Los Angeles Sept 30 - HELP!
 

Hi, my parents are going to the LA area on September 30 for 7 nights. They would like to stay close to a beach and would want something on a budget...any ideas? I was thinking of doing priceline, but they might be interested in a condo or something with a kitchenette....

"on a budget" doesn't tell us much. How much do they want to spend?

In Manhattan Beach, 3 miles from LAX there is the Sea View Inn, a block from the beach. It's in a safe, clean neighborhood. Don't know your budget, but in Sept. it's just over a hundred a night for a standard room with frig. and Microwave, or $160 for ocean view and $200 for living room, fireplace and balcony.

http://www.seaview-inn.com/

Great, thanks for your responses. I guess around $100 per night would be ideal. I might try Priceline, usually you get something nice for under $100. However, I guess they will not get the kitchen/condo but rather a hotel room. We have a timeshare and are used to be able to trade for nice condo's in Orlando, but I noticed LA doesnt have too many options.

For $100, even on Priceline, I highly doubt you will get anything very close to the beach. Maybe a 2 or 3 star a few miles inland, maybe on a busy street. Choose the zones "Santa Monica and Marina del Rey" and "South Bay" to get closest to the ocean.

Also, there are several suite properties with kitchenettes in the El Segundo/Hawthorne area, about a mile from LAX and 2 miles from the beach. Some, like Townplace Suites and SpringHill Suites, include a breakfast buffet.

If you have a timeshare, are you a memeber of II or RCI? If so, you might be able to get a one week "getaway" (II's description, not sure what RCI calls it) for coastal CA pretty reasonably in late Sept. There aren't any in LA County, but Orange County has the Marriott Newport Coast Villas and a few in the San Clemente area.

For close to the ocean on a budget, I like MBNancy's idea the best. :)

Great, thanks. I guess they dont have to stay right at the beach....but not too too much of a drive. What would be a good place to stay that you can drive to nice beaches within 20 minutes....and not too far from other tourist attractions...ie hollywood, disney,etc.

Disneyland is way down in Anaheim, it's not close to Hollywood or the beach either one. I think you need to refer to a map to see the lay-of-the-land before booking a hotel. And decide what things it is most important they been near.

The Embassy Hotel Apts in Santa MOnica fits the bill - Affordable gorgeous 1020's Spanish building with kitchens and old world charm - 1 block from the 3rd St Promenade, 2 blocks from the ocean.
We live in the area and have many friends who have stayed there for extended periods of time and have loved it.

www.embassyhotelapts.com

If they want to be near Disneyland and you want to bid on priceline, try the Costa Mesa area in your bid. You could get some very nice 4* hotels for less than $100 in that zone.

Good luck!

yeah and that way your closer to the Southcoast Mall in Costa Mesa.

crosscheck~ NICE recommendation. wow now i want to go to LA and i wasn't even planning a trip! i grew up in the area and that building looks sooo old santa monica. nice.

Suze - You will love the Embassy. If you come, you should book one of their (limited) parking spaces for $15 extra. Also, the place fills up with film people from Australia and Europe, so it's a good idea to book early.

It seems nice...but $156 per night + taxes is a bit high....on priceline it seems you can get a 3 stars for roughly $110 taxes in....usually the embassy suites comes up......any comments?

Which hotel is $110? If you find out I'll let you know how it is. $156 is actually pretty reasonable for here.

We don't have an Embassy Suites in SM. There is a Doubletree Suites, which has amenities like a pool, spa, restaurant, etc., but I believe it is closer to $200 a night and the location is not as good as the Embassy Hotel Apts.

Sorry, I meant the Doubletree....I noticed it was won a few times on priceline for around $110....however I tried $100 today and didnt get any results...

If you can get the Doubletree for that price I would grab it.

I noticed this area is really cheap: El Segundo IS it a bad aread? Far from everything? It might not be ideal for my parents, however I will be there september 19-21 for a short weekend before vegas so I thought it could be ideal for me....our plans are: arrive Friday at 11h00 am....head out to Hollywood area an dcheck out the sites.....Saturday go to Universals or something like that.....Sunday hit a beach...and leave around 3-4PM for Vegas....Is there a beach close to this locations??

El Segundo is an industrial area next to the airport. It is not far the beach, but it isn't where you want to be if you have one weekend in LA.

There is a really nice Embassy Suites in El Segundo, (stayed there 3 times)as well as other hotels,Residence Inn, Doubletree, Hilton Garden, in a business park setting, not factories. Also the ones Ivk suggested are fairly new and border Manhattan Beach. You'll be a couple miles from a great beach, and near the freeways.

Ok.....so could this be an ok location for my parents? Is the beach a nice "familly beach"? I guess if they want to spend the majority of there time on the beach and its only a few miles this could be ok???? They would have more of a drive when they want to visit hollywood/beverly hills/disney....but I guess they would be ok with that.

Gosh, I can't believe people are recommending El Segundo for a place to stay near the beach in LA area. Alpine, there's a reason is it cheap! Seriously. I don't mean to get personal or insulting but this is NOT a very scenic place or anything I'd consider for a vacation.

Is there a reason you're not trying for something in Santa Monica or Venice?

Close to the beach, kitchenette, around $100/night. The OP cannot find anything in SM or Venice for that amount (big surprise!). On her budget, the properties in El Segundo will work. The ones I mentioned border Manhattan Beach and the Rosecrans restaurant and shopping corridor. They are also only 2 miles from the actual beach and very close to the 405 freeway.

This may come as a shock, but there are other beach towns in Southern California besides Santa Monica and Venice. I would chose El Segundo over Venice any day.

Alpinemccain, the closest beach to those El Segundo hotels is Manhattan Beach and is very family friendly. They can just drive west on Rosecrans until they hit the ocean. They can also head just a few miles farther south to downtown MB. www.downtownmanhattanbeach.com

I would advise them to stay away from Dockweiler Beach in El Segundo.

My El Segundo experience is around the LAX hotels along that one busy strip. I simply can't imagine staying in the area gives a very good impression of Los Angeles. But I will humbly bow to a local for their better suggestions.

Suze, you may be thinking about Century Blvd., which is more in Inglewood and definitely not the place to recommend to tourists.

Have you been to El Segundo lately? Since the building of the new Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, the surrounding areas have been built up

hit post by accident.

The areas surrounding the Raleigh Studios, which include parts of El Segundo and Hawthorne have been cleaned up quite nicely.

But I guess using priceline, I wouldnt know exactly where I would end up in that area....I will keep trying Santa Monica..I guess

Ivk, Obviously I am not much help here. I have been back recently but to visit friends so am no expert on hotels. I just keep thinking of some of the ugly industrial areas of LA where a tourist could end up by accident that would not be much of a vacation or show off the city at its best. I will bow out to those with better current details for our OP (but still make a plug for Marina del Rey or Santa Monica on my way out -lol!).

Ok,I tried my luck again with Priceline, I bid $111 in the Santa Monica area and it was accepter. I did not obtain the doubletree, however I got the following:

Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica Hotel

Any comments? I looked at the website and it seems $111 is a good deal for this hotel?

I haven't stayed there - but that is a GREAT location for that price. I'd say it's about 1/4 mile from the 3rd St. Promenade.

Yeah! I don't know the hotel but the price and general location is fantastic.

You should grab the Delfina at that price. Have been to several events there - It's a stylish makeover of a standard Sheraton. Three long blocks to the Promenade, five blocks to the beach, three blocks to Main street. Directly across the street from Samo HS, which is why it's less expensive than other hotels in the area. Friends recently put up guests there for a wedding and their rooms were over $250.

lvk, Sorry, but I have to strongly agree with Suze. I live in the area and would never recommend El Segundo, "renovated" or not, to a tourist looking for a Southern California beach experience. Certainly there are other beach destinations here besides SM and Venice, but the OP said he/she wanted to see Hollywood and Universal - anywhere besides SM would mean too much time in the car.

check out my blog: http://destinationstation.blogspot.c...of-angels.html

i have some great ideas!

crosscheck: &quot;<i>You should grab the Delfina at that price</i>&quot; alpinemccain already &quot;grabbed&quot; it - it was a priceline bid so already booked and paid for.

Sorry, I was multi-tasking and not reading carefully.

THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION EVERYONE!!! I CANT WAIT TO GO! :)