where to stay

My husband and I are planning to visit LA (probably about 5 days) and San Diego (probably about 3 days).

We have never been to Califonia and would like to know the best area/hotel to stay in for easy access (walking distance) to bars, nightlife and restaurants. We don%26#39;t mind walking as long as it is safe at night.

We will have our car and will drive to other attractions (Walk of fame, Disney, beaches, etc.)

where to stay

For night life, I would recommend one of the following places:

1) Downtown Pasadena - This area has lots of restaurants, shopping, museums, easy drive to Universal, Hollywood Walk of Fame about 25 miles to Santa Monica. Easy Access to Freeways. Sheraton Pasadena is nice place to stay and easy to walk to bars, nightlife, movies and restaurants. (We were just there this week-end and Friday/Saturday night hopping till late at night.) http://www.oldpasadena.org/

This is a safe area to enjoy,

2) West Hollywood - if you like bars and club scene; nice area and interesting. Great place if you want to experience the thrill of being in Hollywood area for your vacation...

http://www.visitwesthollywood.com/

3) Santa Monica if you want to stay at the beach and have late night restaurants and bars. The Pier Amusement Park stays open till way late at night.

4) Of course, staying by Disneyland also is a good choice if you plan to spend much of your vacation there given Downtown Disney, California Adventure, and Disneyland, restaurants around parks, short drive to Laguna, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach, shopping at Newport Beach Fashion Island Plaza.

where to stay

I recommend Santa Monica to everyone. Plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. And, it%26#39;s a fairly close to drive to Beverly Hills, Malibu and Hollywood.

Disney is about an hour and change south. Maybe you guys can stay in L.A. 4 days then make the drive to Anaheim and stay overnight there while you hit Disney and then drive the rest of the way down to San Diego.

Some advice on a couple that were listed as other choices above.

Love Pasadena but it%26#39;s a hike from almost everything else. With traffic it would be a nightmare.

West Hollywood is a gay section of L.A. Just advice up front because I have no idea how you are with that. I have no problem and they have some good restaurants in that section but I can see someone being weirded out if they didn%26#39;t know.

Hi,

First, it%26#39;s important to know that Los Angeles is not like most large cities (New York, Toronto, etc) because there is no EXPANSIVE area of pedestrian-friendly bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Instead, the city is broken into lots of lots of different neighborhoods, each with their own personality. Because of this, I%26#39;d suggest that you stay somewhere in the goegraphic center of city, west of downtown. A Logical choice is Hollywood (one of the aforementioned neighborhoods in Los Angeles -- staying near the intersection of Highland Av and Hollywood BL)) is an excellent choice as there is much to do on foot, the Walk of fame, shopping, restaurants, nightclubs, a handy metro station to get you to Universal Studios (1-stop) easy access to the 101 Freeway, etc, etc, Another choice is West Hollywood (an incorporated city, distinct from Los Angeles but adjacent to it which, in spite of the remarks of the former poster has one of the largest HETEROSEXUAL, pedestrian-friendly concentration of restaurants, bars and clubs known the world over as ';the Sunset Strip'; (on Sunset bl). (The gay nightlife is on Santa Monica Blvd -- some blocks away)

Pasadena, while interesting because of the ';Old Pasadena'; area, is quite nice to walk around (old buildings brought back to life). I wouldn%26#39;t recommend staying there because, it%26#39;s not only far away from most of L.A., but it%26#39;s one of the hottest (temperature-wise) areas of the metro region. Hot! Hot! Hot!

Have fun!

I love how snobby some people get in here.

I made a generalization just so the person doesn%26#39;t get a random hotel in WeHo and walk SM Blvd and wonder why nobody let them in on this.

G%26#39;day, we are also looking for somewhere to stay in LA for a couple of nights - and Best Western Sunset Plaza seems like one of the few hotels that have consistently good reviews.

Alas, we will be relying on public transport or walking ourselves.. so would be pleased to know if others agree on this place as a good choice to access the Walk of fame etc.

Cheers

Liz

My bf and I are heading to LA as well, we booked at the four point shearton near LAX to save some money. Hopefully its not as bad as I read on some of the reviews. In any case, we will be renting a car to do most of the travelling. Any advice on where to rent a car from? Also, what is the best beach to go to in La, or surrounding areas?

Hi Liz (Hulinea)

You%26#39;ve picked a fine location. The #2 or the 302(express bus) both lines run on sunset from PCH to downtown L.A. To get to Hollywood, you can easily walk (15 min. at most) or take the #2 or the #302 to Fairfax, where you will take the #217or lthe 717 (express) to Hollywood/Higland stop (about 10 minutes). I take these buses EVERY DAY (West Hollywood to Westwood) to and from work and they run pretty consistently %26amp; frequent (I never wait more than 10 minutes) during the day. At night (after 8 p.m.) buses run VERY slow, so it%26#39;s not unusual to wait 30-45 minutes for a bus (good thing I love to read). The Express buses I mention above only run during the day from 7 a.m.-6p.m. Express buses won%26#39;t stop at the small streets only the bigger intersections, but take the same route as the regular bus. Buy a day pass when you board the bus, they%26#39;re only $3.00 and are good for any bus/train until 3 a.m the next morning. You can catch the redline at the Hollywood/highland stop to go to Universal, or to connect to the other lines. Check out the mta.net for more info on where the redline, goldline, and blue line (our subways) go.

Hi Crystal Sorrows,

Thanks for the advice re our trip. Sounds like it may be the spot for us to stay!

It is a shame that you guys dont drive onthe ';correct';(LOLOL) side of the road that we do, so I could rent something completely over the top, drive around with my mirror sunglasses and all!!!

Thanks again

Liz