Los Angeles
 

Any recommendations for a place in LA area.
We have reservations at the Hyatt Century City. I heard it is nicer if you stay outside of the city. Looked at Santa Monica, they are all a fortune. Any ideas greatly appreciated.
We will be with our daughters 15 and 17

The Hyatt in Century City should be fine. Century City is an up-scale area adjacent to Beverly Hills. Within Century City, there are many choices for dining, shopping, and entertainment. Then, less than a mile away, Rodeo Drive awaits.

Take you credit cards and enjoy!

Thanks for the info. My daughter read your post, and loved the credit card advice. We want to stay in a nice are.
We also going to San Diego for 6 days, and staying at the Marriot Hotel & Marina, any feedback on that one.
Thanks again...

Century City is more of a business oriented, office building kind of area. It would not be my first choice for a vacation spot.

We can give you better suggestions to cut down on your traffic time if we know what you plan to see while you are here.

We don't mind staying at a business oriented hotel. We are also going to San Diego for 6 days and staying at the Marriott Harbor and Marina.
Is the Hyatt bad.

Actually, we don't know what to see while we are there. living on Long Island we have seen everything from Miracle Mile shops to NYC department stores, beache, etc. We have been to Aruba, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Greece and have stayed at some beautiful beach resorts. Is there anything in LA worth seeing. My daughters love the whole hollywood scene. They think they are going to see stars while they are there. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
thank you...........

Any ideas to see studios???

&lt;&lt;<i>Is there anything in LA worth seeing.</i>&gt;&gt;

Ewww, that smarted! Care to rephrase that?

Sorry, came out the wrong way. If LA wasn't a special place, we would go elsewhere. Unfortunately, we have been told me we were crazy to visit LA especially in the summer. I hope they are wrong. I don't agree.
I am afraid of the smog, though, is it a problem. Or is it an exageration.

Warner Bros. has a great studio tour ... shows you what a real working studio is like. When I was there (years ago) we went on the Friends set, the ER set (saw alot of the ER actors walking around) and saw Everyone Loves Raymond being filmed. Check out their website for the VIP tour.

Lunch at the Ivy on Robertson almost can guarantee some celeb siting. Check out if the paparazzi is outside the restaurant ... if they are, then you are certain there is &quot;somebody&quot; inside.

The Century Plaza is a business hotel, but a very nice one. Right across the street from a mall ....

Try Redlinetours.com for a good Hollywood tour .... I took this a couple of months ago and loved it, and I'm a native here!

Enjoy yourself here .... feel free to ask any other questions!

Thank you so much........

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question. I will read the info on the link you posted.

What about staying on Sunset Boulevard? Even though your kids are too young to experience the nightlife, it's still a great location.

Some friends stayed at the Best Western on Sunset a few months ago. I met them in their room and was shocked by how nice it was - large, very clean, high quality bedding. And the pool was also lovely. I never thought i'd recommend a Best Western, but I actually think that one is a great place to stay.

I agree - there is NOTHING to do in Century City but shop at the mall (which I'm sure you've done many times before).

I know it's a bit cheesy, but I sometimes recommend that visitors stay at the Renaissance Hotel near Hollywood &amp; Highland. If you're going to shop at a mall, THAT is the mall to hit. Plus then you're right next to all of the traditional Hollywood tourist sites and close to Universal Studios, Paramount and Warner Bros.

I also recommend taking a drive along Sunset Blvd. from Highland all the way west to the beach. You'll pass through the Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, Bel Air and then hit Pacific Coast Highway and the beach, which you can take south to the Santa Monica pier. Travel time heavily depends on the time of day and day of the week, but plan for about 2 hours to get from Highland to the pier.

If the girls really want to shop, take them to Melrose Blvd. between Fairfax and LaBrea (also reasonably near that hotel). Just park on side streets around the cool shops... your girls will go crazy there, and there are some decent cafes and places to eat around there.

Have a great time!

We took the Warner Brothers VIP tour in April, and they still let you sit on the couch at the &quot;Central Perk&quot; on the Friend's set. They also show a lot of the Gilmore Girls sets and ER locations.

You can also see if you can get into a studio audience at www.tvtickets.com. Click on &quot;schedule&quot; to see what is taping while you are here and the minimum age requirements.

Your girls might also like shopping at Kitson www.shopkitson.com or Fred Segal (on Melrose or in Santa Monica).

Eh, Century City isn't that horrible of a location. It's not exciting in and of itself but if you are renting a car, you can take Santa Monica Blvd. up to Beverly Hills or down to Santa Monica. Also near the 405 freeway which can be convenient.

The Century City mall is actually a pretty good mall, as far as malls go. It's open-air and has a ton of stores plus an AMC. It's a safe area overall so your girls can wander over there if they get bored one evening.

How far is Century City from Warner Bros. Studio or Universal, Paramount, etc.

I just realized I did not cancel my original reservations at the Hilton/Universal City. Which would be a better choice for us: Hilton Universal or Hyatt Century City.

In summer, I would defintely stay in CC over Universal/Burbank for heat and air quality alone.

CC is still far enough west to get fresh ocean breeze. You can walk places, like the CC mall and Beverly Hills. People (in condos) LIVE there. You'll be right next door to 20th Century Fox and there are condos across the street from the Hyatt.

If you're not driving, you can catch a bus to Santa Monica and the beach. It's close to Westwood and UCLA if your daughters want to check out the college scene.

One thing though -- check with the Hyatt on the construction at the Related property -- it's on the other side of the Fox building and Olympic Blvd., and you shouldn't be able to hear construction noise, but check anyway.

Thank you for your input. I have asthma so air quality is a concern.
We will have a car, I appreciate your input. We will stay at the Hyatt Century City.

Hello, if you're still considering hotels, Santa Monica is for me a really nice option at the end of the day, especially if you like to walk. Good restaurants, fresh air, and not far to Beverly Hills via surface roads (Olympic). The Doubletree and the Sheraton Delfina often have internet specials. Le Montrose off the Sunset Strip is also a great family option, with larger suites, with lots of shops and restaurants within walking distance. Safe travels.

Hi Stephanie--we have stayed at the century plaza about 6 times--most recently in May and the air there is lovely and fresh. The breezes out behind the hotel in the lounge area are just heavenly!! You would think you were on a Caribbean isle and not the city of LA!!

We are doing our annual hang out in LA. Before kids we used to live in LA, but now our 14 year old daughter really enjoys LA. Of course her idea of LA is Beverly Hills and Century City. Our favorite hotel in Century City is the Park Hyatt which was unfortunately sold to the Intercontinental in Jan 07. They have the complimentary limo service to drive you to Beverly Hills. We like taking the limo to the great Italian restaurants run by the Drago brothers in Beverly Hills (and one in Santa Monica). The restaurant would then order us a taxi back to the hotel. The Intercon (ex Park Hyatt) has fantastic large &amp; bright view corner suites where we can all stay as a family in one unit.

Being a loyal Hyatt member, we are going to stay at the current Century City Hyatt tomorrow. Last year we stayed at this hotel for the first time. While it's a lesser hotel(used to be an old Marriott), it still has a great balcony with fantastic distant ocean view. Our daughter loves it because it's very close to the Westfield mall and every room has an Ihome for her Ipod. There must be some teenager stores that she likes there. She walks on her own to the mall as it is practically across the street if you exit through the side of the hotel. She also enjoys shopping on Robertson mainly due to the Kitson stores and lunch at the Ivy restaurant which now seems to be one of the Hollywood celebrity restaurant, at least that's how it appears on TV. The food is not as good as it used to be or our taste buds have become spoiled, but the crowd is still fun for our kids. Reserve ahead.

You must visit the two Getty museums. The one in Malibu is an ancient Italian villa that was discovered under the volcanic layers and transplanted by Getty. You must book ahead otherwise you have a very slim chance of getting in at the end of the day. The other one is the major museum in west LA with a gourmet restaurant and city view. Getty museum is all free by the way, except for the parking fee. You can google to reserve.

Another place to go is the Grove which is connected to the Farmer's Market. It is the most interesting mall in LA, though my wife &amp; daughter say that the stores are just OK. But as a family it's fun to be there as it is like a movie set of a perfect town USA with a singing fountain and old trolley. In December they spray fake snow flurry from the building tops, it's kitsch definitely but still interesting to see the movielike effect. There is a few French and Italian bistros with authentic ambiance and good food. Plus you can wander into the Farmer's Market for some Argentinian barbeque (simple joint).

We are currently staying at the OMNI hotel in downtown because it's only a block a way from the Disney music center and Dorothy Chandler/Mark Taper center. My daughter is into Broadway musicals so we're here for the Jersey Boys musical. Last night we ate at the Kendall's Bistro just below the Dorothy Chandler, very good food at reasonable prices. Their flagship restaurant is the Patina at the Disney Music center just across the street.

Downtown LA is not bad if you stay north like at the OMNI. There is the modern museum and musical events Chinatown a short drive north, and Pasadena is a good lively destination. Huntington Gardens is also a rewarding destination. Yesterday we walked to the Bonaventure hotel which used to be a landmark hotel but now it's a dump. Hope you'll have a great time in LA.

I would hold out for Santa Monica and research for less expensive hotels. It's possible.

We used to stay in Santa Monica for our annual trips as well. Shutters is the nice resort hotel to stay at, worth the splurge if it's just the two of you, but with kids probably just go to Lowes or Marriott, all of them have direct access to the beach. The Fairmont is probably the nicest resort hotel for family stays, though it's a bit removed to the north. The rest, more inland hotels are not that great even the so called Doubletree suites, Holiday Inn, Miramar Hotel. Santa Monica is only nice along Ocean Blvd, the rest is just another boring town USA. We like Century City better as you can access both the beach and BH.

The big tourist trap in Santa Monica is the boardwalk,which is good if you have preteens. I used to spend part of my summers in Santa Monica as a teenager. You can rollerblade or rent bikes to go down to Venice beach which has its own funky culture with all the tattoo shops which may be fun for your teens. I suppose you can also opt for some of the old motels along Ocean Blvd if you don't mind those accomodations. The beaches to go are in Malibu not in Santa Monica. You can combine a Malibu Beach with the Getty Museum in Malibu.

We went to Pasadena yesterday morning and had lunch at a very popular Italian kitchen and bakery called MI PIACE just across the street from the old timer Louise's Tratoria which is nowhere as good as Mi Piace. My son and I went to Barnes &amp; Noble bookstore waiting for the women to finish their shopping. Later we went to the Caltech university to see if my son likes it.