mara

My husband and I are traveling to the west coast in the spring. It will be our first time in LA and we are so confused. We are unsure of where to stay. We are looking to do the whole touristy thing, Hollywood, Disneyland, The beaches, The studios etc...
We have heard that Santa Monica, Westwood,or West Hollywood are nice places to stay. We are looking for an inexpensive hotel in a good neighborhood, one that is easily accsesible to major attractions around town. Even a small inn or B&B would be great. Soething cozy , with a nice staff and comfortable rooms. We would apprecite any advice that we can get. Vacations can be so hard when you do not know anyone that has been where you are going.

Thanks

just

No real advice other than try posting this again with LA in the title. You'll get a much better response.

Jim

I would guess that if a L.A. hotel is well-located in a good neighborhood, has a nice staff, comfortable/cozy rooms, etc then it probably won't be inexpensive!

I second the "repost with LA in the header" option.

Gary

mara:

You've posted essentially the same message at least six times over the last week or so. I think you received some good suggestions previously. Anyway, look at a map. West Hollywood is an excellent choice. Santa Monica is another good choice, though it may be more difficult to find a reasonable rate. There won't be as many choices in Westwood, though it would be the most convenient of the three you mentioned, as it is close to the 405 freeway, close to Beverly Hills, and not far from the beach. If you want something between Disneyland and Hollywood, try a motel search in Manhattan Beach.

Meanwhile, maybe you should search this forum with the words "help" or "LA" and review the responses to your previous postings.

John

Mara, I would suggest Santa Monica due to its proximity to the beach, broader restaurant selection, good walks. Westwood is good, too, but visitors to UCLA can drive up hotel prices somewhat to the detriment of tourists. There are Holiday Inn and Best Western properties in Santa Monica, probably doing a web search or looking at the sites directly will be your best bet.
Frankly the precise location of one's hotel in LA becomes somewhat irrelevant since most of your time is spent in the car or at the attractions, and the hotel is where you crash and burn, nothing more.
"Easily accessible" to major attractions in the LA area is an oxymoron. Disneyland is an hour's drive from Hollywood (on a good day) and the other sights are pretty spread out. It's worth a fair amount of premeditation, and maybe even worthy of planning more than one base of ops, say West LA/Santa Monica, and then Orange Co. for Disney, the south coast, possible outings to San Diego, etc., otherwise all you'll see is the backside of the car in front of you.

mara

Thanks for all the inforamtion, but obviously I have posted my questions more then once because no one has yet to give me any information I feel can be used. By the way I was unaware that people that answer these posts are so critical and might I say a little mean. I was just looking for some help thats all.

Jim

It's pretty rude to ask for free advice and criticize it as something that "can't be used." I think the advice on the multiple posts has been good.

OCLlocal

Mara:

Things sometimes sound a bit harsher in print than if you heard a person's tone of voice. Please try not to get offended by some people's previous comments. I'm really not sure they were meant that way.

That being said -- take the leap, girl! Travel is adventure! You've gotten some sound, caring and useful advice in this and your previous postings' responses. It's a good start. At a certain point, one just needs to take a risk. You might never find lodging that meets all your criteria. But if you dislike your hotel when you are in LA, you can always change after the first night. You can use a bit of your time in town to investigate other potential lodging (maybe for future trips) and have an even better chance of getting the perfect place in future visits.


My Two cents worth:

LA is a driving town, crisscrossed like crazy by freeways -- spread out, and sans a real center. So proximity matters. There aren't a lot of neighborhoods that are both charming (for LA) with walkabout sights, AND freeway accessible. You have to choose, and previous replies gave you really solid info on this.

LA is not really at all a B&B town. I'm sure there are travellers who could offer exceptions, but in general it's a cosmopolitan, fast paced city with lots of strip malls. Not B&B material. And a B&B wouldn't give you a very good sense of the city. If you want the realaxing, cozy aspects of a B&B, maybe rethink your travel goals and instead stay in quieter Santa Barbara or historic Pasadena.

And you can't enjoyably see all the main tourist attractions in Southern California out of only an LA hotel. I agree with John that if you want to do the Disney, San Diego thing you might want to have a second base out of OC.

Good luck in your travels. I'm hoping you'll have a wonderful time.