. You can also sit at tables outside here. Another restaurant that we enjoyed on the pier is Hermosa Fish Market Cafe.

Okay,First let me help Karen VK, I'll try to answer some of your reminiscing questions :) (I probably played VB with you in Hermosa around the same time -22nd or 8th St?)

Good Stuff actually has a webcam, so you can check out the Strand in real time www.eatgoodstuff.com

Fat Face Fenner's Falloon is no longer there, there's a place called Barnacles. However, they did open a FFF Fishshack in an upstairs location on Pier Ave. Even though it is now a seafood restaurant, they still have that signature burger on the menu.

The Bijou movie theater building has been converted to office space and a large art gallery. The Fiesta Hermosa still runs every Mem. Day and Labor Day weekend.

Louise's is gone. LaBrea bakery went into that space and also failed.

Now for denij7: 1st thing to know, pretty much every restaurant in HB is "casual attire" I second the recommendations for Bottle Inn on 22nd, also Martha's across the St. I also like the Fish Market Cafe (not FFFF)- very casual on Pier Ave. Hennessey's has pub food. The Beach Hut on the corner of 14th & Hermosa is a fun Hawaiin surfer-style place.

Here's the bottle inn website: http://www.thebottleinn.com

Yes, Martha's is good. Amusing story though...I had never eaten a turkey burger until I ordered one there. My friend doesn't eat red meat, so I humored her and ordered a turkey burger. I bit into it and it was great! She bit into hers and said "Mina, they took the order wrong...these are meat." Well, duh...no wonder! So I did never get to try their turkey burgers....

mina, I live in N. VA now (about 40 minutes from DC). Still think about Hermosa often but glad I'm not raising kids there. Sorry to hear Fenner's is now gone. Sushi Sei was the best as was California Sushi. LVK, mostlyl played volleyball at 2nd (are the nets still there? My now hubby used to get sandwiches at Mickie's after a morning of playing). Also, what was the name of the british type pub (it was a girls name)...pub with darts in the back and upstairs...that was fun...
Wings of the West had great buffalo wings...i'm guessing that's no longer there. And I shouldn't even admit to hanging out at the Pitcher House on PCH...they only served beer, with sawdust on the floor but I lived around the corner and became a pool shark there...friends are still amazed!

You guys are great! Thanks so much. I just printed it out for my husband to read & he says he can't believe that people will take the time to be so helpful (he never surfs message boards).

Well denij7, you sure have lots of options to choose from eh?

Pitcher House? I just went there two weeks ago for the first time! They have a full bar now, and someone joked the other day that it might be safer to drink spirits because they haven't cleaned the taps in who knows how long.

Funny how I'm still discovering old haunts, and I've lived here nearly all my life. I guess I don't get out much. I think Hermosa would be a great place to raise kids...if one could afford it!

The pitcher house is still there? Scary thought. Too many memories (and some i can't even remember)((b)). Still remember taking a volleyball clinic at the high school where the Smothers brothers went...
Is Penguin's frozen yogurt still in the Vons shopping center?

One of the dubious virtues of advancing age is the ability to affect a Pa Kettle accent (ye-up) and talk about the days when...

I imagine a decreasing number of visitors to downtown Hermosa have much of an idea of how hip the place once was. The Lighthouse was the Birdland of the west coast - <i>the</i> place for jazz - Mingus, Parker, you name it. Throughout the 50s it drew talent from all over the world and put Hermosa forever on the world music map.

Across the street was a 24-hour coffee house/bookstore/music venue/beatnik hangout called the Insomniac where the likes of Linda Ronstadt and the Chambers Brothers spent their late adolescence. During highschool we would ride our bikes down there and watch the hep cats with their bongos (really) - and watch the seriously groovy crowd file into the Lighthouse around midnight for the jams. The Insomniac was SoCal's answer to the City Lights bookstore in SF, and in some ways Hermosa was LA's tiny version of the Village, except that the street people were layabout surfers, some of them friends. Ye-up.

The Pitcher House, Cue-n-Brew and Hermosa Saloon always kind of blend together in my memory. As long as we're doing a dive bar retrospective, how about the Poop Deck, Critters and the HBYC (not a yacht in sight!)

The English Pub was Bestie's, named after English Soccer Player George Best, now renamed and under new ownership.

If you cross Hermosa Ave and head east on Pier, there are more interesting places, such as Fritto Misto (casual Italian) a Crepe Place, Ragin Cajun. Right off Pier on Manhattan Ave is another interesting place-- Union Cattle Co. It's a steak house with a mechanical bull. Haven't tried it yet, but friends say the the steaks are good and the bull is a hoot!