Undecided which one to stay at. We will have a rental car. Which one is more accessible to travel to general vicinity sightseeing, ie, Venice down to Redondo Beach, Malibu, downtown LA, and studios for shows. Is the Santa Monica Blvd crazy w/traffic? How many lanes? As you can see, we've never been to LA!

I think santa monica would generally be more fun and convenient than w hollywood--close to freeways, etc. but it depends a bit on your tastes--one would not choose to drive a long way on santa monica blvd parallel streets like olympic or pico are faster

For your first time, I'd suggest staying in Santa Monica. Having said that, I hope you know that you're four blocks from the beach, near the busy I-10 freeway on-ramp; ideal for easy access to EVERYWHERE in the LA basin, however.

Note that you can't drive directly between Venice Beach and Redondo Beach-- you'll be driving inland from Lincoln Blvd/Pacific Coast Highway for both places. Note also that there isn't that much to see in downtown LA, so you can safely skip it if you find yourself strapped for time. I think Malibu is beautiful, but it's a residential area, not really set up for tourists, so a drive up is optional (and in my opinion a waste of an afternoon-- sorry).

youngtom is 100% correct: Don't bother with Santa Monica Blvd. as an east-west route (construction has begun on a major renovation); use Pico and/or Olympic Blvds. for faster commuting off the freeways. To get to Universal and Warner Bros. Studios, you can use Sunset Blvd. to get to Cahuenga, which will take you to Universal, and Burbank is easily reached on Ventura Blvd. once you're on the Valley side of the city.

I would think for someone that wants to see alot of LA that the Summerfield Suites would be the better, more centrally located spot to stay in. It's more inland, so you'll have to drive to get to the beach, but if you're also doing studio tours, touring Hollywood/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills, and possibly the Valley (for Universal or Warner Brothers), W. Hollywood would be a better bet.

If it's the same hotel I'm thinking of, the Summerfield Suites is on a quiet resedential street, which is nice. (you'll probably pay lots for parking though!)

With that said, no matter where you stay, allow yourself plenty of time to get around because most roads are clogged for a good part of the day and night. I agree that Santa Monica Blvd. is particularly bad and, except for short trips, should probably be avoided.

We were just in SAnta Monica and found that most of the hotels are at least two main highways away from the beach. It was a disappointment. STill we did travel to West Hollywood and were glad we were in Santa Monica. The third street promenade is really fun. When looking for a hotel I would look for one that has close beach access. We were on 3rd st and at least 5 blocks from a beach access. Not very convenient. Also, as a note, there are a lot of homeless people in the park which parallels the beach.

That is not to say that there are no hotels on the beach, just that they're very expensive. You pay extra for the privilege. Just part of being somewhere that people want to visit. Besides, the walk down to the beach from the hotels I'd stay at isn't THAT long. Good exercise, you know....