What's the best area to stay in when visiting LA? I'm looking for an area where I can find a reasonably priced hotel/motel and which is safe and well located to tour the major attractions.
Any hotel suggesions would be also appreciated.
We'll be traveling in July!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The reason this is a tough question is that the LA metropolitan area is larger than many countries. You are also asking very close to your travel date, which may complicate the issue.

There are many, many, many threads on this. Most of us agree that staying on the Westside of LA is your very best bet. These areas include Westwood/West LA, Beverly Hills (believe it or not, there are many reasonable hotels in BH) and West Hollywood (properties on Sunset-- NOT Santa Monica Blvd). The Renaissance in Hollywood is pretty well situated as well. Also check out the Holiday Inn Bel-Air. If you decide to stay in Anaheim in the Disneyland area, you're still well-located for touring about.

thanks you rgw! your answer will be very helpful.

I'm thinking a bit more.... If you feel like doing some searching on travelocity.com, you can enter city names and/or ZIP codes. For example:

Westwood area: Los Angeles 90024 (UCLA adjacent)

Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills 90210 (hey, that could be the title for a TV show!!)

Santa Monica: Santa Monica 90401 (Santa Monica Pier area)

Anaheim: Anaheim 92802 (that should be Disneyland area)

Santa Monica will be relatively much more expensive than the other areas (even Beverly Hills). The reason I recommend travelocity is that its user rating system tends to jibe with my own experiences.

ARe you visiting for a whole week? A couple that'll venture out at night or a family that'll be doing Disneyland, Universal etc?

In answer to Clark's question, we are talking about two families of 3 people each, one with one kid and one with two. And they definitely want to go to Disneyland and probably one other park.
I'm slightly familiar with the infamous traffic in LA. How long does it take to get from the westside of LA to Disneyland? Also, what's the best way to get a taste of the studios??

Thanks again to rjw. I'll check out travelocity.

Clark - I forgot to answer your question.
3-4 days in LA.

How about Pasadena? I assume it's a decent area, but is it too far from things??