5 days post cruise in LA. Good reasonably priced hotel??

Any ideas would be appreciated. We would love an ocean view but it seems prices are quite high and with the exchange rate it is killing us. We are not into Disneyland but would love to see Warner bros studios, Hollywood boulevard and the beaches. We will probably head to San Diego for 1 of the days. Please help.

Thanks

Connie

Any ideas would be appreciated. We would love an ocean view but it seems prices are quite high and with the exchange rate it is killing us. We are not into Disneyland but would love to see Warner bros studios, Hollywood boulevard and the beaches. We will probably head to San Diego for 1 of the days. Please help.

 

Thanks

Connie

Connie, I guess you really are a "dreamer"...

Ocean View and reasonably priced in the LA area don't really fit together...

Typically, I advise that the best place to stay in the LA area for an extended trip is Santa Monica...But, yes, ocean views in Santa Monica are some VERY nice...and well priced...places...I have personally stayed at the Loews Santa Monica and at the Marriott LeMerigot...and both had absolutely tremendous views...But, I am guessing that, based on your post, the prices will scare you away...Also on the beach: Shutters on the Beach and Casa Del Mar...again, both fairly pricey--though, you never know--hotel prices tend to fluctuate...and sometimes you can get a great deal with Priceline...

Though not on the beach, I'll throw the Fairmont Miramar--on the bluffs above the beach--into that pricey group...

Santa Monica has some other very good hotels...at slightly lower prices than the foregoing...but you may find some of these a bit rich for your blood as well...The Huntley and the Wyndham do not have great views but are well located...The Le Meridien Delfina and the Doubletree are not in the most convenient locations but still relatively close to the Santa Monica attractions and usually go for a little lesser price...There is a guy who used to post here regularly who would swear by the Calmar:

http://www.calmarhotel.com/

Sort of an old apartment building recast as a suite hotel and in a very good location...

To stay near the beaches and at a lower price, go a little south to Venice/Marina Del Rey...Take a look at the Hotel Erwin, the Inn at Venice Beach, the Jamaica Bay Inn and the Hilton Garden Inn Marina Del Rey...

Another big question is how do you intend to get around--will you have a car? With a car, you can stay almost anywhere...though be very wary of any too good to be believed deal...a lot of areas are a little sketchy...and it's best to ask here before committing to any hotel...

If you will be without a car, Santa /Monica is ideal as there is a lot to see and do at all hours in the area of the earlier mentioned hotels...And, the HOHO bus tours use Santa Monica as a hub and all of the tour companies pick up from Santa Monica hotels, so it's very easy to tour Hollywood, Beverly Hills and other sites from there.

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. We are thinking about renting a car so that is another expense as well as some hotels I see charge for parking like the Cal Mar you mentioned. I am going to go and check the others you mentioned.

Some I have been looking at that aren't on the beach are the Radisson line in various locations that seem to be reasonably priced. Any ideas on them like the one in Covina. It has parking, breakfast, a bar, pool, wifi, and a restaurant.

These are some of the things we would like included.

Thanks again.

Connie

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. We are thinking about renting a car so that is another expense as well as some hotels I see charge for parking like the Cal Mar you mentioned. I am going to go and check the others you mentioned.

Some I have been looking at that aren't on the beach are the Radisson line in various locations that seem to be reasonably priced. Any ideas on them like the one in Covina. It has parking, breakfast, a bar, pool, wifi, and a restaurant.

These are some of the things we would like included.

 

Thanks again.

Connie

Covina is extremely geographically inconvenient for what you want to do...you will spend most of your time stuck in traffic somewhere...

When you start seeing really low prices in LA, it typically mean one of three things:

1) The hotel is filthy, unsafe, dangerous and disgusting.

2) The hotel is in an extremely unsavory area i.e. Gangs, crime, street people, drug pushers, etc.

3) The hotel is a LONG way from anywhere. LA is a very big city...undoubtedly larger and more spread out than anyplace most people have ever seen. The metropolitan area actually crosses over several mountain ranges and spans a large coastal plain and countless valleys. Getting from one side of the metropolis to he other can take HOURS (and, no, I am not exaggerating).

So, I guess let's nail this part down first: How much per night do you expect to pay? What time of year will you be visiting? How nice of a hotel do you want?

Please know that in desirable parts of LA, hotels will NOT be cheap. Sometimes you can make the trade-off of a lower end hotel...but some of those may not afford you a pleasant stay. The other trade off for lower price is to give up convenience by going outside of the close-in parts of the city...But that is often a bad trade-off as you will lose time in travel and you will pay a lot for gas...

But, if you go away from prime locations, at least stray in the direction toward nicer suburbs toward the side of town you'll want to visit...so your traffic isn't through downtown. Since you want to visit beaches towns and Hollywood/Universal, go North and West, not East and inland...

For example, you could come out of LA in my direction...The town I live in, Calabasas, is very upscale...there are three hotels in this little town: The Hilton and the Anza, both generally in the $200 plus range...but there is also a "Good Nite Inn"...basically a freeway off ramp motel off the 101 which can be typically booked for under $100 per night...nothing fancy but free parking and a pool...The trade off is that you'd have a half an hour drive to the studios (as long as you avoided the heart of rush hour-straight across the 101) and a very scenic half an hour drive to the beaches in Malibu (I m assuming you drive slowly through our canyons)... And, at least, you are in a good and safe neighborhood...So, the question is would you trade an hour or more on the freeways each day to save that money? The othe thing to remember is that when you get home each night after touring, you are out in the suburbs, no in the excitement of the city...

You certainly bring up a lot of good points. We hope to spend under $200. Canadian per night. A pool is important to me and a bar for DH. We don't have a clue about the area as we have never been. We do understand driving as we are in the Vancouver area of British Columbia. We just avoid driving during rush hour(s) which I am sure is the same in LA, not just an hour but more like 3 - 4 hours. Hubby is not looking forward to the driving so maybe a trade off of the bus system and staying closer into the site seeing areas may be the way to go and pay a little more.

We are seeing our TA tomorrow about it but want to go into the conversation with some ideas of our own.

Oh yes the other question you mentioned was the time of year. Mid to late September.

With our dollar tanking we figured we better get our air fare and hotels booked before it gets any worse. If we hadn't booked our cruise we wouldn't be doing it now for sure.

Make sure to post potential hotels (including areas) before committing. As Steve says, there are areas to avoid. And renting a car would certainly help. Some places you may want to see would be difficult to do using our (not very good) bus system.

Warner Brothers studio is in Burbank (we are actually going to see the Ellen show being taped there in two weeks -yea! we were in the overflow riff raff room in September so this time we get guarantee tickets). Burbank is in the San Fernando Valley on the other side of the Hollywood hills so may work for the same day you visit Hollywood. You may want to check on the tour -- reservations may be required.

Be prepared for hot weather at that time of year (parts of LA like Burbank can be over 100 degrees F). Which means beaches can be crowded if you go on the weekend.

I definitely would recommend not staying in Covina -- not anything of a sightseeing attraction close to there. Also don't stay by LAX or in downtown Los Angeles.

Thanks Cruisin Chick, looking for hotels close to hop on hop off now and hard to find anything in our price range. Yikes.

$200 Canadian is very, very low for a hotel in Los Angeles. That is $140 US and when US hotels quote rates they do so before taxes so you really talking about a $115 US hotel.

Maybe look in some hotels on the eastern end of Hollywood like Hollywood-Vermont/Sunset, Coral Sand Motel and The Dixie Hollywood Hotel. They are in easy walking distance of the LA subway so you could get by without a car.

I've upped our budget, how is the Venice Breeze Suites? Sounds like a nice place.

We just stayed at the Inn at Venice Beach. Loved it, but no pool. One block walk to the beach, eclectic bars and restaurants all within walking distance. Two musts in Venice, the Terrace restaurant, and walking the Venice canals. We walked them at sunrise, just a beautiful little walk.

I've upped our budget, how is the Venice Breeze Suites? Sounds like a nice place.

For your particular needs and budget, it may work out very well...

First recognize that it is rated a two-star hotel and lacks the amenities of those bigger, more expensive hotels...

As a location, this does put you in a fairly convenient...and very interesting area...

Here's a little background on Venice:

Venice was developed back in 1905 (Old for SoCal) by a guy named Abbott Kinney who envisioned it as the "Venice of the West"...He built many miles of canals--only a small part of the original canal system still surviving today...

Unfortunately, by the 50s, 60s and 70s, Venice had fallen into great disrepair and had become, basically, a slum...it had a gang problem, high crime and homeless people...

However, since then a great transformation--gentrification--has taken place...Most of the rest of the West Side of Los Angeles had become extremely expensive...Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, going up the coast from Venice, were all extremely exclusive areas and housing prices were way beyond the reach of even successful professional people...So, people started realizing that Venice was a bargain--pretty much the only beachfront property in the Los Angeles area that could be bought cheap...A lot of professionals, business owners, Yuppies, even celebrities started buying up property in Venice and rehabbing it...The gangs and criminals pretty much relocated out of the area. Today, Venice is a weird, eclectic mix--nice, remodeled homes and older apartments...It is a younger, hipper community...There are lots of businesses--even corporate headquarters and lots of trendy bars and restaurants.

This hotel is right on the Venice Boardwalk...Whenever you see movies or TV shows that try to exemplify the Southern California lifestyle, they usually show you clips of the Venice Boardwalk...This is where you see "Muscle Beach", girls in bikinis roller skating, bicyclists, street vendors, nuts preaching or orating on bizarre topics, and so on and so on...It can be a lot of fun--specially when the weather is warm and everyone is out...

This hotel has no parking, so I would skip the car (unless you need one to go to San Diego, then I'd rent it just for the day)...Parking in Venice can be near impossible...

I generally do not recommend using public buses in Los Angeles, however, one exception is the Santa Monica Bus Company--the "Big Blue Bus"--they have a bus line which takes you from Venice up into Downtown Santa Monica (Route 1...It is walkable from this hotel, but it is a long walk)...

http://bigbluebus.com/Routes-and-Schedules/Route-1.aspx

To get to Hollywood and other tourist sites away from the beach, note that the HOHO tour bus has now added a spur down to Venice (the Green line)...check out the map and schedule.

http://www.starlinetours.com/los-angeles-tour-HOHO.asp

Otherwise, you can arrange with most of the Tour Companies to do a pickup from this area (I know they all pick up at Santa Monica hotels--this one is not far away so I am assuming they'd gladly pick up here as well, but I'd ask first).

You are not too far a walk from my favorite restaurant in this area...The C&O Trattoria--located on Washington Boulevard right off the Boardwalk...

http://www.cotrattoria.com/

Have fun...

For your particular needs and budget, it may work out very well... Have fun...

Despite his obvious handicap of being a Bruin, Steve dispenses very sound advice.

Go Bears!

Thank you very much for all your information, you have been wonderful. I think this is going to be it. We have looked into the HOHO and have decided on a 3 day pass. It seems to take us to most places we want to go. And I like the idea of a one day car rental to go to San Diego. Surprisingly not to go to the zoo but to go to Midway museum. DH really wants to see it.

Thanks again for your help.

Despite his obvious handicap of being a Bruin, Steve dispenses very sound advice.

 

Go Bears!

Ha ha. I believe that Steve and I were at UCLA at just about the same time. But he's older than me.:)

We did get a tour of Cal in November from a close and brainiac friend of our daughter's (we took her to lunch at the Emeryville mall).

We did go to Venice late last summer (trying to distract ourselves as new empty nesters...we went to Malibu and then Venice one day). Does seem difficult to find street parking but hubby persisted and we got a space and then had an early dinner at one of the little hole-in-the-wall eateries.

Thank you very much for all your information, you have been wonderful. I think this is going to be it. We have looked into the HOHO and have decided on a 3 day pass. It seems to take us to most places we want to go. And I like the idea of a one day car rental to go to San Diego. Surprisingly not to go to the zoo but to go to Midway museum. DH really wants to see it.

Thanks again for your help.

A 10 minute walk north of the Midway (other side of the cruise ship docks) is the San Diego Maritime Museum. They now have more than 6 ships on display, including a movie replicas of a 1700's tall ship and the 1860's Star of India. They also operate a 100yo pilot boat doing 45 minute runs into the harbor. Costco sells discount tickets.

sdmaritime.org

Hint--- On the Midway do the Island first. Later on it gets really crowded.

The Iowa is permentantly displayed in San Pedro.