Hollywood/Santa Monica w 12yr old
 

Greetings Fodorites,

I need a little help. I've been looking up different hotels for my family's trip (hubby -12yr old daughter and self) to CA in Feb. and need some help in making the Final decision.
I was interested in the Hollywood Renaissance, Avalon in Beverly Hills , Hotel Oceana in Santa Monica.

**Looking for a hotel that is Safe, family friendly, clean and hopefully somewhat trendy-ish. Will have 4 full days. My daughter is interested in seeing all Hollywood has to offer, and Santa Monica without a doubt as she loves the beach. She's a huge "Three's Company" fan.

Where would be more fun for her to stay Santa Monica or the Hollywood Area?

Also, any suggestions regarding tours of the stars' homes...

Any info on what not to do, where not to venture. Also where would be child friendly at night?

Any thoughts or suggestions welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

The Oceana would be my choice. Stylish without being too &quot;trendy&quot;, comfortable, a bit removed from the hubbub of downtown Santa Monica, but it's <b>in</b> Santa Monica. The Renaissance is a very nice hotel, but Hollywood is still a bit gritty, despite the recent clean-up. At the Oceana, you'll be close to the Third Street Promenade, so your girl will have lots of shopping opportunities as well. The Pier and the bike path are also right nearby. (A &quot;Three's Company&quot; fan, huh?!)

What outsiders consider &quot;Hollywood&quot; is a very slippery concept. People picture the Stars' Homes-- and those are scattered throughout Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Hollywood Hills, Pacific Palisades, Malibu.... Heck, WC Fields had a huge mansion in dumpy ol' Long Beach (where I live), and Vicki Lawrence lives there as well. But you are thinking about the homes in the flats of Beverly Hills. There are star maps, tour vans, whatever you like to see those. However, many of those homes have been severely altered (say, Lucy and Desi's house) or torn down (Jimmy Stewart's was scraped for a faux-Tuscan wedding-cake monstrosity), so caveat emptor. The most impressive will be behind walls (Aaron Spelling's, Dave Geffen's). Despite the age of the most historic ones, the market is active and &quot;flips&quot; between the rich and famous are frequent (Hedy Lamarr's changed hands recently when Madonna sold it to Diane Keaton-- who, if I'm not mistaken, sold it a few months later). The best examples are on Roxbury, north of Sunset.

The usual advice holds: Keep to major streets, stay off of poorly-lit ones. At night? Santa Monica's Promenade stays busy. A spin up to Old Town Pasadena is a wonderful way to spend an evening. Keep to the main drag of Hollywood Blvd (say, from the Hollywood Roosevelt to the Hollywood/Highland complex) and you might see some fun things (maybe go see a flick at Grauman's Chinese or the El Capit&aacute;n!).

When I feel like escaping Long Beach (but don't scoff-- there are very nice, very fun parts of Long Beach), I like hanging out in Laguna Beach on summer evenings, way down in south Orange County (of course I live close to Laguna). Main Street in Seal Beach is low-key and nice.

You didn't mention whether or not you'll be renting a car....something that LA responders often assume but NY visitors don't necessarily plan to do.

rjw: Thanks for the tips. Yes she loves that show. I had to buy her the &quot;dvds&quot;. lol

joesorce: sorry forgot to mention we will definitely be renting a car. When I leave NY, i don't want to see or hear anything about a subway or bus. unless it's a tour.

keep the thoughts coming;-)

Definitely stay in Santa Monica - Hollywood is a nice place to visit FOR ONE DAY but you really wouldn't want to stay there. She'll probably love night time at the Universal City walk and the daytime freak shows on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood and on Venice Beach on the weekends(my daughter did). Pasadena's Old Town has all the teen shops trendy, but not as stuck up as the West side.

Ok, just got back from there, I can say Santa Monica Pier was..... 'different', not the kind of place to be hanging out at night, City Walk at Universal is just a bunch of stores, Universal itself is OK, be sure to take in all the indoor 'shows', and do the trolley tour of the place, but I personally thought the Warner Bros. tour was the best of the 2 by a longshot.

Traffic: 2.5 to 3 minutes to go a mile, 24 miles takes an hour, plan accordingly.

If you want to stay ON the beach, consider the sea sprite motel(.com) in hermosa beach, some call it a dump because it's not a westin or a marriott, but it's the best value ON the beach out there by far, and is anything but a dump. It's not 'trendy', it's dated, that's for sure, but as their website FAQ's say, you are not visiting the beach to stay in a room, are you ?

Santa Monica lodging I know nothing about.

Hollywood: don't waste your time with the wax museum or the guinness 'museum', and do note that the griffith park observatory is totally closed for renovation.

My kids also enjoyed an afternoon at Venice Beach.