My husband and I are traveling to S. California for the first time from L.A. to San Diego. Is the Beverly Hilton a good hotel and a fairly central location to stay for the LA area? Also any suggestions for San Diego for hotel stay? And is a one night stay at the Ritz in Laguna worth the money and time or should we just travel straight to San Diego? Thanks

If the Beverly Hilton is actually the one in Beverly Hills, then it is a very nice hotel. Central? Nothing is really central in L.A. you will be pretty much in the heart of Beverly Hills about 45 minutes or so from the airport.

If you can afford the Beverly Hilton, then for San Diego, I strongly suggest you check out the Del Coronado. It's an old Victorian and is fabulous!

laguna beach is a lovely place to spend an afternoon and evening. whether it's worth it or not totally depends upon you and your budget.

Actually, Beverly Hills is more like 30 minutes from LAX (drivinig up La Cienega). The Hilton is a pretty swank property. And lyb is right: Beverly Hills is a good "central" location (that is, with highway access not too far away and good east-west streets like Wilshire and Olympic).

The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, in Dana Point, has spectacular public areas, incredible ocean views, comfortable (but slightly generic corporate) rooms and nearby attractions (golf, shopping up at Fascist-- I mean, Fashion-- Island and South Coast Plaza). It is a great place to unwind. Having said that, I think that you should save it for a long, restful weekend.

Save time for San Diego, which is truly wonderful. Staying at the "Del" would be a treat. You might also look into La Jolla, less than 20 minutes out of downtown SD and absolutely beautiful.

And just to emphasize: The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel is NOT in Laguna Beach. It's in Dana Point, about 10 minutes south.

Laguna Beach is a great seaside town, known for its vibrant artists' community. The Laguna Beach Playhouse is a very well-respected professional theatre company. The summer sees several art-related events, including the world-famous Pageant of the Masters (live-performance tableaux of great works of art, from da Vinci to Picasso-- one famous resident of Laguna who used to participate regularly was a fairly well-known actress named Bette Davis). There are good restaurants and nightclubs here as well. Dana Point is beautiful, but nowhere near as developed culturally.

Thanks for the advice. I really don't need posh and expensive. I just like clean and convenient.
From the advice given I think we will spend time in Laguna during the day but then make our way to San Diego.

enxmomma...your last plans sounds like the best idea. if you leave la in the morning you can enjoy late morning,lunch and the afternoon in laguna. when you leave, you'll have to go out on fwy 5 for a short period but then cut back over to the coast at oceanside and take the coast road down. obviously slightly slower but you get to see some of the towns and enjoy the coastal scenary.