I justed moved to Santa Barbara and I am going to a Dodger game with a friend from out of town. We can afford up to $200p/n. We are in our late 20's and want to stay in a hotel near the stadium but also near a fun part of town. Any suggestions? Maybe W.Hollywood but which hotel??

Thanks
JW

Are you looking for a gay friendly establishment near bars for after the game? If so, there are a few nice older hotels across from the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

I was waiting to see if anybody had any real good ideas for you, but since they don't, I'll put in my two cents as I used to live/work in that area. I suppose West Hollywood is a possibility; the "fun" hotels I know there are rather expensive so I won't suggest you stay there (Mondrian, Argyle, Chateau Marmont), but there are definitely some cheaper ones but I don't
think those hotels are fun, exactly, although you might enjoy the area. I
myself would not think Hollywood Blvd much fun and don't think there's much
to do there, maybe down around Las Palmas but I don't personally know of
hotels around there, although someone else might. I used to work directly across Hollywood Blvd from the Chinese Theater and I don't recall any hotels there at all; there were relatively newer office buildings (mine was one), that's all I remember, so I don't know what gay hotels xxx might be referring to (there are some smaller cheaper hotels in side streets north of Chinese Theater). I haven't been there in a few years, but if they demolished that building and built a hotel, it wouldn't be old (I don't think they did, although there's some newer mall in that block that is kind of dead). The Roosevelt Hotel is in the next block west and it's older and okay, but I just wouldn't stay in that area myself. I would probably stay in Pasadena near Old Town. Pasadena is probably a little closer to Dodger Stadium, not farther anyway, and hotels there are fairly reasonably priced. Old Town is really popular on Saturday night. Again, I don't know if I'd exactly call them fun hotels, but the Doubletree and Sheraton are central and pretty nice (I've stayed in Doubletree and liked it a lot) and less than $20 a night, I think. There are plenty cheaper. I'm sure you can find cheaper hotels in true West Hollywood area by web search (I've seen a few posts on here in last year on good bargains in West Hollywood). Maybe you just mean ordinary hotel but in fun area, in which case I'd probably stay near Old Town Pasadena if I were going to be there a couple days (there is lots to do in Pasadena for sightseeing). However, how long are you going to be there? If you're only staying one night, I wouldn't think it would matter as you won't get back from the game until time for bed. My final suggestion is a different area but may be best idea for you -- stay in Silverlake which is only a couple miles from Dodger Stadium (around Silverlake and Sunset Blvds)--this is a sort of Bohemian, alternative area kind of getting yuppified, but fun enough and will be closest for you so you won't waste time traveling. There are not a lot of hotels there, maybe you can search or someone might know of one, but I think there is a Ramada Inn and I know a Holiday Inn Express on Silverlake Blvd which should be nice enough and in your budget, for sure. There are some clubs around there and good restaurants, try Silverlake Lounge on Sunset Blvd.

I live 3 blocks away from Hollywood Blvd. and since the recent regeneration of the area there is quite a lot to do there. First of all, there are a variety of hotel options on the upscale side there is the newly refurbished Hollywood Roosevelt, across the street from the Chinese theatre, the new Metro stop and the soon to be completed new Oscar center.
There is the Holiday Inn express on La Brea, for around $65.00 per night, across the street from the Lava Lounge, a hip retro place. There are 3 or 4 dance clubs on Hollywood blvd and besides the chinese movie theatre there is the Galaxy which has i believe 6 theatres and the Egyptian which shows art house fare. There is Micheli's on Las Palmas to eat, and cafe Des Artists for jazz on Monday nights. Plus you are right across from the brand new Metro and could take the metro to universal city for only $2.70 RT, as opposed to $16.00 parking.
I think you will find that Hollywood Blvd. has really changed.

For something different you might try The Standard. It's a "retro" -type hotel with reasonable rates and lots of energy. They filmed an episode of Sex In the City there and the crowd tends to look very much like the cast of that show.