Los Angeles Bound - need advice, please.
 

Could you please tell me what area and/or hotels would be centrally located. I cannot figure where to stay. My husband and I will be in LA for only 3 days in mid-October. We want to go to Universal Studios, see the walk of fame, see some studios, maybe the Dorothy Chandler pavillion. We are fans, not shoppers, so the tourist thing is where we want to be. We are not afraid to use the subway or train if necessary but would prefer to walk around. Our travel agent recommended the Westin Bonventure. Does anyone know if this is a good location? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

the Bonaventure is downtown. THis is not the most active area at night, and is not extremely close to most tourist things. There is the Gehry/Disney Bldg. I guess you could get on teh freeway to Universal adn take Sunset or another freeway to the walk of fame.

Walking around is not a particularly LA thing to do, but can be done in Beverly HIlls/Rodeo Drive, Westwood, 3d St. Promenade in Santa Monica. Driving long distances in LA, particularly around rush hour, is not fun. LA is a big place. I suugest you try to get a sense of where you want to visit and try to stay close to that area.

Perhaps your agent correctly thought that the Red Line metro rail would be a convenient way for you to get from downtown LA to Universal Studios and Hollywood. You can walk to the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (as well as Disney Concert Hall) or take the local downtown LA "DASH bus". You would probably do best by booking a studio tour or Hollywood tour from the Bonaventure. I think it's a pretty good idea. That part of downtown is pretty good, there are good restaurants nearby. A relative stayed there this spring and said the rooms were fine.

Renaissance Hollywood. When relying on public transp, Hollywood is really the most convenient area. Westwood, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills are nicer places to stay in my opinion, but then you'd be on bus and rail more often rather than just rail.

Second for Renaissance Hollywood. Nicely decorated, conveniently located to many of your to do's. I have enjoyed staying there.

The Renaissance Hollywood would be convenient for Universal and the Hollywood area. However, public transportation in LA is not great and if could take you a great deal of time to get from one part of town to the other without a car. There are no trains in LA and the metro rail is limited to certain areas. Walking around the Hollywood area doesn't take long. Other areas you could walk would be around Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills but that's mostly shopping. Also 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica which is also shopping. But in Santa Monica you could also walk to the pier, along the beach, etc. If you want to see stars, though, the shopping areas are probably the best place to see them. My DD saw Dennis Quaid recently at the 3rd St Promenade. You can also have lunch at The Ivy in LA (good place to star watch) but you'd need a car to get there although I suppose you could take a taxi from Hollywood. The Warner Bros Studio tour is the best one. It's located in Burbank and again the metro doesn't go to Burbank so a car would be best to get there.

First thing, look for a new travel agent. What a dumb idea!


Secondly, I agree with the Hollywood Renaissance for everything you say. I can't imagine being in LA without a car, personally, but the Renaissance is going to give you the best and easiest transportation to most of what you want.

Is there a particular reason you don't want to rent a car? I can get around many cities using public transportation, but it's a real PITA in L.A. imho. You will get a lot more out of your trip if you have a car. (But even with a car, I'd stay in Hollywood, Westwood or BH, not downtown.)

If you're relying on public transport, then absolutely, the Renaissance is perfect. If you're unable to book there then a couple of others in the Hollywood/Highland area are Orchid Suites and the Magic Castle.

The Red line connects downtown LA (Pershing station, the Biltmore would be even closer) to Hollywood/Vine and Hollywood/Highland, (15 to 20 minutes) and to Universal studios. No changing required. Is that too much of a PITA? I would suggest that the hassles of paying for and finding parking are more difficult. You can often find a better price at a hotel in downtown LA, and you will be near the Chandler Pavillion which you mentioned. I did not see any mention of trying to visit Santa Monica or Beverly Hills in the 3 days the OP is spending in town. Sometimes we need to actually read the OP post and not just through out our standard responses.

mlgb-Yes the OP was asking about where to stay and we did answer that as far as discussing that downtown is not the first choice for most of us. But she was also mentioning other things she'd like to do and I think we were just giving suggestions. If she has 3 full days in LA, then Universal could take up one day. Looking around Hollywood won't take much time and the Warner Bros studio tour would be about half a day. That definitely gives her time to go to other areas. And if she wants to see stars, Hollywood Blvd is not the place to see them and neither is downtown LA.

I read all of your posts and thank you for the advice. I'm still confused however. Is the Bonaventure in the Downtown core? We did not want to get a car rental because parking at our hotel is $35US a night and then we thought we would have to deal with traffic, parking costs, etc. The RedLine is the transportation the hotel recommended to us for getting around. I'm getting mixed thoughts on this. If we were staying in Hollywood as one person suggests, is that where the Renaissance is?

Yes, the Bonaventure is in the heart of downtown and the Renaissance Hollywood is in Hollywood. If you really want to focus on "fan" activities, staying in Hollywood is far preferable to staying downtown, regardless of the transportation issues. Most of the places you will want to visit are far more accessible from Hollywood than d'town.

Except for Paramount, the studios are mainly in Burbank and if you want to visit the shopping areas in Beverly Hills or the Third Street Promenade, etc., it does help to have a car. (But you can certainly visit the places you mentioned without one.)

As cheryllj said the Bonaventure is right downtown Los Angeles. The thing is once 5-6pm comes and all the workers go home, downtown shuts down. Yes there are some restaurants, etc but it's very deserted.

The Renaissance is in Hollywood at the Hollywood and Highland Center. In this complex is shopping, restaurants, the Kodak theatre etc. Check out the website for the hotel, it also talks about the Center. www.renaissancehollywood.com

The Walk of fame is right there and Grauman's Chinese Theatre is next door. The red metro line will take you right to Universal Studios and it's a very short ride. Looking at the hotel website, the package deal they have for Universal Looks good, $384 a night for two people includes parking, hotel, breakfast and tickets to Universal. Considering that adult admission to Universal is $61, that means you are paying $262 for everything else (tax is not included). You'd have to book the other nights separate.

Also check out the hotel on tripadvisor.com. Since I live and work in So. Cal, I have a car but reading through some of the posts, people mentioned that many of the tours around town leave from Grauman's theatre. Someone else said they took the bus all the way to Venice Beach, had to switch buses and it took awhile but was cheap and easy. It you do decide to get a car someone mentioned self-parking was $10 a day (that's really cheap) but I would call the hotel to confirm that.

I think with everything you want to do, this location would be perfect for you and your husband.

If you are like I am, you want to be in the "heart of the action" when you visit a city. But in LA that is NOT the downtown. I think LA is an unusual city in that aspect. I still say the Renaissance in the HEART of Hollywood is really the place for you.

Denis, you're missing one main point about LA. It's NOT like other cities you've probably been to. "Downtown" is not a prime area of interest, nor a great area to walk around. Most people visiting LA never even go to downtown and most parts of it are not safe at night anyway. I second the point above about finding a new travel agent, or a least one that knows about LA.

Given what you outlined, you really need to stay in Hollywood. Renaissance Hollywood is one of the only hotels from where you can walk at least to a few places (around Hollywood Blvd basically) and take the metro to Universal Studios. There is NO convenient public transportation in LA and most sites that would be of interest to you require a car.

Basically, you should stay at the Renaissance, spend one day exploring Hollywood and Universal Studios via foot and metro, and rent a car for the other two days (I believe there is a Hertz AT the Renaissance) to explore beach areas, Getty, Beverly Hills/West Hollywood, etc. There is no easy way of getting to any of those areas which are must-sees without a car and a cab would run you $30-80 one-way. It may even be worth it to rent a car right at the airport, as a cab to the hotel would already cost you more than a rental for that day.

Magic Castle hotel is also convenient. West Hollywood Chamberlain hotel is in a great area and a great choice as well, but you would need a car to access other points of interest once again.

Whoa. Now I'M confused. I see Denise posted back to say:

"I'm still confused however. Is the Bonaventure in the Downtown core? We did not want to get a car rental because parking at our hotel is $35US a night. . ."

Does that mean the Bonaventure is a done deal? Can you get out of it I hope?

I know the Bonaventure, only because I spent a summer at the Biltmore Hotel downtown, nearby. I don't think it's the worst location, but I don't think it is reasonable to try to see Los Angeles without a car. Things are too spread out, no matter what area you choose your hotel in.

If you're okay with hopping public transp then you won't need a car for just a 3 day trip. Everything you mention is do-able, and probably easiest, by bus or train from Hollywood.
You might think of renting a car from Budget Hollywood or Avis Burbank for your final 24 hours. You could roam Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Pacific Palisades, and Malibu. You could visit The Getty Center. And you could drive yourselves to LAX Airport & drop the car there, instead of spending $50 on a shuttle service the day of your departure. You'd only have the parking charge for one night, or you might find street parking.

I disagree just because when people here mention what they want to do, it usually shows that they haven't done enough research on what there IS to do. If they knew about the beach areas and what to do there, I'm sure it would be on their list as well. In 3 days, you can't see much without a car and it would be a shame to think that Hollywood is all LA has to offer, which is very far from the truth.

I hate it when people say downtown LA has nothing to see when they obviously haven't been there in ages.

Agree with mlgb -- I grew up in suburban LA and my Dad used to work downtown around 7th and Flower. On a recent trip back to SoCal, I spent a fun day walking and visiting old and new sites such as the Central Library, the Music Center, the Bradbury Building, the old Angel's Flight area, the Disney Concert Hall, Grand Central Market, and even riding the Bonaventure's fun scary elevators! I do agree with others, though, that not much is going on downtown (except at the Music Center) after dark.

I think some are missing the point. Sure there are some sights in downtown, as azzure has just listed -- but compared to a day at Universal, seeing the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theatre, Rodeo Drive, the Hollywood Bowl, etc.? We're talking about someone's first trip to LA and wanting to see the FAMOUS sites. The newish Disney Concert Hall might make the cut, but not much else.

And yes, each trip I end up downtown at least once -- usually for a play, but I'd agree that if you leave the immediate area around Disney Concert Hall and the Ahmanson, etc. it's really "deadsville", particularly at night.

I will agree with Patrick. That's why I went to great lengths in my previous post to talk about everything that is close to the Renaissance Hotel. These are the things that Denise was interested in seeing.

I should also mention that many friends have expressed astonishment that we return to LA so often. Many of them despise LA and think it is the worst city in the US, and are totally unable to imagine what we see in it. Invariably, that is because these are people who have only been to LA on business or more likely for a convention. They have spent all their time downtown (and oddly enough often staying at the Bonaventure -- a major convention hotel). They think downtown LA is what LA is -- no wonder they don't "get it".

I do see your point, NeoPatrick...downtown LA is sort of a nostalgia trip for me, but for most people, it wouldn't be. It lacks the exciting urban "vibe" of San Francisco, NYC, even my new home town of Seattle. Don't know why downtown LA has never become a "happening" place.

"Don't know why downtown LA has never become a "happening" place."


Because there are so many "happening" places all around it? Plus it has never been "the" place to live in LA -- unlike midtown Manhattan or Nob Hill in San Francisco. Urban planners today will tell you that it takes residents to make a "happening" downtown core.

Not that I really expect conventioneers or occasional tourists to have much knowledge of downtown nightlife, but actually, there is quite a bit. Check out Little Tokyo, Chinatown galleries, Staples Center, Thursday Artwalk, Music Center, Standard Hotel rooftop bar, Pete's Cafe, Golden Gopher, Ciudad, Casey's, Weiland Brewery.

Don't miss the inside of the new Cathedral, (much more impressive than the exterior).

denise:

I'm deeply prejudiced in favor of the much maligned world class city that is Lo Angeles (L.A. to us folks).

Why doesn't anyone mention the famous old Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, across he street from Grauman's, the Highland Complex and walk of start everywhere. It has been completrely renovated and redecorated. Full of old Hollywood history...mezzanine floor has some good memorabilia. Stay at the Roosevelt....subway station across the boulevard....and you can get to Universal studios easily....walk up Highland to the Hollywood Bowland the unique Hollywood Heritage Museum across Highland...go on in, I take Elderhostel folks on tours here several times a year....

Stu T. (I LOVE L.A..been here 50 years!)

mlgb, you take things out of context. as Patrick said, we are giving advice to someone who has never been to LA. downtown is not the main destination of LA as other cities are and that's the first thing new visitors have to realize, because their original assumption based on experiences in other cities is wrong. downtown in LA has things to do during the day and night, but it's not something that a first-time visitor needs to see if they are limited on time and have to cut things from their itinerary.

paula, i completely agree. the reasons people don't like LA when they visit is usually because 1. they don't have anyone to show them around and don't do enough research in advance assuming that everything is conveniently in one spot as it is in other cities 2. they don't rent a car and are confined to either downtown or hollywood

I am native to Los Angeles and share the nostalgia for downtown. I think the biggest trick for this poster will be seeing things in LA without benefit of a car.

I'm reminded that this post is sort of the direct opposite of many New York City posts. On those the tourist is usually looking for midtown/Times Square/bright lights of Broadway. There the locals often post to say that there is much to do outside that area and it should be avoided. In LA it seems to be the exact opposite. Most tourists want the famous stuff which is NOT in the center of the city, yet some locals try to entice them with things that are there. There is a reason some areas of some cities are "touristy" -- usually it's because the things that tourists want to do and will enjoy the most are in those areas. In New York that area happens to be midtown Manhattan. In LA it happens to be almost everywhere except downtown!