Los Angeles: Where to stay?

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???

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