We are visiting LA as part of our driving tour around California in November.

There will be a group of eight of us (all under the age of 30), together with a Ford E350 car which we have hired.

Can anyone recommend the best districts in LA to stay in, and also any hotels (that provide parking)?

We would like it to be easy to get on public transport to get around but also close to nightlife. I have been advised to look at the West Hollywood area - is this a good recommendation?

West Hollywood's fun, lots of restaurants and clubs, but bus is the only convenient transportation. You'd have to drive and park to take the metro..or take a 15 min bus ride to the metro.

Metro subway really only goes up to Universal, and down to Olvera Street and the Music Center/Downtown L.A. It won't get you to the beaches or Beverly Hills or museums/zoo/Disneyland...so I don't usually recommend picking a hotel based on its proximity to metro.

How long will you be in L.A. and what do you want to see/do besides nightlife?

here is one of my favorites though I haven't been there for almost 3 years:

sunsetplazahotel.com

I would recommend getting 2 mid-sized cars instead of that huge van. It will be less expensive. You will have more freedom. You will use half as much fuel. And most importantly, those huge vans won't fit into half the parking garages and parking spaces in California....what a hassle.

I'm 100% behind tracy's suggestions. Especially that E350 van. Parking will be a HUGE hassle, the luggage space isn't all it's cracked up to be once you have eight people in it, it guzzles gas at a horrific rate, and I hope your driver(s) have some experience driving very large vans on the "right" side of the road.

LA is huge. HUGE. The areas of touristic interest are very spread-out. Hotels with free parking in areas with good nightlife are extremely rare. The hotel tracy suggests is one of the better choices at a "budget" price point. Face it: LA is popular and relatively expensive.

West Hollywood is very central - many clubs and good eats all over the place. Sunset Blvd is easy to walk, Santa Monica Blvd too. Parking is always a mess. I live there, and have noticed how rare it is to find parking on the streets.

Contact the tourist office at the City of West Hollywood for a list of hotels. There are many that aren't the big chains that are really nice.