meohmay

My fiancé and I have never been to Los Angeles and are planning a week long trip for August 2015. We have a budget of $1400 for hotel accommodations. I'm interested in either a chic hotel in an area with some fun venues within walking distance (at least some good restaurants and bars) or a cozy bed and breakfast. (We will have a car.) Any suggestions?
Sidenote: I'm not too picky but would NEED a clean place in a generally safe area. I'd also love complimentary parking, wifi and breakfast… a pool would be a plus too.

ltt

what is it you plan to do in la? it's a large city so knowing where you plan on going will help us tell you which area to look at.

maitaitom

Here are some of my favorite restaurants that I have written about in and around Los Angeles area.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/fact...os-angeles-ca/

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/baco...os-angeles-ca/

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/altaeats-pasadena-ca/

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chur...os-angeles-ca/

Brenkjtravel

What are you hoping to do? Spend lots of time at the beach? See Hollywood? Visit amusement parks?

jamie99

August is hot, I'd try and stay near the beach, $1400 is about $200 per night, hotel tax is 15% so about $175 per night. A bit low for Santa Monica but you can try for someplace like Sea Shore there, or maybe Sea View Inn in Manhattan Beach, a block from the beach, they have bikes to borrow, or since you have a car, maybe Marina del Rey. I've also heard good things about the Inn at Playa del Rey, quiet area, free breakfast I think.
But you really need to state what you want to visit.
For example if you wanted to visit Disneyland, then I'd stay in Anaheim for a day or two.

clarkgriswold

Sea View Inn starts around $225 in April and I imagine higher in August.
Closest thing to that budget on the westside might be Wilshire Motel, clean and friendly but not chic. Hilgard House by UCLA might come in around $200...lots of dining within walking distance and short drive to Santa Monica beach or you can take the bus and not have to deal with parking.

meohmay

Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses! I'm new to this so didn't think I'd get any. We have a whole list of things we want to do. We definitely want to see the walk of fame and the Hollywood sign. Other than that, we want to visit at least two beaches, eat some really good food we can only get in Cali, visit some cultural places, go on a cool tour of some kind, and possibly find one festival or concert taking place during that time that we can enjoy.
We are also planning a day trip to San Diego during our stay. It's a lot packed into one week I know!
We have been looking on Airbnb but still haven't settled on what part of L.A. we should stay at but since its August, I'm definitely thinking something within walking distance of the beach.

jv827

Since you mention a festival or concert, you may want to check out the Hollywood Bowl schedule to see if there's anything the week you're here that interests you: http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets...?month=2015-08

Of course there will also be regular concerts taking place at venues around town (you can always find good music in LA!), but the Bowl is a quintessential LA outdoor summer experience.

Cali

Another fun venue to see a concert is the Greek Theater. I liked it better when it was smaller but it is still fun on a nice summer evening. I do agree that the Hollywood Bowl is wonderful.

sf7307

Well, you can get hot dogs other places, but Pink's is a quintessential LA experience, and the hot dogs are great!


http://www.pinkshollywood.com

Brenkjtravel

Might I suggest staying just outside of LA maybe in the Huntington Beach area. You will still be close to LA (maybe a 30min drive) but wont have to deal with all the traffic every day. Staying by the Huntington Pier is fun you can rent bikes to ride along the coast or eat at Ruby's ( very touristy) at the end of the Pier which is fun. We also love the Laguna Niguel/Newport area which is just a little further south. If you stay out side of LA and a little south it will make your day trip to San Diego easier. Some other fun things to do are taking the Catalina Flyer out to Catalina Island for the day. You can rent bikes to ride around the island there as well. Or you can head to Balboa island (you can drive there) cute little shops and restaurants and a beach.

Another thing we enjoy when we are near the beach is to secure a fire pit on one of the beaches that allow bonfires then bring wood and cookout stuff for and evening beach bonfire. Remember to bring a light jacket or sweatshirt though as is can get a bit chilly as the sun goes down.

If you decide to stay up North in or around LA the Santa Monica Pier is fun, carnival games, ferris wheel and other rides and the beach there is pretty good too. One of my favorite shopping areas is near the Santa Monica Pier. The Third Street Promenade, great stores and fun restaurants.


if you are looking for a rental this might work for you
http://www.vrbo.com/664277

Or if you prefer a Hotel this could be a good location
http://huntingtonbeach.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

http://www.shorebreakhotel.com

Happy planning!

Tabernash2

I always stay at the Inn at Venice Beach. It's newly-renovated, cool mid-mod vibe, free continental breakfast in their inner courtyard, spotlessly clean, great employees, easy self-parking for $14/day. About two blocks from the Venice pier.

My recent stay there was about $200/night for one, including taxes and parking.

clarkgriswold

Check in July to see what kind of traffic problems people are experiencing getting in and out of Santa Monica & Venice. Major freeway reconstruction plus a subway project are expected to cause quite a bit of havoc starting in late April for about a year.

Tabernash2

PCH is not at Venice, is it? I think the construction is up past Santa Monica pier?

clarkgriswold

Doesn't matter where exactly all the construction is, this is Los Angeles, there is a ripple effect and route 1, which goes right through Venice, is going to be even worse than usual.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...5-to-52016.cfm

Surfergirl

I also highly recommend the Hollywood Bowl in summer. This August is going to be great, and I'm going to be in England, unfortunately, for my favorite summer night at the Bowl -- Reggae night on August 16th - this year hosted by Ziggy Marley. Don't know if that kind of music interests you, but this year they are celebrating what would have been Bob Marley's 70th birthday year.

rjw_lgb_ca

I'll jump in as someone who lives just outside of metro LA but commutes in to work in downtown Santa Monica.

First of all: On the coast, especially in Santa Monica, the weather won't be oppressively hot in August. That really is something you deal with in September and October when the Santa Anas blow in off the desert. August will be lovely. But CROWDED. Santa Monica and Venice are crawling with tourists practically year-round; August will be-- how can I put it?-- a ZOO.

Traffic in Santa Monica and Venice is currently a total nightmare during Rush Hour. A "twenty minutes to go south three blocks on Ocean Avenue" nightmare. I'm dealing with this every work day now, and it's only going to get worse. The warnings are real, and this won't go away anytime soon. It has me considering changing jobs if my employer won't let me work from home most days...!

The suggestion for using Huntington Beach as your base for touring metro LA is just balderdash. Getting to LA in thirty minutes using ground transportation is a scenario bordering on "LSD trip" fantasy-- unless it's 4 AM and you're willing to break speed limits on the (hopefully) empty freeways. Right now it would be at least an hour to downtown LA. If you're on the coast in HB, add at least ten minutes to get to the freeway. HB is nice for touring Orange County sites (Disneyland/Knott's Berry Farm, Laguna Beach-- I don't really know anything of interest in Laguna Niguel) and maybe the very few points of touristic interest in Long Beach (absolutely non-essential, believe me-- and I live there, I know!). But NOT for LA. Sorry. Not a good idea at all.

Now, for the OP: If you're willing to forego travel during Rush Hour, it's not horribly difficult to get around metro LA. Be flexible. Bear in mind Elizabeth Taylor's advice to anyone trying to "make it" in Hollywood: "Take Fountain." That is: Know your alternate routes.

Hollywood sightseeing should be packed into a single day, since it really isn't all that. Do you have to see two beaches? Hit Santa Monica beach one day, Venice Beach (carefully-- you can't swing a bong without hitting a medicinal marijuana store, even with the city cracking down on dispensaries) the next-- water and sand and Beach People. Bam! Done.

Hollywood Bowl is absolutely unique, a totally LA thing; if you can squeeze it in, DO SO:

http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets...dar-fullseason

The whole LA metro area has great museums, lots of fun live theatre, awesome art galleries, etc. The LA Weekly isn't nearly as useful as it used to be (since the Village Voice bought it), but it's an acceptable reference for cultural happenings in the area:

http://www.laweekly.com/

As far as lodging near the beach: The Bayside Hotel is really just a little independent motel just south of downtown Santa Monica, but it's inexpensive and well-regarded by budget travelers. It puts you close to Main Street, which is a fun stretch of commercial ventures in SM, including fun restaurants, bars and shops. The Inn at Venice Beach is less than two miles away, but half a world away in Venice (heading toward Marina del Rey); you might call them to see if they might have a honeymoon deal.

As far as food: Think Mexican and Asian. Most eateries are serious about sourcing as locally as possible, and even with the drought our produce is fresh year-round. You won't starve. Avoid dining at Santa Monica Place; the rents are driving out independent restauranteurs in favor of palaces of mediocrity like the Cheesecake Factory (ugggh). You can do far better.

(And one little quibble: "Cali" is the third-largest city in Colombia, but you won't find hardly any of its food represented in southern California. LL Cool J probably didn't find any either, so don't feel too bad...! )

Enjoy your honeymoon! It'll be busy but fun.

Jean

If Santa Monica is still under consideration, I'll reiterate the warnings about traffic from late April 2015 through May 2016. The media has started to call is Slowpocalypse.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...5-to-52016.cfm

(rjw, I don't know how you do it every day, but good luck next week and beyond!)

maitaitom

"Now, for the OP: If you're willing to forego travel during Rush Hour, it's not horribly difficult to get around metro LA. Be flexible. Bear in mind Elizabeth Taylor's advice to anyone trying to "make it" in Hollywood: "Take Fountain." That is: Know your alternate routes."

...and keep your car radio tuned into 1070 am (KNX)…traffic every ten minutes at the "5s." If one freeway is clogged, there is usually an alternate route to be found somewhere, and sometimes they'll tell you what that route is on the radio. Good luck. Have a blast.

meohmay

Once again, thank you for your helpful responses. Hollywood Bowl is something we definitely plan to check out during our stay. We are open to staying in areas surrounding the L.A. area. We're leaning towards getting a place through Airbnb. The price and quality seems to be better than any hotel in our price range.