My wife and I will be first time visitors to LA next week. We are in our 30's and appreciate great food, lots of shopping, movies and city type activities. Both hotels fit the range of our budget, Elan ($149) and Mosaic ($225). We would appreciate any advice on location/ amenities and service on choosing between the two. In addition, any other suggested hotels that would fit the bill would be very much appreciated. Thanks

Will you have a car, or looking for something right across from movies and shopping and dining?

what are the locations, as i could help you w/ that. it could be tough to find a person whose stayed at both.

The Elan is barely two blocks from Beverly Center, and there are excellent restaurants up and down La Ciénega. That part of Beverly Blvd is very busy, so there is traffic at all hours. But it's central to shopping and eateries. Movies? There are cinemas all over that area. This is the more "urban" choice of the two hotels.

The Mosaic is in Beverly Hills, just off of the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica. A little more residential, but you're a short walk to Rodeo Drive and great bunches of restaurants, boutiques, etc. There are some specialty movie houses farther east on Wilshire-- as well as the Motion Picture Academy Foundation headquarters. They often hold Academy-related activities (I've gone to special screenings of Oscar-nominated shorts) and exhibit memorabilia.

Since I live here, I can't really offer much advice on the amenities of either property. They're both very small hotels. The Tripadvisor.com reviews for both are quite good, so I don't think you'll do badly with either. For your interests, however, the Elan nudges up to the top of the list.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Tracy, I do plan to rent a car as we are initially booked for 10 nights and plan to drive around, take in the sights - Santa Monica, Theme Parks, tourist stuff but there are times when you just want to walk out and about without driving. Think we'll stick with the Elan as the difference in the room rate will cover the cost of the car. Once again thanks!