Universal Studios CA -lodging/restaurants/itinerary
 

My 9 yo daughter and I plan to visit Universal Studios in Jul/Aug for one week to take advantage of summer special. Need recommendations for lodging, restaurants, and things to do besides theme park. Need lodging info prior to using biddingfortravel and priceline. Thanks a million.

Don't know if they are on priceline or not but staying at Universal's hotels (Pacific Royal, Hard Rock, Portifino Bay) allow you to jump to the front of the lines in the parks. So very worth the extra cost. I'd rather pay $200 per night (or at least for one night) than $25 off priceline and spend hours in line.

Whoops! Sorry, I posted on Florida but I'm sure the California Universal Parks have the same deal.

I will say it again: The Los Angeles metropolitan area is larger than many countries. There are literally thousands of possibilities. First thing to realize: Universal Studios Hollywood is a studio tour and theme park build as an attraction to a working film production studio. It is VERY different from Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, in that real work goes on there; if you're lucky, you'll see setups for TV shows or movies in production (although in mid-summer, maybe not). Another thing: technically, Universal Studios Hollywood has no hotels. It has hotel partners, including the Sheraton Universal (in Universal City) and several in Hollywood.

For my money, I think you should not worry about staying anywhere near Universal-- it's worth a day, but touring Hollywood will only take another day, and you'll be in a slightly grungy part of the metro area. You can find great hotel deals in Beverly Hills. If you want to stay close to the beach, look in Santa Monica. You could even stay near Disneyland and be essentially central to the entire area. Obviously, you'll need a car.

I don't really know where to start in trying to suggest an itinerary. Could you maybe give us some more concrete likes/dislikes, such as "shopping", "beach", "people-watching", "zoo/aquariums", etc.? That would help narrow it down.

Will you have a car or are you looking for something right at the Park?