Have just booked 3 nights in early June at the Renaissance Beverly Hills at US$119 per night. Have any of you stayed at this hotel? From what I have read so far I am confident that we will enjoy our stay. It sounds like a very nice hotel that is well situated. We will be on a driving vacation which will have started in British Columbia and I'm looking foward to a relaxing time in L.A. The other half of this vacation LOVES to drive (new Corvette ... sadly not a convertible) and we will be cruising L.A. and environs quite a bit I think. Any particular drives we should try to make sure to do? We're thinking of the Malibu area, the Beverly Hills area (I would love to see some homes of the R & F).

We've had a meal a Spago in Las Vegas .. should we try Spago in L.A. or is there somewhere else in that vein that anyone can recommend (e.g. been there recently and enjoyed experience).

Thanks in advance for any info.

Tell me the dates in/out and what type of room you confirmed I can tell you whether it was a good deal or not.

Spagos is great where ever you are. The newer one is near Rodeo Drive - it is absolutely gorgeous inside..... Have a great trip - nice time to be driving around CA.

Its a beautiful hotel in a great location. I think the price sounds very reasonable. We have always been upgraded at this hotel just by asking if an upgrade room is available. I think the decor is quite creative and the staff and cleanliness is first rate. Easy, easy walk to Rodeo Drive shopping and dining. Enjoy.

The hotel, which is quite nice, is centrally located for car trips. You're off the beaten path as far as having anything cool within walking distance; but since you're driving your own car, what the hey.

Spago is Spago-- the food's fine, the room is lovely, Wolfgang Puck's usual free-association marriage of ingredients, which usually comes out very tasty (but sometimes comes out gruesome). Bastide, on Melrose Place (LA/West Hollywood area), is a French eatery that earned a rare four-star rating from the "LA Times". Chadwick in Beverly Hills gets quite high ratings (a three-star "LA Times" nod usually means extraordinary food-- the critic is just super hard-to-please)-- the owner is Harrison Ford's son (celebrity tie-in). Chaya Brasserie is always a good spot. Campanile is great as well. Valentino, in Santa Monica, is just a couple of miles down Pico from your hotel, and well worth the drive.

Ahh, driving! You will, of course, have to do the Sunset drive from Hollywood all the way down to the coast. Maybe stop at Gladstone's for a drink. Driving in Beverly Hills, you'll get a high "hit" rate on stars' homes driving up and down Roxbury north of Santa Monica Blvd. The drive up PCH to Malibu can be very pretty. However, one accident and traffic can snarl up for miles. Too bad you don't have more time, cuz the drive between Huntington Beach and Dana Point on PCH is truly spectacular, especially just north of Laguna Beach (catch PCH just out of Long Beach, takes you through a bunch of cool beachside communities).

rjw - Thanks so much for all your information. Will definitely do some "drive-bys" of your restaurant mentions. My husband does some business in Long Beach and a couple of years ago we did the drive from Long Beach to San Clemente. Also took in that big shopping mall with all the high end stores (name of which I forget). Did some lookee looing in Laguna Beach up in the hills. How pretty ... would love to have a house up there.

The big outdoor mall just off of PCH is Fashion Island. The huge indoor mall with the high-end boutiques is South Coast Plaza, up in Costa Mesa.

Wolfgang Puck has a joint up in Malibu called Granita, but I don't know anyone who's ever eaten there. I think the "LA Times" liked it. They also like the original Chinois on Main (in Santa Monica). If you have to have a Wolfgang fix, these are good backups.

When you were in Long Beach, did you get to Christy's in Belmont Heights (Christy Bono's fantastic Italian restaurant)? She's just opened up a new place on Second Street called Bono's (in honor of her dad's place in Palm Springs)-- I went, and it was quite wonderful (despite second-week hiccups and some odd menu items being tried out).

rjw - I did a walk up one side and down the other of Belmont Shores in Long Beach - is that the same place as "Heights"? However I didn't know about Christy's at that time.

Had a meal at L'Opera in Long Beach. Very nice ... good dessert.

Loved Chinois in Las Vegas. Have been there twice. Actually have been to Wolfgang's place in The Venetion (Postrio ??)in Las Vegas as well. It seems we quite like Wolfgang Puck's places so perhaps we will go to Spago in L.A.

What about Brasserie Vert?

Some friends were just in L.A. a week ago and had dinner at Matsuhisha (sp.) ... my god ...$8 for one piece of toro. In Vancouver we get very good sushi for not much money ... would like to have sushi in L.A. but am not up to the "out there" price my friends paid. Any suggestions?

Thanks again.

Belmont Shore is actually a neighborhood. You probably did the stroll up and down Second Street. Belmont Heights is another neighborhood, just west of the Shore.

I'm not a sushi fan, but I know there are some out there who love it. So fodorites, where's the best sushi in the West LA area...?