KayF

Hi, we are having a 3 week holiday (from Australia) in California and I'm trying to figure out where to stay for the last few days. I only picked these names off a map - we don't know the area so am looking for some guidance.

We will be driving south from Yosemite, probably down the eastern road 395, or possibly through the park. For the last couple of days before we depart LAX we want to stay near shopping malls and plan to visit the Nethercott Car Museum in Sylmar that Maitaitom reviewed recently.

We like the cheaper shops like Sears, JC Penney, also big department stores but not the expensive ones. Also love big book stores and WholeFoods - "Whole Pay Check" as one person in America called it . We are in our 50's and have travelled a lot if that helps at all. Any thoughts on a good area to look at?

Thanks for any help. Our trip is September this year.
Kay

azzure

So your focus is shopping? Will you have already done "touristic" things in LA?

rjw_lgb_ca

The three names you picked are so incredibly random I don't know where to begin...! They have nothing to do with anything, really. So I'll start by booting Simi Valley and Riverside off the list. There's no real reason to stay in either location.

Sylmar isn't really a destination town, other than the NethercUtt Collection. I would make that a day trip from somewhere else. Well, anywhere else.

Pasadena is actually a nice little city in my opinion with pretty good dining options, good shopping options (including Paseo Colorado, an open-air mall) and a superb museum: the Norton Simon. It's got lots of history (old money, grand neighborhoods, some of the best examples of American Arts & Crafts architecture in the nation) and natural beauty. It also gets very hot in summer (September and October can be the hottest months in southern CA), so be warned.

The department stores you mention tend to be rather downmarket in this area, just so you know. They are not Destination Shopping-- in fact, selection and quality of merchandise tend to be quite dismal. The middle-market department store chain that you'll probably prefer is Macy's; they are everywhere. Note too that we have bargain-oriented stores like TJ Maxx, Kohl's, Nordstrom Rack, Ross Dress for Less and Marshall's, also found all over the place.

I work in Santa Monica, which has some of these stores nearby. However, the town has become very touristy and overpriced, and current infrastructure work has made downtown traffic a complete nightmare. You might want something a bit less frenetic for those last few days.

Assuming you have a car, you might think about one of the beach communities just south of LAX: Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach, specifically. Good for R&R, good dining options, mall shopping nearby (South Bay Galleria, Del Amo Fashion Center-- the largest enclosed shopping mall in the western US)....

Wherever you decide to stay, get working on lodging NOW. September is still High Season for tourism here.

Gwendolynn

In addition to the Norton Simon there is also the Huntington Museum etc. in San Marino... which is next to Pasadena.
http://www.huntington.org Well worth the trip if museums and gardens are your thing.
Maitai has posted many reviews of restaurants in Pasadena.

DebbieDoesDulles

What day of the week and what time is your flight out of LAX? You might want to position yourself strategically. Pasadena is the best of your 3 original ideas...but.....

KayF

A major focus of the last few days will be shopping, we have visited the US many times and done a lot of the usual tourist things in Los Angeles. This trip we are seeing the coast between LA and SF, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite and places in between.

I realise the three place names I mentioned are random, I just picked them off a map. Thanks for the idea of a beach suburb like Manhattan Beach, I'll look into that. I thought a suburb on the northern side of LA would be better as we are coming from Yosemite.

Our flight out of LAX is a Thursday, it leaves around 11pm. We will have a car for the 3 weeks.

We are staying in Santa Monica for our first two nights so would prefer somewhere different for the last few nights.

Any other ideas very welcome.

Kay

DebbieDoesDulles

September can be, and usually is, very hot. So Manhattan Beach is a good idea, look at the Sea View Inn which is a block from the beach. Hawthorn Suites if you don't mind being on the main drag with lots of traffic, its a couple of miles closer to shopping. Check the shops at Del Amo Fashion Center and South Bay Galleria to see if they appeal to you....Kohl's, Target, etc.

If you end up driving down the coast after Yosemite, you'll find some outlet shops in Pismo Beach...all the main chains (Macy's, Kohls Target Nordstrom etc in Santa Barbara... and lots of outlet shopping in Oxnard/Camarillo. Mandalay Shores/Embassy Suites is a beachside option nearby but there are plenty of other chain motels, Hilton Garden Inns/ Best Westerns etc near the Camarillo outlets.

Don't forget to show your passport at the Macy's customer service desk for a 10%-off shopping pass!

KayF

Thanks Debbie, Manhattan Beach may work for us. I'll check out the motels you mentioned. We have had the Macy's discount in the past - always nice to get something for nothing!

I thought it would be a fair way from the car museum in Sylmar but checked and it says around an hour, though that sounds optimistic.

Other thoughts welcome.

Kay

jamie99

You might also want to look into the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA, much bigger collection and was just reopened last December after a major remodel.
There is also a small mall in Manhattan Beach, Manhattan Village Mall, it has two Macy's, women's at the north end and mend's at the south end.

rjw_lgb_ca

Good calls, jamie! Those make heading straight to Manhattan Beach a much better plan IMHO.

maitaitom

The "car museum" in Sylmar is the Nethercitt Collection (free. but you ned to make reservations for a tour), but even more than the cars, I really enjoyed the European Orchestrations (my report...with photos...below). You gotta see them (and hear them) to believe them

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/neth...ection-sylmar/

Huntington Library is just south of Pasadena in San Marino. Wonderful!!!!!

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/the-...ns-san-marino/

Norton Simon is a terrific art museum. Free after 5 p.m. on first Friday of the month.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/nort...seum-pasadena/

My 2015 "Restaurant of The Year" is in Pasadena...Union (reservations a must...couple of weeks in advance at least).

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/union-pasadena-ca/

Get a table outside at Cafe Santorini (Mediterranean cuisine)...

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/19664-2/

Nearby Eagle Rock has a favorite of ours...get there before six on any day except Friday and Saturday, and the price of each delectable dish is cut in half!

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/18365/

Downtown L.A. has numerous great restaurants.

In the Arts District...

Factory Kitchen

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/fact...os-angeles-ca/

Officine Brera

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/22424-2/

Located inside a former cathedral...Redbird

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/redbird-los-angeles-ca/

Have fun!

I hope you go to the Nethercutt...well worth the effort...plus, you are allowed to take photos there.

Jean

Just an opinion, but I'd skip shopping at the South Bay Galleria. One major store (Nordstrom) has left, and the mall now has an orphan feel to it. The remaining Macy's at the Galleria is one of the most unpleasant shopping experiences in the area IMO. There is a large Target store at the Galleria, but there is also a Target in Manhattan Beach.

Nordstrom moved from the Galleria to a new, and much bigger, store at Del Amo, and the Macy's there is nice. There are Barnes & Noble Bookstores at Del Amo and in Manhattan Beach. Near the B&N in Manhattan Beach is an Old Navy store.

The interior of the small Manhattan Village Mall is undergoing some renovation. Shops are unaffected, but there is definitely on-going evidence of construction. Just a couple of blocks north in El Segundo are two open-air shopping centers, The Point and Plaza El Segundo.

http://www.shopmanhattanvillage.com/directory/

http://plazaelsegundo.com/directory/

http://www.thepointsb.com/directory

There is boutique shopping near the piers in both downtown Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach and in Riviera Village in Redondo Beach.

KayF

All good info, thanks very much. Looks like Manhattan Beach or maybe Pasadena. I'll check maps, distances from Yosemite, motel prices etc and make a decision.

Thanks again for your input.
Kay

socaltraveler

I spent 35 years raising a family in the Pasadena area, and think there is so much there to love. That said, if I were you, I would probably choose Manhattan Beach for the last few days of your trip. Nicer weather that time of year, good shopping options as outlined above and better proximity to LAX for your flight out, which I realize is late at night, but not fighting LA traffic that last afternoon would make a more relaxing ease into your long flight home. Either area would make a fine final stop.

Jean

I agree with socaltraveler. I grew up near Pasadena and feel there is much to see/do there. We visit often (and take visitors) for its great dining options, museums and shops. I've now lived in Manhattan Beach for 40 years. There are also great dining options here, although the shopping is a little more spread out over a few locations. Weather will be better in MB in September, and you can't beat the town's proximity to LAX.

mlgb

I'm late to the thread but wouldn't Glendale be a better location for shopping than Pasadena? And it's a bit closer to Nethercutt.

Weather might be an issue if you were going to be spending time outdoors but it sounds like you won't be.

maitaitom

I lived in Manhattan Beach. I love Manhattan Beach. But outside of the airport, it's a schlep to virtually everywhere else.

Want a nice dinner at one those great L.A. restaurants...from MB it's more than an hour...from Pasadena 25 minutes (traffic willing). Personally, although SM is not my favorite pace in the world, if I were to stay at the beach, at least SM is within shouting distance of a lot of places. You would be near the Getty Villa or Getty Museum there.

By the way, Pasadena has a Whole Paycheck (er, Whole Foods) located virtually next door to a Sears. Although I hate shopping, I can go to the Americana in Glendale and be quite content (beautiful space and nice restaurant choices). Interestingly, (without traffic) Pasadena is 9 minutes closer (24 minutes) to Nethercutt Museum than Glendale. I was surprised, too.

Other nearby places to see would be Griffith Observatory (great hiking trail to the observatory (google Ferndell hike). If it's too hot, go into downtown L.A. and take a free tour of the Central Library (one of L.A.'s unsung fantastic sites). See below. Good luck!

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/22655-2/

DebbieDoesDulles

Agree with Tom (except MB has quite a few excellent restaurants these days) and I think Pasadena should be your choice for ease of access to the car museum. However, if you manage to visit the museum on your approach into L.A from the north (probably can't since it's closed Mondays), then I would advise staying in MB or somewhere on the west side for the rest of your days because you just want to shop, and because of the very real possibility that you'll hit a heat wave in September.

KayF

Thanks for all this info, I've just checked where Glendale is and staying on the north side of LA would save a bit of time on our arrival day. Any thoughts on where to stay in Glendale or Pasadena? As long as it's clean we don't need anything fancy, a budget chain motel or something family owned is good.

We aren't worried about the heat (although bushfires are of course a concern), we live in a hot climate in Queensland and spent June/July in Utah, New Mexico and Colorado a few years ago. It was really hot every day with low humidity and we loved it.

Until I can have a good look at accommodation options etc, the jury is still out. Traffic and safety are issues to think about but I'm sure no one would have recommended an area that is generally unsafe.

Thank you very much for so much good info. This is exactly what I was after
Kay

DebbieDoesDulles

In Glendale the Vagabond Inn is a surprisingly well-managed little budget chain motel that's walking distance to both malls. It's on a busy corner so there is street noise well into the evening...ask for a room away from the street. Embassy Suites has a location about 1/2 mile up from the mall.
In Pasadena, look at The Pasadena Inn on Arroyo,(not far from Whole Foods) unless you find a great deal for Courtyard Marriot or The Hilton.

Tangerine Hotel in Burbank is fine, too. Burbank has a Sears, Macys, Target, Best Buy, Ross, Marshalls, TJMaxx, Rack, Walmart and you're a 15 min drive to the Fashion Square Sherman Oaks, or to the two malls in Glendale (and the Glendale Whole Foods...I don't think there's a Whole Foods in Burbank yet.)