California trip - Is Santa Monica Boulevard in L.A. safe?
 

We are going to California and will be visiting L.A. Looking for a hotel and considering one on Santa Monica Boulevard (Azul Inn West Los Angeles). We have heard that this street and parts of the city are not safe for tourists - is this true and is it better to pay more for a hotel elsewhere in L.A (and if so any recommendations that are not extremely expensive? Budget is $190 max or ideally under, but would pay more if necessary). Thanks for the help with this.

It's not the best-reviewed hotel but the neighborhood is definitely okay. You can probably get that price at ComfortInnSantaMonica with a better breakfast and location included, but not knowing your dates/time of year it's hard to tell.
Where you stay in Los Angeles depends on what you plan to see and do and whether or not you'll have a car. Definitely not the Azul without a car, I'd think.

Santa Monica Boulevard is miles and miles and miles long, so if you heard something about "this street" not being safe, who knows which mile of it they were talking about?

I think that area on Santa Monica is safe. Not particularly interesting, mostly offices and other businesses that don't attract nighttime or undesirable activity. The big LDS Stake Center is right across the street and you don't get much more conservative than that. Residential off Santa Monica in both directions.

More interesting areas nearby, west about 5 miles to Santa Monica and east to Century City and Beverly Hills about 2 miles, Westwood a mile or so north. Pretty central in that respect.

Why don't you look for a vacation rental by owner instead? Try the www.vrbo/santa monica california site and see what comes up. It would be more fun than a hotel. Anywhere in WLA should be OK

kleroux, rentals of less than 30 days are illegal in Santa Monica and the authorities are cracking down. Not a good idea, sorry.

That is actually a great location, lots of restaurants on Westwood Blvd about four blocks south of there. There is also a cafe a few blocks north on the other side of the street.

The frontage road separating the rooms a bit from SM Blvd, which is very busy. I haven't read the reviews but you might ask for a room facing away from the street.

Thanks everyone for all of the details!

That area of Santa Monica Blvd. is not an unsafe area, but it's really not an area that I would recommend staying in because it's more of a business district and so I wouldn't want to be walking around there in the evening.
There are many areas that are so much nicer. Will you have a car ?

There is no concern with walking in the evening in that area.

The Azul is on Santa Monica at Overland Ave and 3 blocks from my house. The Azul was formerly a Travelodge and is in the Motel 6 category. In its previous life, it was used mostly by Mormons coming to L.A. to visit the Mormon Temple. Probably still is.

The area is very safe -- it abuts total residential -- condos starting at $600k (like the building on the other side of the alley to the Azul); some older apartments and fashionable duplexes, but primarily surrounded by $1 million plus single family homes. An our local elementary school, Westwood Charter, right down the street. Now the school is back in session, you will see a lot of moms and dads walking their little ones to school, and a lot of middle school skateboarders heading up to Emerson Middle School that is right behind the Mormon Temple.

Our biggest "issues" are the vehicle break ins (when people are idiotic enough to leave their valuables and electronics in full open sight) and the once in a while day time burglary of a residence. We also have some resident homeless, who sleep in doorways of the commercial buildings or hang out by the 7/11 a block away. We know them, they don't bother us; we don't bother them. Not unsafe.

There is a lot of public transportation. Metro on SM Blvd. that covers all of SM Blvd; the Big Blue Bus that goes from Santa Monica & Westwood all the way into Santa Monica and all the way up Westwood to UCLA (the No. 1 bus). Lots more BBB on Westwood itself, like the 8 and the 12 that both pass the Westside Pavilion at the corner of Pico & Westwood.

Other places in the area (and you can negotiate) would be the L.A. Sky Hotel on Westwood by Pico; the Courtyard by Marriott and the Holiday Inn Express, next to each other on Olympic by Century Park West (City City) and a residence inn on Pico by Beverly Drive.

Thank you again everyone for the additional feedback, and for all of the details Surfergirl! We ended up finding a great deal on a hotel on Sunset Blvd. so have booked it and are now set for L.A. hotels :)