During our trip to California next June we are considering 2 Holiday Inn Hotels for our 3 nights stay in LA :

HI Express Marina del Rey/Venice and
HI Express Van Nuys (on Orion Ave)

Taking into consideration that they both have an excellent rating in TripAdvisor, which one would you recommend in as far as location and neighborhood safety (we are two seniors) is concerned, accessibility to sight-seeing and amenities provided?

Basically, we will be visiting Hollywood, Beverley Hills and the Santa Monica area.

Obviously, the HI in Marina del Rey is better located for Santa Monica but we would appreciate any comments from travellers and local residents who have stayed in these hotels or any other suggestions.

Thank you

The HI Express Marina del Rey/Venice, while far from my first choice of lodging in this part of LA, is far better for your purposes than any lodging in Van Nuys. The LA area is huge, and traipsing back and forth from the Valley to the Westside is not fun.

Do you have a specific maximum per-night rate you're willing to spend, or are you locked into Holiday Inns? For such a short stay, the Marina del Rey location is fine (it's just quite budget-oriented), but I think you'd be better-served by being somewhere near the Santa Monica Blvd. corridor between the shore and Hollywood. One can stay economically in Beverly Hills, if one knows where to look....

Burbank would be a much better Holiday Inn than Van Nuys....will you have a car? North Hollywood Beverly Garland Holiday Inn is another good choice, especially if you won't have a car as they have shuttle to the subway I believe.

rjw_lgb_ca

We have budgeted $150 per night for lodging and of course we will be more than happy to take your Beverley Hill suggestions on places to stay as we haven't made a definite decision on Holiday Inn yet.

tracys2cents:

We will definitely have a car at our disposal therefore a hotel with parking facilities is an absolute necessity. Regarding your suggestion of Bevery Garland... Do you have the exact address of this hotel since it's difficult to find on the Holiday Inn reservation site? Any place in particular in Burbank?

Thank you.

If you just have a couple of days I like to recommend Sat & Sun in L.A. as the traffic is usually a lot easier to negotiate. West Hollywood is a good central locale for sites you mention and Best Western Sunset Plaza is terrific if you find a good rate. I also like Hilgard House near Ucla, the neighborhood has everything you needed, walkable, and if you don't feel like driving/parking its a quick bus ride to Santa Monica or to Getty or to Hollywood, and you can also hop the subway from Hollywood up to Universal. I don't think the Holiday Inn Bel Air will be finished with renovations by then but that is another good choice.

If you're touring California, ask hotels about their "entertainment rate".(Holiday Inns even list this rate online). If you find good discounts quoted at some of the hotels you've picked, you can then buy an entertainment card membership at entertainment.com AAA is also worth having of course, or AARP.

I only mentioned Burbank/N Hollywood because it sounded like maybe you were only considering "Holiday Inns" and those are two better areas than Van Nuys imo; where will you be driving into LA from and then where to afterwards?

tracys2cents,

We checked into HI Brentwood Bel Air Hotel and as you mentioned, this hotel is been renovated. However, it will only re-open some time in February or March under the name of Angeleno Hotel. We looked into the BW Sunset Plaza and it's definitely an interesting option. Same for Beverly Garland's HI.

FYI - we will be arriving in LA in mid-week towards the end of May, coming from Hearst Castle area and continuing our trip towards San Diego.

I too like the Sunset Plaza, but the $139 Grand opening rate at the Hotel Angeleno just fits your budget. This was a pretty good place to stay even BEFORE they renovated it, and looks like they are keeping the free shuttle bus to The Getty and UCLA and area restaurants. Nice memorable place to stay in LA, unique, and with a rooftop restaurant. Easy on and off the freeway, but I think I'd have dinner in Santa Barbara on my way down from Hearst to avoid the Valley traffic until after 7pm at least. Maybe leave Santa Barbara at 7? Beautiful sunset drive south in late May.