G

I'll be driving in from N.CA and looking for a motel on the outskirts of LA to stay for one night. Will be going to Santa Monica the following day so 30-45 minutes from Santa Monica would be great. Interested in a place like Quality Inn, Best Western or similar to that. Suggestions? Thanks.

Nan

If you are coming down the 101 you can stay in the San Fernando Valley along the freeway area then take the 405 over the hill to Santa Monica. If you are taking the 5 down, I would suggest going towards West Los Angeles and finding an hotel there, but there are some inexpensive one's in Santa Monica too. But not in such desirable areas of town.

KAy

The Furama on Lincoln Blvd. is not far off the 405 - it is 15 minutes from Santa Monica and equidistant to LA proper....depending on traffic conditions. Alot of airlins house their flight crews there on layovers...

Jane

Unless there are more than one Furamas, that hotel is south of Santa Monica, not north -- it's in Westchester (which is part of LA), in-between Santa Monica and the LAX airport. There are several Best Westerns in Santa Monica and West LA, I don't think the areas are anything unusually bad (one's right on Ocean Ave), those are just not very nice hotels. Why don't you stay at the Huntley or Pacific Shore in Santa MOnica or something like that, they are decent, moderately priced avg hotels.

joe

The LA Airport area is close to Santa Monica (12 minutes?) and there are several decent choices on Century Boulevard including the Travelodge and the Quality Inn.

Recently the Hilton at L.A. Airport has been available on hotwire.com for $58 per night.

Check out roomsavers.com for coupons valid throughout the area. The coupons are for last-minute checkins only (usually), great rates for hotels that have empty rooms at the last minute (most do these days).