Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Where to Stay
In sprawling Los Angeles, location
is ev erything. The neighborhood y ou
choose as a base can make or br eak your
vacation. If you plan to spend your days at
the beach but stay D owntown, for exam-
ple, you're going to lose a lot of v aluable
relaxation time on the fr eeway. For busi-
ness travelers, choosing a location is easy:
Pick a hotel near y our work event—don't
get on the fr eeways if y ou don't hav e to .
For v acationers, though, the decision
located betw een D owntown and B everly
Hills, just a stone 's throw from Universal
Studios, H ollywood makes a conv enient
base if y ou're planning to do a lot of
exploring, but it has mor e tourists and is
less visually appealing than some other
neighborhoods.
Downtown hotels ar e generally busi-
ness-oriented, but thanks to dir ect Metro
(L.A.'s subway) connections to Hollywood
and U niversal S tudios, the demographic
has begun to shift. The top hotels offer
excellent deals on w eekend packages. B ut
chances are good that D owntown doesn't
embody the pictur e of L.A. y ou've been
dreaming of; y ou need a coastal or West-
side base for that.
Families might want to head to Univer-
sal City to be near U niversal Studios, or
straight to Anaheim and Disneyland (see
chapter 8). Pasadena offers historical
charm, small-to wn ambience, easy access
to D owntown L.A., and S tepford-wives
beauty, but driving to the beach can take
forever.
RACK R ATES The rates quoted in the
listings that follo w ar e the rack rates—the
maximum rates that a hotel charges for
rooms. B ut rack rates ar e only guidelines,
and there are often many ways around them.
Always check each hotel 's w ebsite for
package deals and special Internet rates.
The hotels listed in this chapter hav e
provided their best estimates for 2010. Be
aware that rates can change at any time
and ar e subject to av ailability, seasonal
fluctuations, and plain ol' increases.
PET POLICIES I indicate in the listings
below those hotels that generally accept
pets. H owever, these policies may hav
about where to stay is more difficult. Con-
sider wher e y ou want to spend most of
your time before you commit yourself to a
base. B ut wher ever y ou stay , count on
doing a good deal of driving—no hotel in
Los Angeles is convenient to everything.
The relatively smog-free beach commu-
nities such as Santa Monica and Venice are
understandably popular with visitors—just
about everybody loves to stay at the beach.
Book ahead because hotels fill up quickly ,
especially in summer.
If they're not at one of the beach com-
munities, most visitors stay on the city 's
Westside, a shor t driv e fr om the beach
and close to most of L.A. 's colorful sights.
The city 's most elegant and expensiv e
accommodations are in Beverly Hills and
Bel Air; a few of the hotels in these neigh-
borhoods, such as the Beverly Hills Hotel,
have become visitor attractions unto them-
selves. As w ell as being one of the focal
points of L.A. nightlife, West Hollywood
is also home to the gr eatest range and
breadth of hotels, fr om $300-plus-per-
night boutique spots to affor dably priced
motels.
There ar e fe wer hotels in Hollywood
than you might expect. A ccommodations
are generally moderately priced and w ell
maintained but unspectacular . Centrally
e
limitations, such as w
eight and br eed
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