Which hotel in Los Angeles
 

We are flying from Rhode Island to Las Vegas on Feb 20th to spend a week with family. It will be my wife & I along with our 10 year old boys. We would like to take a 3-day side trip to Los Angeles..driving out there on Feb 23 and driving back on Feb 25, so we would be spending 2 nights. There are 3 hotels I am considering and was wondering is anybody has any feeback regarding these hotels. They're all Holiday Inn Express properties...
HIE Universal City-Cahuenga, HIE Hollywood Walk of Fame, & HIE Century City.
I did some research on Tripadvisor and all 3 were highly rated, so it will come down to price and any insider knowledge that any of you have.
While there, we will do the usual tourist stuff..the Walk of Fame, Santa Monica, maybe one of the studio tours. All three Holiday Inn Express properties seem to be fairly close to all these attraction. Tripadvisor says that the HIE Universal City has a free shuttle to the different tourist attractions, which is convenient, but I am still having a hard time pinpointing which hotel to choose. Much thanks in advance.

Ken M.

Of these three options my choice would be Walk of Fame.

HTTY

Walk of Fame is by far the nicest,Cahuenga the worst of the bunch. (WofFame inn has a $25 parking charge fyi) But there's not much to do around Hollywood for kids. I would base my hotel choice on my itinerary as traffic is terrible. HIE Walk of Fame would be great if you itinerary includes Universal, Warner Brothers, Griffith Observatory but not so great if you're looking for beach time, Getty Center, Disney.

There is also a HI Express in West Los Angeles.

There is one in Marina del Rey, also:

http://www.hiexpress.com:80/hotels/u...ca/hoteldetail

We've stayed numerous times at HI Express Century City and found it centrally located. For Hollywood or Santa Monica, it is an easy drive down the street one direction or the other. No getting lost! And there is very easy access to the Fwys 10 and also the 405. It has been consistently clean and quiet with comfortable beds. The morning breakfast room is pretty good. However, I don't recall if there is a pool (you should check on that, especially with kids). And there is virtually no street parking, so you have to use the hotel parking lot (conveniently located on the 1st floor of the hotel). I think it is $10/night. It is also right across the street from a major grocery store, so that is handy. Close to a mile, but walkable, to a major shopping mall in Century City with various restaurants and theater.

I don't have any knowledge of the other HI Express hotels in the area - except the one in West LA is right next to the 405 so may have more traffic/freeway noise.

The Century City property, while on busy Olympic Blvd, is very centrally located and is on the edge of a lovely residential neighborhood. Post above gives details, just wanted to agree that it is a great location. As malls go, the Century City mall is really nice, as it is all outdoors and has several really good restaurants and lovely open air food court seating.

The Pink Taco Restaurant at Century City is a lively, fun place to go that really has quite good Mexican-ish food, but if you go, sit in the very interior part of the place--or outside-- as the music can be loud.

PS to OP---post above appears to be an advertisement for a website, not actual travel help/advice.

Thank you, socialworker, for the nice thumbs to my neighborhood!

The Century City HIE is indeed on busy Olympic and if you do select that one, which is centrally located as others note, please always try to enter and exit the property from Olympic heading east, for the sake of safety. Trying to cross over to head west on Olympic is dangerous. It's actually very easy to go westbound from the property by turning right onto Olympic, staying in the right-hand lane, then going up the Avenue of the Stars ramp and making a left turn at the light onto Avenue of the Stars to Pico. Or left to get into Century City and go to the shopping mall.

I have started to thaw on my feelings that the Century City mall became too upscale for my tastes after its multi-million dollar make over a few years back. And it does have some interesting restaurants that will leave the kids and parents happy. Just remember first 3 hours parking is currently free, but after that you will need to pay. I avoid going to movies there because the prices are just too high.

But back to the HIE at Century City: it's literally next door to 20th Century Fox's backlot, a few blocks from Beverly Hills; 10 minute drive to Westwood Village & UCLA; 15 minute drive to the beaches in Santa Monica (best to take Pico, since Olympic sort of comes to a complete dead end just after Lincoln Blvd.); 20 minute drive to Hollywood; 30 minutes to Universal Studios.

You're also right around the corner, practically, from Rancho Park & Cheviot Hills Recreation Center -- entry on Motor, just south of where Motor dead-ends at 20th Century Fox at Pico. In the event the kids need to run around or go to the playground there. Many films and t.v. shows (with footage of kids playing in parks) have been shot there.

Oops -- meant "thumbs up" -- forgot the "up" part!

That is right Surfergirl, I always forget if it is you or SeaUrchin who lives in that neck of the woods! DH and I stayed in a VRBO rental on Fox Hills Drive for 3 months in '08 and we were so happy there! Such a lovely neighborhood. Many great memories of Happy Hour outdoors at the Pink Taco having 2 for 1 drinks with no driving worries, b/c we were walking!

Ken M. -

All great recommendations listed above. I wanted to reach out to you because HIE Century City is where I think you should stay. I have a biased opinion since I represent the management company. But as a testament, we do an amazing job of keeping track of the buzz about our hotel online and ran across your posting. We like to be in the know.

We have amazing suites that represent loft style set-ups with a separate bed upstairs and another downstairs. This allows for privacy when traveling with children. Our breakfast program has been revamped lately so you can expect fresh and hot items each morning. The rooms are kept immaculate as we often rank towards the top for cleanliness for local area hotels.

The real winner for you and your family will be our location. During your visit, we can be a central point for any of your Southern California activities. Should you even need help coordinating, our team will be more than glad to assist with a tour, driving directions or restaurant reservations. There is a Ralphs grocery store 50 yards from our front door. We offer safe and secure parking, free WiFi and complimentary breakfast.

If you want to contact me directly for a special booking rate or a complimentary suite upgrade based on availabilty, you are more than welcome to reach out to me at [email protected]. If you want to book directly or learn more about our hotel, check out www.hiecenturycity.com.

We hope you choose our hotel. You won't regret it.

Thanks in advance.
www.hiecenturycity.com

Thanks to all who replied. Based on the response, it looks like the Century City property is going to be my choice. We're looking forward to getting away from the snow and ice and enjoying some warm weather! Thanks again.

Ken M.

Loved reading everyone's comments. For years I felt like I was the only one touting the benefits of this modestly-priced hotel property. We originally chose it only because it was about 2-3 blocks from our daughter's apartment. (And we love the neighborhood, by the way. It's a great area if you like to walk). Soon realized it was a comfortable, clean and convenient jewel. DD has now moved to another part of the state, so we may not have reason to stay there for awhile. :(

Could anyone please suggest how these hotels would suit travellers without a car, also interested in seeing clubs?

For clubs you'll want the Holiday Inn Express Walk of Fame. It's also easily accessible from the airport via the Downtown Flyaway Bus/ Red Line Subway connection. And there is good bus service from Hollywood, and a Tourist Information booth near the Renaissance Hotel/Kodak Theatre.

Yes, B__B, with those set of facts you'd be better ff at the Hollywood HIE. It's in walking distance of the Hollywood Bowl and several clubs -- by "clubs" do you mean rock/music clubs or dance clubs?

Whatever, there's a pretty good selection of both in the neighborhood.

Yes I guess it's more the dance clubs....This advice helps clarify the choices..... thankyou ...carkgriswold and surfergirl...