Overnight in Los Angeles
 

My new bride and I are AMTRAK-ing from San Francisco to Tucson, which means we arrive in LA at 9:00 pm and depart the next afternoon. We have to spend the night in LA. We would really appreciate advice on the nearby hotels and if it is safe to walk to such hotels from the AMTRAK station? Thank you very much in advance.

What's your budget?

BTW, there are no hotels within (safe) walking distance of the train station; however, you can easily and safely take the metro train a few stops to the more central area of downtown.

Take the metro up to Hollywood, things will probably be buzzing well after 9pm and you can check out the Walk of Fame the next morning. It's about a 15 min metro ride.

Renaissance Hollywood Hotel is right at the Hollywood/Highland metro stop and the Hollywood Roosevelt is a block away. If you're on a budget, the Hotel Celebrity is just a couple of blocks walk.

You are assuming the train is going to arrive in Los Angeles at 9:00 p.m.

You should ask Amtrak for a list, say in the last month, of all the days they actually arrived on time at Union Station on the Coastal Starlight. Also keep in mind that if you are planning to travel on Tues. through Sat. between now and the end of December, you will "detrain" in Santa Barbara and take the bus from there to Union Station. They are doing track improvements and tunnel renovation.

I know they have drop off service prior to arriving at Union Station, so I would suggest getting off in Van Nuys, or as close to Universal Studios as possible, find a hotel there, then head up to City Walk for drinks and late night snacks. There is a metro station at the bottom of the hill at Universal, so you can get back to Union Station the next afternoon.

Thank you all so much for your invaluable tips. We live in Louisiana and wanted to get married in San Francisco to get away from all the hurricane mess. We are on quite a tight budget, but safety comes first.

Have you purchased your tickets, yet? If not, have you looked into flying SW Air from OAK or SJC to Tucson? You can do it for $140 or so a piece and not have to pay for a place to spend the night in L.A.

If money is an issue, there are several good and cheap hotels at the airport...

If you are sticking with Amtrak, you could take a taxi to Little Tokyo and stay at the Miyako, New Otani, or Hotel Kawada downtown. The next day you should be able to walk,use the DASH busses and Red Line to see downtown and get back to Union Station. I would not recommend walking downtown after 9 or 10pm at night. Usually you can get a very good rate using Priceline or one of the other discounters.

I would reccomend the New Otani. It is in the heart of Little Tokyo so if you like Japanese food, there is plenty to choose from. Walking in Little Tokyo is as safe as any big city. I do NOT reccomend walking from union station at night. It is a very short cab ride to the New Otani... but a few blocks in Los Angeles can make a big difference on the safety of the neighborhood.

Y'all are great! We really appreciate your suggestions. Merci beaucoup!

Saveyourself some misery and fly .. seriously, Amtrak is never on time anyplace and the station in LA is not in a good area at all. I live in Tucson and there is no place nice by the train station here either.

I know you have a budget, but convenience and hassle are big issues when it comes to traveling. It's wiser to choose the method with less hassle and most convenience in the long run.

I'm with Lori-- especially with Southwest having super-cheap fares LAX-TUS. If you reserve early and luck out on the fare sales. I recently paid $114 R/T LAX-TUS. That is, $57 each way.

While there are many parts of downtown I would not walk around at night, I never felt that Union Station was a "bad area." Of course there are those people that think anything downtown is a "bad area". Olvera Street and the El Pueblo Historic park are across the street, and there is certainly more to see downtown for your free morning than in Hollywood or Universal. For some ideas, see downtownnews.com and check the visitor's guide. As someone who had flown frequently out of San Francisco, I can vouch that fog delays in summer can be as much hassle as any other mode of transportation. That is why Southwest pulled out of San Francisco.

Thank you all again for the great comments and advice. We do really want to have the train experience. We probably will never have another chance, and we hear that the route along the coast is very scenic. It sounds like the problems are the stations. You have given us many good suggestions.

Union Station is a beautiful, historic building. It's considered to be the last of America's great rail stations.

For one night, book through priceline, using name your price. That way you can stay in a better nearby hotel and take a taxi both ways, and still save.

We stayed at the airport for $41.00, while another person at the same hotel paid $140.00. ((*))