Los Angeles: Where to stay?

stick to the westside then. its pretty close to hollywood, is a nice area, and is close to the beach. santa monica, westwood, brentwood, venice, etc.

the 101 coffee shop is awesome!! there are always for some reason celebs (minor or major) hanging around for some reason. maynard james keenan is a regular everyone say, and last time someone @ my table kept swearing they saw martin lawrence, but we weren't sure. it has a mess 70s vibe, what w/ that decor - and westside prices included if you feel the lack of shi-shi!

it's worth it for the glass elevator glimpse of downtown alone

I still nominate the bonaventure!

and is the overland cafe the one thats a couple blocks before the 10 freeway (going north)? i always overlook that place because it looks like it might be pricey, yet shitty.

I'm checking availability of many of these places and I couldn't figure out why every place was more expensive on Sunday.....until realizing that yousguyz must celebrate the 4th day of each month, or something!

"LOS ANGELES:
The FARMERS DAUGHTER if you're low on cash but still want to be in the thick of things. Very basic but GREAT VENDING MACHINES. Across the street from 'CBS' so you stand a chance of bumping into THE PRICE IS RIGHT contestants. The band IVY was there once. I left a CD for them at the front desk. I hope they got it. Avoid if you want to be pampered."

http://www.mitchhedberg.net/home.html

No. Riodan owns The Pantry downtown

and is the overland cafe the one thats a couple blocks before the 10 freeway (going north)? i always overlook that place because it looks like it might be pricey, yet shitty.

Yah, it's the orange building on the west side of Overland going north towards the 10. It's worth a stop - especially on the weekends for the $4.99 champagne brunch

I want to visit LA for a long week (9is days) around April May.

On my own, and won't be driving obv.

Recommend me somewhere to stay, would like either near beaches or near to city centre. or anywhere really that's interesting.

talk to me.

(ok realisation dawns that LAers aren't actually out of bed yet)

won't be driving

Is that legal?

Lots of Angelenos don't drive.

Actually, it would probably be convenient to stay Downtown near the main 7th Street/MetroCenter rail hub (660 S. Figueroa St., LA, CA 90017)

Downtown itself has some great museums and food, and you'd be on the Red Line to Hollywood, the Blue Line to Long Beach, and the Purple Line to Museum Row/Miracle Mile.

This is theoretical (I drive) but perhaps other, non-driving LA ILXors can speak to this.

i have no experience with the beverly laurel other than seeing it from the front, but it touts itself as a budget-boutique kinda place and it's in a location that's easy to traverse on foot or by bus. (the metro rail is great, but don't be afraid of the buses, they don't bite.)

http://www.yelp.com/biz/beverly-laurel-motor-hotel-los-angeles-2

There really is no city center, is there? I'd just stay by the beach I guess, Santa Monica or Venice - plenty of places you can just walk to down there & plenty of buses you can catch out of there to go elsewhere if need be.

Nooo . . . **slow motion jumping to stop Ste from self-destruct**

There is a city center and it is called Downtown aka Historic Core.

Jeff, where you live? With all disrespect, why you trying to strand him out in sunny Santa Monica for 9 days? It isn't even LA! Dude said he doesn't drive (I think it's a dude). It will take hours to get to any museums or other good stuff.

He can easily go to the beach for a day or two, but surely he wants to see the city?

Santa Monica/Venice/Malibu are perfectly nice but . . . I mean, I like vanilla ice cream but I don't like 10 gallons of it.

Downtown is not the center of the city!

my house is the center of the city

google maps for "los angeles, ca" puts the green arrow at 1st between broadway and spring

http://www.geomidpoint.com/ has the midpoint a block over at 1st and main

max's house is on the hellmouth

yeah I'd kind of want to see more of the main city and the things it beholds rather than a week of beaches but i do want to see them at some point, it's all good info cheers guys.

(keep it coming)

Also check out Hotel Figueroa at Figueroa and 9th in downtown. It's close to the 7th Metro station which gets you onto the Red, Purple and Blue Lines which will take you to Hollywood, Wilshire, Long Beach, and Union Station (where you can grab the Gold Line to Pasadena). Once you're on Wilshire, you can take the 720 express bus west to the museums, Beverly Hills, Westwood, and Santa Monica.

Since you're going to be here for a week, I strongly suggest taking a day out to go to Santa Barbara on Amtrak.

Most cities are centered on their 1st and Main or whatever, but LA is of course very different. Downtown is mostly deserted after M-F 9-5. I hang out there, but usually going to specific places. There's no real hanging out. For that I would recommend someplace more central, like Hollywood. It's more fun.

ive stayed at the beverly laurel. its romantic <3 <3

<3

and yes saying downtown is the "city center" is just silly.

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend staying downtown unless you are going to a convention or playing against the Lakers!

ste is gonna get sonned by pau gasol

I would say Hollywood close to the metro > Downtown > the beach, but definitely find a way to the beach communities while you're there.

Maybe this is why LA peoples need to find their center so often.

Ste, you should totally play against the Lakers while you're here.

ste should move to the two, ste could give kobe fits on defense.

wear kobe down, save it for defense and let your bigs take over.

sry. i agree hollywood is a good jumping point. try not to get knifed.

j/k! :) ;)

this instructional tour video is a good primer if you're guna stay in hollywood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJrSyFpK3iQ

i live in a town where i try not to get knifed every night, it would be nice to spend a week somewhere that I can relax to some degree.

The center of L.A. for tonight, anyway, is Cobras & Matadors in Los Feliz. We will be there saying bye to remy. You should come.

Nobody tells me anything anymore.

Well, you never come out.

downtown has bad vibes at night, right? I never went.

I stayed with friends in Silver Lake (which was nice) and at a sleepy beach motel in Santa Monica which was totally A++ would stay again.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/381771570_e2b7d130c2.jpg

we did that not too long ago. class place.

i love seven grand. their hours are ass though. l.a. needs more bars where you can drink before 5pm on a weekend.

^you can do this at hotel fig, which is usually where we end up when we're downtown and thirsty

yeah that patio is wonderful.

drinks are spendy and small and they close early though.

2 downtown bars i like a lot that aren't too douchey: redwood and weiland brewery (despite sharing a name with a stone temple pilot)

Given how long you're in town, you might consider staying overnight in more than one area, ferrying stuff in between by cab. There are also hotels - not cheap ones, but not only the most expensive either - that offer limited complimentary car/cab service within their immediate area. Two I know of offhand are Le P@rc Suites in WeHo near the strip (3 mile radius, which gets you as far East as La Brea) and the Ambros3 in the interior part of Santa Monica (1 mile radius, which gets you to the beach). How useful they would be in practice I don't know.

What's wrong with douchey?

weiland brewery (little tokyo location) is also right next to the wonderful sushi restaurant oomasa.

One of my 2008 resolutions is to FAP more.

gabbneb's idea of maybe moving around a bit is a a good one. LA is just so spread out - it really takes a long time to get from one area to another - even with a car it can be exhausting. Staying in Hollywood is probably the most center-ish - maybe just not a very vacation-like place to wake up in nine days in a row.

I'm also supporting the gabbneb/Jeff recommendations. Ste, are you going on a tight budget?

sorry, the recommendation (singular) that you consider staying in a couple places.

I'll add that the Ambros3 has a "London cab," if you're of that extraction, but if you're gonna stay in Santa Monica it's probably worth it for the carless to pay a little more or go further downscale to be by the beach/more touristy areas.

i'd recommend staying around miracle mile -- safer than hollywood, less noisy/busy, good restaurants and shopping, still right in the heart of things and very accessible to other places.

Hmm, Miracle Mile is safe but also a little sleepy. Hollywood is really not dangerous at all anymore. Maybe some parts of east hollywood, but the rest of the formerly crappy parts are getting super gentrified (in a hollywood way of course).

if yer thinkin far westside, i love the culver hotel (what i've seen of it from the exterior and lobby) in beautiful downtown culver city.

Culver City is not far West Side!

it is for me! i never go west of fairfax! [ /reverse snobbery]

Ha, the only snobbery I encounter is of the "reverse" kind.

Most of my friends live in Silverlake or Downtown.

god help me, i'm thinking of moving to the valley (toluca lake maybe?) once my lease here is up.

Toluca lake is nice actually.

Lots of good places in the Valley to live. As long as you're close to Ventura Blvd and can get over the hill easily.

OMG NOT THE VALLEY!@#!#!@#

::rolls eyes @ jbr "la expert"::

i like parts of reseda, van nuys, and northridge and a few others I've hung out in. Other than the heat I'm not anti-valley at all (and san gabriel valley is only a shade off in terms of heat).

i like the valley. and i like the sgv/foothills area (which i saw lots of on my way out to pomona yesterday).

toluca lake kind of rules for serious. awesome bars and food.

I like the Valley Village / Toluca Lake area too, but Glendale gets my 818 vote. Sierra Madre / Monrovia are the best for SGV.

In January I was in LA for a few days without the ability to drive and ended up at this nice B&B: http://www.venicebeachhouse.com/
We stayed in the Warren Wilson room, it was cute, cozy and there were hummingbirds outside our window every morning :)The staff was really cool too, they didn't mind that we had many friends visiting us at all hours and using their parking spaces. They also make a decent breakfast and have afternoon tea with fresh baked goods.
Staying in Venice was pretty fun, it was nice to ride bikes along the beach and go to happy hour and have beers and nachos.

The Farmer's Daughter hotel on Fairfax was mentioned here a while ago as a good place to stay. http://www.farmersdaughterhotel.com/ (and to paraphrase Jonathan Richman, "Who's their web advisor, somebody should take him by the hand.")

And ".../Monrovia are the best for SGV." Surely this is madness???

wow information. sorry went to bed early last night. Just going to look into all this now, cheers guys!

Elvis Telecom was right - if you're going to end up downtown, the Hotel Figueroa is great. That pool/patio is super nice and relaxing. I was always under the impression it was pretty reasonable, as well.

I kind of like that Golden Gopher bar downtown, too, which is pretty close by.

just checking flight+hotel prices on expedia and overall it seems a hulluva lot cheaper than New York. Is this expected? is it seasonal, because NY seems dear to travel to whatever time of year you go.

that's generally expected, but the season may have something to do with it too.

I like Venice a lot, but saudade's friends probably visited saudade at all hours at the venice beach house because saudade couldn't get very far from there.

I don't know what this place - http://www.MagicCastleHotel.com/ - is like, but it's walkable (tho not next door) to the Hollywood and Highland metro stop as well as to Runyon Canyon.

The Magic Castle Hotel is right by all the touristy stuff - it's pretty much the backyard of the Kodak Theater. There's a classically seedy L.A. dive bar right around the corner (The Power House), and it's at the foot of the hill that has Yamashiro's on it (which is a pretty crummy Japanese restaurant that's really fun to drink at, with excellent views of the city).

I lived literally next door to the Magic Castle Hotel on Sycamore for years. Lots of other classic dives around there - Boardner's, Frolic Room, Burgundy Room.

Ste, yes I do think that LA is much cheaper to visit than New York. This is particularly for food and hotel. It's not really seasonal. I still get reverse sticker shock every time I go out to eat. Where are you visiting from?

Jeff and Spencer, I do rib you about Santa Monica occasionally for personal and stylistic reasons (nothing to do with ILXors), and because I think it's funny in the Hipster Olympics when the play-by-play commentator says "I haven't seen performance like these since the Douchebag Summer Games in sunnny Santa Monica, California!" The term douche tickles me. My theory is that is something we Californians excel at to the exclusion of East Coasters and I have been busily reclaiming the term and trying to define "Douchebag Style" since I moved back here. Douche pride.

However, we haven't really discussed many West Side places in any detail on these threads for a while. The Santa Monica public library is gorgeous architecturally (especially in nice weather) and has a fantastic collection, which they are very liberal about lending to the rest of L.A. county. And the Kelly Wearstler-decorated designed Viceroy Hotel bar is one of my favorite rooms in L.A.

What else do you recommend in Santa Monica and Venice?

I'm coming from England.

For the past three years I've been visiting NY so for a change I thought I'd sling shot to the west coast this year.

Splitting this between two hotels sounds tempting actually. One for the beach side and the other for downtown? what do you think?

i've been to axe in venice. is that douchebaggy? the food was very good.

Felicity, I DON'T LIVE IN SANTA MONICA.

I haven't lived in Santa Monica since the summer of 1984 :(

Movies...

http://egyptiantheatre.com/sched.htm
http://egyptiantheatre.com/Aero/aeromastercalendar.htm
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/public/calendar/calendar_f.html
http://www.lacma.org/programs/FilmSeriesSchedule.aspx
http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/

arclight

This is my hood!

http://www.midcitywest.org

http://www.midcitywest.org/images/M_images/midcitywestlimits.gif

spencer lives in a good neighborhood (except for Grove congestion). definitely not "westside" in my book

Yeah, getting around the Grove can be a pain, but I can actually walk there when I want to see a movie or go to the Farmer's Market.

A: Away.

Gabbneb is right, we hung out at the Venice Beach House a lot because we were totally stuck in the immediate area of Venice until someone came and got us. Luckily, our kind friends drove us all over the place: Museum of Jurassic Technology, Griffith Observatory, art museum, Little Tokyo, Dim Sum in SGV, downtown, but usually after dinner we ended up chilling at the beach house because we had all just been in Vegas so we were nightlifed out and wanted to keep it low key.

It was a great place to stay without a car because there was quite a bit of stuff within walking distance, but it was a long-seeming drive to other places. So if you have people who want to drive you places then it would be good, but probably very inconvenient if you didn't have that. The moving around idea is a good one, I think.

This is my hood!

That's my hood also! (though I'm closer to La Brea)

Also for movies: http://www.newbevcinema.com/

What else do you recommend in Santa Monica and Venice?

I heart the Santa Monica camera obscura: http://gridskipper.com/travel/los-angeles/la-letter-camera-obscura-143840.php

Also, this is where I mention the Museum of Jurassic Technology and the Center For Land Use Interpretation again...

http://mjt.org/
http://clui.org/

The Wende Cold War museum in Culver City is pretty dang strange:
http://www.wendemuseum.org/

Only open on Fridays though

Really, for Santa Monica there's nothing that beats a drive up PCH to the Ventura county line and a meal at Neptune's Net: http://www.neptunesnet.com/

I'm glad to learn the Mid-City West designation. There's something about the mix of use and the low rise and the gentle elevation and the quality of light at certain hours around there that works for me. I just wish the Grove/Farmer's Market lived up to their billing more.

Chris, I didn't know you lived here, let's hang!

Gabbneb, yes, it's no longer a "farmer's market", but some of the food places are truly amazing! (and yeah, the magic hour here can be especially magical)

Farmer's Daughter looked great and we looked forward to our stay their, until they fucked up our reservation and left us stranded making us stay at a more expensive much less nice place in Beverly Hills. That was total bullshit.

in that neighborhood, I might opt for the El@n Hotel Mod3rn, which may be doing renovation work at the moment

dinner tonight, anybodies?

Sierra Madre beats Monrovia, easy. Pasadena has good stuff but we get enough tourists.

Oh dear. felicity in overexplaining making things worse shocker.

Mid-City West has a lot of favorites: Centerfold News, Pinks, Cantors, Ethiopian Village, 3rd and Fairfax, Damiano's (bad pizza, good soda pop).

Sorry, Spencer, it was all the brunch talk. Now that you've identified your coordinates, the penalty is you have to come talk to me in Los Feliz about the awesomeness of Tokyo Drift and Teriyaki Boyz.

i've been to axe in venice. is that douchebaggy? the food was very good.

aw, lauren, always got my back. :) I have never been to Axe (apparently pronounced "ah-shay)." Will try.

the pronunciation might render it douchebaggy, but major points for the porterhouse pork chop.

Pasadena has good stuff but we get enough tourists

srsly. it's packed every fucking minute of the day now except between 2 and 7 am

lord knows why anyone would want to spend their drinking time here anyway, other than a couple of spots people don't know about.

March 19-21

maria at the experimental cafe in oxnard

Oxnard has something called the experimental cafe? What, did they get an espresso machine or something? (I kid because I love.)

Which bars are good here, Keith? How's El Rancho (I think that's the one near you)? The gallery next door seems to like it lot.

a few weeks ago my car transmission waited until i got to oxnard to die. there are much worse places to breathe sighs of despair in. I've gotten lost enough that i feel like i know the place.

I might buy a car, I think. You know, a foreign car.

I think chaki has a show March 21 at the Derby.

i do! thanks, felicity! and march 22nd at molly malones I THINK.

from reading this thread.. am i right to think then that the best place to stay is hollywood?

i will spend 3 nights there (3rd apr - 6 apr) and will be on my own. Any recommendation as to somewhere fun to go on Saturday night appreciated also! I've heard that the Viper Room is surprisingly small.

Hollywood, yeah:

-breakfast/lunch at Lucky Devils
-pick up an LA Weekly and see what appeals, with special notice to J. Gold's restaurant reviews
-Amoeba Records
-Jitlada for Thai food, or maybe this other place next to Jumbo's Clown Room. "other place" has excellent little Thai fried bar snacks
-that pho place on Sunset in Silverlake/Echo Park sorry I don't remember the name
-take the subway downtown, walk around
-Solar de Cahuenga is a decent place to get coffee and wifi

that's what I'm going to do when I get back to LA, anyway. Which happens to be on April 2nd, so lemme know if you want to get coffee.

I haaaaate the Strip and so I've never been to the Viper Room, maybe I'm missing out.

yess will be up for meeting up deffo.

would also like to see some awesome metal shows while there obv.

lukasb AT googlemail

unfortunately i don't know anything about metal in LA. but i know it's there!

cool will email! look forward to LA FAP/FAC

argghhhh.. now kind of tempted to stay on the Queen Mary... might be fun for a night but has potential to be actually pretty lame

PEOPLE WHERE DO I GET GOOD MEXICAN IN DOWNTOWN LA AT THIS HOUR(7PM) on A WEEKNIGHT? I AM HEAR THE STANDARD DOWNTOWN

central market is closed at this hour : (

take the gold line to mariachi plaza.

We took the red line to olvera st and got ratty cart-style mex ^______________^

what's the best way to get from the bay to LA without a car?

and without spending a lot

or taking 12 hours

craigslist rideshare

dunno where it leaves from but there's a bus from the bay that my cousin used to take that drops people off at usc or ucla I think, and according to her it took at long as a car ride or w/e

how much is "a lot"? depending on when you book, you can get cheap flights between SFO->LAX and OAK->BUR (i've seen them go as low as $65 one way)

megabus is even cheaper and takes about 7 hours each way but i've never done it

Is it possible to stay somewhere walkable to the beach, in redondo, Manhattan, or whatever beach, or elsewhere?

airbnb maybe? That's an expensive area.

yeah airbnb in venice maybe?

compare hotels vs airbnb. it's weird. sometimes hotels are cheaper depending on the area, how many people are staying, etc.

Coming to L.A. in the fall. May be able to crash with a friend, but am def. interested in hotel recommendations if anyone has some.

I was out there a few months ago and split my time between the Sunset Tower (West Hollywood) and and the Roosevelt Hotel (regular Hollywood).

The Sunset Tower is pricier, more staid, the rooms more immaculately old-fashioned. The Roosevelt is a bit rougher around the edges but has appealing mid-century modern-ish decor in the rooms, at least in the cabana rooms bordering the swimming pool where I was. The main building is very very spacious, mediterranean-styled, with tiled floors; IIRC there are three separate bars on the premises, each with a different vibe.

The Roosevelt has a very lively pool scene with DJ's in action almost all day and night. The music is not too loud, though, or at least it wasn't during the non-weekend days that I stayed there. The Sunset Tower has a very quiet pool situation where there's typically 3-5 people at a time hanging out.

Both hotels have a solid restaurant. I thought the Sunset Tower's breakfast was superior to the Roosevelt's breakfast, which sucked, although with the latter you're seated by the pool which allows for exceptional people watching. The Roosevelt also has a hamburger-oriented diner inside.

Both hotels are conveniently located - it's kind of a wash as far as that's concerned.

The Best Western on Franklin - near Hollywood and Los Feliz and Griffith Park
The Line in Ktown - central location good transit options
The Farmer's Daughter on Fairfax - near LACMA and Farmer's Market
The Charlie in WeHo - awesome old hollywood vibe

i have had fam stay in all those places except farmer's daughter, no complaints on any of them

Thank you!

To live and stay in LA

to stay & leave from LA