Hello
We are planning a trip down the California Coast which will end in LA on Memorial Day weekend. We anticipate driving down from the Santa Barbara area either Thursday or Friday and staying until Tuesday morning. I am thinking I need to book a hotel now because of the holiday. We have never been to LA and are wondering about the best area to stay for seeing the major sights (Hollywood, Beverly Hills, farmers market, some beaches, ect.). Would also like to be near some decent restaurants. We are not really interested in spending the weekend laying on the beach, but would like to stay on the beach if it is possible to get to other locations in reasonable time. Is Laguna Beach out of the question because of distance? Is Santa Monica a good choice, or should I look for something away from the beach? Is where?

Laguna Beach is probably further than necessary. Consider Manhattan, Hermosa or Redondo Beach. Santa Monica has some beach hotels that are closer to all your destinations, but you $$$ pay for the neighborhood.

In my experience, hotel rates are usually cheaper during holiday weekends, because hotels don't get their usual business travelers staying there.

This Hotel Palomar @ Westwood deal looks pretty good $159/n incl free valet parking):
http://hotels.travelzoo.com/california-hotels/541958

We recently stayed at the Sheraton Delfina. It's in a great location, a few blocks from the beach in Santa Monica. Our conference rate was only $209, but I'm not sure what the rate might be for a holiday weekend. (They have complimentary self-parking, which is so rare anymore.)

Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica
530 W. Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90405
310.399.9344

P.S. I checked their website, and the Sheraton Delfina has king and double queen rooms for $209/night, May 22- May 26.

Thank you for these suggestions. I haven't seen any special room rates yet for the holiday weekend but I am going to keep searching!