First Time to LA - Where to Stay...What to See

Hi

My husband and I are begining to plan a trip to LA. As this will be our first time, we would appreciate any help in determining where to stay. From briefly reviewing the areas that we would like to see (e.g. venice beach, hollywood, beverly hills, anaheim) its easy to see that everything to spread out. We plan on renting a car during our stay.

Which hotel would you recommend? We have been told that The Standard Hotel in Hollywood is great. We are looking for a hotel that is whithin walking distance to major sites, restaurants, hip bars/clubs...basically a hotel that screams hollywood..trendy..and hip.

Your help is appreciated. Thank you.

First Time to LA - Where to Stay...What to See

Hi Delores,

The Standard is an okay choice. It%26#39;s cool, and hip yes, and me and my friends hang out there every now and then, but most of the people I know who have stayed there werent that happy with it. It%26#39;s very loud and some people have said the service stinks. I think theyre are plenty of other hotels that outperform the standard.

-The Mondrain, West Hollywood. This hotel is similar to The Standard, however I like it a little more. Its in the same area with the same ';hip'; factor. Located at the hotel is Skybar.

-W Hotel, Westwood. I love this hotel. Probably my favorite hotel in LA. The rooms are HUGE and very comfortable. The hotel design is outstanding. It%26#39;s much more of a %26#39;quiet%26#39; cool, however. It%26#39;s located in a quiet residential neighborhood next to UCLA. It%26#39;s walking distance to Westwood Village, and very close to Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and the 405, which will take you to many of the places you want to go.

The following hotels are a little lower on the ';hip'; scale, but I reccomend them due to their locations as a jumping off point, and as overall great hotels.

-Regent Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills. Great hotel in great location. Pricey.

-Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills. Legendary hotel in great, residential location.

-Mosaic Hotel, Beverly Hills. A great, small hotel in a great residential location. Great, friendly staff. I have heard very good things from friends who have stayed there. Good value.

-Four Seasons Los Angeles. Borders West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

-Century Plaza Hotel. Large hotel in the Century City area. Good location.

-Elan Hotel Modern, Los Angeles. Great little hotel in great, central location. Clean rooms, modern design. Great value!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Mark.

First Time to LA - Where to Stay...What to See

I%26#39;ve lived in Los Angeles for 4 years and can recommend one thing for sure: do not stay in Hollywood. Do not. It is nice to visit during the day, you have the Walk of Fame, Kodak Theatre, Chinese Theatre and all the little shops and stores. At night, however, it%26#39;s a different picture.

There are no %26#39;nice%26#39; restaurants or cafes you could stay at, no strolling around ... think in terms of homeless people, prostitutes and pimps. It is not an area you want to find a hotel at.

Also, since it%26#39;s your first visit to car city: the dimensions are hard to fathom when you just look at the map. I used to live in North Hollywood (on the other side of the hill, right next to Universal Studios) - Hollywood was 10 minutes away, Downtown about 40 minutes, the beaches (Venice, Santa Monica) about an hour, depending on traffic. So there is no such hotel that would be central to anything. If you want to go %26#39;hip%26#39; and %26#39;safe%26#39; - look at hotels along the Sunset Strip in BH, Ventura Blvd. in Universal City, Santa Monica (skip Venice), Manhattan Beach is very, very nice but below the airport so you%26#39;ll spend even more time driving around. It all depends on where your priorities are.

Don%26#39;t get me wrong, I love, love, love Los Angeles - the best place I%26#39;ve ever lived at. But it%26#39;s not a city for everybody, I%26#39;ve seen way too many friends visit us and be disappointed. Traffic can be an utter nightmare but the public transportation system is not the greatest so you will most definitely need a car.

When I first came to LA as a tourist, I didn%26#39;t have a car (being under 25 I was also not able to rent one) so I took the bus. Met very interesting people, got on the wrong bus and was dropped off in Compton where I was promptly greeted by armed guards at the station, if you don%26#39;t act like a tourist (camera out, map in hand ...) you%26#39;ll have a blast.

You can also go off the beaten path a bit, visit the %26#39;stars%26#39; at the cemetary - Marilyn Monroe is hidden in Westwood, right off Wilshire Blvd., see if you can get free tickets for a taping of a show - either via handout on Hollywood Blvd. or make reservations online). If you like food, definitely visit the Urth Cafe on Melrose Avenue, The Pantry in Downtown, The Thai Room in Burbank ... there%26#39;s plenty to see. The observatory is currently closed due to restoration as well as the parking lot around it - but you can park on the lower end of the park and hike up to the sign (yes, there is a way). The Getty Center is always worth a visit (closed on mondays) ... that%26#39;s all I can think of right now. Have a fantastic time.

I would recommend staying in the Santa Monica area. Hollywood is nice to stroll around for the day, but if you want to situate yourself in an area where you can walk to restaurants, is hip, and California beachy. then look for places on the West Side of town, as close to the Pacific as you can get. Since you%26#39;re renting a car (smart girl) you%26#39;ll be able to take it all in with a good map and good planning.

saying there are no nice restaurants or hotels in hollywood is not accurate, nor is saying the entire area is full of prostitutes and pimps.

it%26#39;s not beverly hills, but it%26#39;s not that bad. sheesh.

Also, check out this older TripAdvisor post for the top things to do in LA. I even keep as reference when I have out of town guests.

COPY %26amp; PASTE

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g32655-i61-k155130…

While I%26#39;ve never stayed at The Standard, I think your impression of it is correct in that it seems ';hip'; to me. The Standard in downtown Los Angeles also has the same reputation, with the rooftop bar being a popular place.

The Standard in Hollywood is at 8300 West Sunset Boulevard, at Sweetzer Avenue. That%26#39;s pretty much right in the middle of Hollywood. Mostly what you%26#39;ll be able to walk to (or perhaps take a cab since valet parking is the norm) will be other nightclubs and bars, but not really any tourist destinations.

Some other ';hip, boutique'; hotels in the area:

Chateau Marmont

8221 West Sunset Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90046

telephone: (323) 656-1010

Mondrian Hotel

8440 West Sunset Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90069

telephone: (323) 650-8999

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

7000 Hollywood Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90028

telephone: (323) 769-7260

Unfortunately, I%26#39;ve never been at any of these places, so maybe some can comment from experience.

It%26#39;s good that you%26#39;ve decided to rent a car. It seems like many people want to visit Los Angeles, see many things, and don%26#39;t want to drive. The area%26#39;s just too large to be able to do that using public transportation. While the traffic can be bad, getting around via buses and the few trains that we have is much worse.

I%26#39;d only go to Anaheim if you want to visit Disneyland, really. I%26#39;ve lived here for fifteen years and I%26#39;ve only been to Disneyland once. There are a few nice malls in Orange County (Fashion Island, South Coast Plaza) in Orange County, though. Laguna Beach is also a nice area.

If you%26#39;re looking for information about nightclubs, there%26#39;s always Citysearch:

…citysearch.com/find/…bars_nightlife.html

You might want to look at the web site for ';The LA Weekly.'; It%26#39;s a free, ';alternative'; newspaper that%26#39;s a good resource for things to do. They have an editor%26#39;s pick for nightclubs, etc. This is the resource I use most and has very specific information about what%26#39;s happening for the current week:

http://www.laweekly.com/

The ';calendar'; section is a good place to start:

http://www.laweekly.com/calendar/

';The New York Times'; also has many free articles about travel in Los Angeles. You have to register to read them, but registration is free:

…nytimes.com/top/…guide.html

';[D]o not stay in Hollywood. Do not. It is nice to visit during the day, you have the Walk of Fame, Kodak Theatre, Chinese Theatre and all the little shops and stores. At night, however, it%26#39;s a different picture. There are no %26#39;nice%26#39; restaurants or cafes you could stay at, no strolling around ... think in terms of homeless people, prostitutes and pimps. It is not an area you want to find a hotel at.';

I think this is not very accurate. The streets in Hollywood aren%26#39;t lined with gold with celebrities walking around, but it is a great place to stay if you enjoy nightlife, music, dance clubs, and small theaters. Sure, there are homeless people there, it%26#39;s not ';kid-friendly,'; and not that great to walk around in, but it%26#39;s an area with a lot of activities.

As far as restaurants, Hollywood also has many good restaurants and it%26#39;s home to most of the really good Thai restaurants in the Los Angeles area.

I mainly go to Hollywood for the great record store:

Amoeba Records

6400 West Sunset Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90028

telephone: (323) 245-6400

http://www.amoebamusic.com/

Yes! If youre into music shopping, Amobea is a must see. I go there a few times a month. It%26#39;s LAs best record store, in my opinion. It%26#39;s incredibly large. You could spend most of the day there if you don%26#39;t watch the time!

Thanks to everyone that responded.... sonmbr1 and ctkads,

thank you for all of the hotel suggestions, websites recommendations and your comments regarding The Standard.. StuckInBoston and Mazz56, thank you for your recommendations on other areas to stay. I realize that LA is a large city with many great places to visit...I think it will be difficult to select one hotel.

Before I forget...thanks ctkads and sonmbr1 for your recommendation to visit Amoeba Records. My husband loves to shop for records, so I am sure that Amoeba will be on the top of his list of places to see during our trip (actually I%26#39;m quite positive of that).

Thanks again.

Remember, everything in Southern California is very spread out, so no matter where you stay, you will spend a lot of time in your car. That being said, traffic into and out of the Hollywood area can be a nightmare. Unless you plan on doing many things near Hollywood, you might opt for another location. The west side (Westwood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica) are good choices. Also, don%26#39;t count out Orange County. There are many nice things to do there, and Laguna Beach has several 4 and 5 star resorts. Laguna is also a very artsy community with many galleries to browse.