Long Beach - where to stay?

[skiorcruise]

Going on the Pride in early September, driving in from Phoenix day prior. Any suggestions on where to stay? Not interested in the Queen Mary. Prefer somewhere reasonably close to the water/beach, but will probably park at the port, so shuttle is not a consideration. Nicer place is prefered, going with my parents. Not looking for the cheapest place in town.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Skiorcruise

[PINEVIEW01]

You need to post this in North America Home Ports board. Than West Coast Departures board.

The host will most likely move it for you. But, I would go to those boards to find your info while wiating.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Surfer Boy]

We cruised on the Pride several years ago but flew in the morning of the cruise. There are some really nice places to stay up and down the Huntington Beach area which is fairly close to the Long beach cruise terminal.

[azrhys]

I was just checking Coast Hotel, from information CC people posted. I was directed to a Cheap Hotel Web site. Has listings for Hundreds of Hotels any where from 0.5 miles to 7 miles from Carnival Pier. All price ranges, from 79.00 per night to 400.00 per night

[shawilson]

Before they move this, I would say the Coast hotel is a good choice. But only in a balcony room overlooking the Queen Mary. The rooms are comfortable, not fancy. Being on your balcony, seeing your ship coming in behind the Queen, priceless!

[sirlostalot]

Before they move this, I would say the Coast hotel is a good choice. But only in a balcony room overlooking the Queen Mary. The rooms are comfortable, not fancy. Being on your balcony, seeing your ship coming in behind the Queen, priceless!

I did this very thing in Jan. and it was great to see the Pride from our balcony. I agree on the Coast its right on the water and the views are great.:)

[molly361]

We're going on the Pride next year and are looking at staying at the Hyatt Regency- Like someone stated above there is lots of info on the West Coast Departures area on these boards -

[lhall85917]

We won a Priceline room earlier this spring and it was a fantastic room! After bidding $60 for Long Beach we stayed in the Hyatt. We asked for an oceanview room when we arrived and for $15 more we were in a corner room on the 8th floor - a definite bargain! Links to our pics are here - http://flickr.com/photos/lhall85917/ - just look for the Long Beach link on the right side.

[skiorcruise]

Thanks for the response.

 

SkiorCruise

[neverpar]

Has anyone stayed at the Double Tree in Carson? Is that very far from the cruise terminal?

[JJ2sail]

We also stayed at the Hyatt in an ocean view room. Very nice, great views. Also the long beach shuttle is right in front of the hotel, you can take it around to see the sights, or shop and dine.

[suziehmkr]

We won the Hyatt Regency on Priceline for our upcoming December pre-cruise stay. Plan to try the same for Monarch in March even though we will be sailing out of San Pedro. .

[molly361]

I have never used Priceline, you can just request a 4 star hotel and hope that you get the Hyatt, is that correct? Or can you request a specific hotel? Thanks

[JJ2sail]

We got the Hyatt on Priceline also, for our Monarch cruise. It is not far maybe 10 minute drive to San Pedro.

 

You choose 4* for Long Beach on priceline, and most people have been getting the Hyatt but it's not a guarantee.

[suziehmkr]

I asked for 3* Long Beach hoping for the Coast Hotel. They upgraded me to the 4* - which I didn't know they could do. But we were happy with it.

[Jenbo57]

My husband and I sailed out of Long Beach May 6th, and spent the night of the 5th at the Coast Long Beach Hotel, for $167/night. I'd highly recommend it. Clean, comfortable, convenient, and if you like to walk, just a short trip over the bridge into an area of Long Beach called The Pike, where we had dinner and rode the ferris wheel, then walked around the marina area. The morning of the 6th, we had breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the pier to watch our ship unload and to get acclimated to where we'd go when it was time to head down there to board. We walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, checked out, and took the free Passport bus to the pier. We got off the bus, gave our luggage to a porter, and got in line to board. Smooth as silk!

[kayred]

The Coast is not a fancy place but it is real nice. We stayed there and had a lovely walk along the water the night before we cruised. We ate dinner and breakfast at the hotel (din't want to drive anywhere) and both meals were very good. If we go in a day early for either Long Beach or San Pedro we will stay at the Coast again.

[luvtrips]

We won the Westin on Priceline for $102 per night, for 3 nights.

[Bruin Steve]

Has anyone stayed at the Double Tree in Carson? Is that very far from the cruise terminal?

 

How did this one get past without comment from a local?

 

Carson!?!? Are you kidding? Whoever steered you THERE?

 

No, it's not close to the pier...and it's not exactly the neighborhood you want to be in as an out-of-town tourist...

 

Actually, I know the hotel...there used to be a Chinese Restaurant in the lobby and I used to eat there when I wiorked in neighboring COMPTON...Yeah...you heard me...COMPTON...You know it as the childhood home of many a Rap Star, including Snoop Dogg...Only thing I can say about Carson is that it's nicer than Compton...

 

It's a blue collar, semi-industrial area...Goodyear parks the "Blimp" there...There's RV sales lots, used car lots, industrial uses connected to oil refining...Ugly, ugly, ugly...

 

IOW, DO NOT STAY THERE...Change the reservation...really...

If you want to be near the pier, stay in LONG BEACH: Westin, Renaissance, Hyatt, Hilton, Coast...Something near the Convention Center, the Aquarium and Shoreline Village... Even stay in San Pedro before you'd stay in Carson...

 

In SoCal, being "in the Harbor Area" is not a good thing...Limited areas are very nice...Other areas are industrial, lower-middle class, seedy...You need to pick carefully...

 

Trust us...the area near the pier in Long Beach is NICE...It's upscale...there are lots of good restaurants, pleasant shopping and nice areas to walk around...there are "attractions" like the Aquarium and Shoreline Village...it caters to tourism...The areas ALONG the COAST...West of San Pedro (Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, etc.) are very nice, but you won't find affordable hotels there...East of Downtown Long Beach, Belmont Shores and Naples are nice...but, you'll rather stick to the hotel/tourist area of Long Beach...

 

BUT, when you get into NORTH LONG BEACH and the communities INLAND and north: Carson, Compton, Gardena, Wilmington, Bellflower, Paramount, Lynwood, Willowbrook...Well, they may tell you they are "in the Harbor Area"...and, no offense to the many fine people who live in those communities, but NOBODY in their right frame of mind would ever suggest you stay there...

 

Hope you came back and read this and changed your reservation...

[Cruisin' Chick]

How did this one get past without comment from a local?

 

Because I hadn't seen it until now.:D But as soon as I saw "Carson," I thought, "they have hotels there?" Another thought: "why."

[neverpar]

I didn't say I had a reservation there......I just asked and now I'm glad I did. I was looking for a doubletree and the one in San Pedro is booked, and the closest one that came up was Carson. Nope not going there.

Ok how about the GuestHouse Long Beach? Any good reviews about that place or area of Long Beach?

[Bruin Steve]

Ok how about the GuestHouse Long Beach? Any good reviews about that place or area of Long Beach?

 

I don't know the hotel itself...It's in a decent, though unexciting neighborhood near Long Beach State...but, I'd assume that's the reason it's over there--to service folks going to visit the college...

 

Remember, Long Beach is a pretty good sized city in and of itself--over half a million people...If it were anywhere else other than right next to LA, people would know it...

 

This hotel is clear on the other side of Long Beach from the prime tourist area...or from the cruise ship docks...Stay here and you will likely need a rental car and will be driving to everything you need or want to do...

 

Rather than searching for bargains that may be geographically out of the way, I'd still recommend you try to stay in the Convention Center area--the Westin, Hyatt, Hilton, Renaissance and Coast being the prime choice...By LA standards, the prices are not unreasonable...especially if you can get one via Priceline...and the convenience is worth whatever extra cost you have...

 

All of the tourist sites are in close walking distance...or easily accessable by FREE shuttle....even the Carnival Pier...The San Pedro Pier is a relatively short 6 mile taxi ride away...There are many good restaurants located close to these hotels and the overall atmosphere is more ameniable to tourism...

 

If you stay over near Long Beach State, you will find yourself in a suburban commercial area--not much to do at all...the restaurants in the area are either very ordinary or else you will have to drive down to the Naples/Belmont Shore area--a mile or two south of there by the beach...but it's more of a "neighborhood" and less of a tourist zone...

[neverpar]

Thanks for the info. We are going to stay there, we won't have to worry about driving anywhere.....they have a shuttle (free) that will take us where we want to go and pick us up. They also have a restaurant there with a bar. We will probably venture downtown.....so I'm happy they have the shuttle...if we decide to go anywhere..

One other question...any liquor stores close by or stores (you can buy it in grocery stores right?) We can't do that here where I live...LOL

[postalgrrl]

Has anyone stayed at the Best Western of ong Beach on Long Beach Blvd.?? I know that it's a couple miles from the cruise ship dock, but I can get a good govt. discount on a room.

[98Charlie]

DH & I are booked in to the Renaissance in Long Beach for a post-cruise night in early Oct. About how far is the hotel from the free trolley? I understand we can take the trolley to Shoreline Village as well as the Queen Mary, right?

 

Dianne