• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Best area around Los Angeles to stay for a week?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
So I've been taking all of these suggestions into account. Santa Barbara sounds really nice, but the wife and I really want to just stay in the same hotel room for the entire week without moving around, and Santa Barbara is a decent distance away from LA. We want to kind of be in the "center" of things without having to drive such a far distance to do things in the LA area.

We did find a hotel in our price range in Long Beach, however one person above said Long Beach = Fail. A couple of my wife's friends actually suggested Long Beach as a nice place to stay though. We also like Long Beach because it seems to be central to anything and everything we'd want to do, which would basically be touristy type stuff, maybe a little bit of night-life and some beach time if it's warm enough.

What do you guys think about Long Beach? We will be renting a car for the week, so driving to get to places won't be a problem. I do appreciate all the suggestions and have looked at each and every one, but finding a hotel that meets our budget and cleanliness standards has been much more difficult than I thought it would.
 
Originally posted by: peritusONE
Originally posted by: Kaieye
Originally posted by: OCguy
Anywhere that isnt LA.
Click to expand...

Like San Francisco...
Click to expand...

The wife and I think that there is more to do and see in LA than San Francisco (we actually considered San Fran), that's why we picked LA.
Click to expand...

Me & the wife went a few years ago for 4 days and there was plenty to see/do in San Francisco.

 
Originally posted by: peritusONE
So I've been taking all of these suggestions into account. Santa Barbara sounds really nice, but the wife and I really want to just stay in the same hotel room for the entire week without moving around, and Santa Barbara is a decent distance away from LA. We want to kind of be in the "center" of things without having to drive such a far distance to do things in the LA area.

We did find a hotel in our price range in Long Beach, however one person above said Long Beach = Fail. A couple of my wife's friends actually suggested Long Beach as a nice place to stay though. We also like Long Beach because it seems to be central to anything and everything we'd want to do, which would basically be touristy type stuff, maybe a little bit of night-life and some beach time if it's warm enough.

What do you guys think about Long Beach? We will be renting a car for the week, so driving to get to places won't be a problem. I do appreciate all the suggestions and have looked at each and every one, but finding a hotel that meets our budget and cleanliness standards has been much more difficult than I thought it would.
Click to expand...

Where in Long Beach? Down by the waterfront is nice but anywhere above 5th street is a complete shit hole.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: peritusONE
So I've been taking all of these suggestions into account. Santa Barbara sounds really nice, but the wife and I really want to just stay in the same hotel room for the entire week without moving around, and Santa Barbara is a decent distance away from LA. We want to kind of be in the "center" of things without having to drive such a far distance to do things in the LA area.

We did find a hotel in our price range in Long Beach, however one person above said Long Beach = Fail. A couple of my wife's friends actually suggested Long Beach as a nice place to stay though. We also like Long Beach because it seems to be central to anything and everything we'd want to do, which would basically be touristy type stuff, maybe a little bit of night-life and some beach time if it's warm enough.

What do you guys think about Long Beach? We will be renting a car for the week, so driving to get to places won't be a problem. I do appreciate all the suggestions and have looked at each and every one, but finding a hotel that meets our budget and cleanliness standards has been much more difficult than I thought it would.
Click to expand...

Where in Long Beach? Down by the waterfront is nice but anywhere above 5th street is a complete shit hole.
Click to expand...

This. My buddy used to live in belmont shores, which is really cool, lots of restaurants and bars, and a good place to visit. Too far away from the beach, however, and it's super ghetto.
 
Originally posted by: uclaLabrat
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: peritusONE
So I've been taking all of these suggestions into account. Santa Barbara sounds really nice, but the wife and I really want to just stay in the same hotel room for the entire week without moving around, and Santa Barbara is a decent distance away from LA. We want to kind of be in the "center" of things without having to drive such a far distance to do things in the LA area.

We did find a hotel in our price range in Long Beach, however one person above said Long Beach = Fail. A couple of my wife's friends actually suggested Long Beach as a nice place to stay though. We also like Long Beach because it seems to be central to anything and everything we'd want to do, which would basically be touristy type stuff, maybe a little bit of night-life and some beach time if it's warm enough.

What do you guys think about Long Beach? We will be renting a car for the week, so driving to get to places won't be a problem. I do appreciate all the suggestions and have looked at each and every one, but finding a hotel that meets our budget and cleanliness standards has been much more difficult than I thought it would.
Click to expand...

Where in Long Beach? Down by the waterfront is nice but anywhere above 5th street is a complete shit hole.
Click to expand...

This. My buddy used to live in belmont shores, which is really cool, lots of restaurants and bars, and a good place to visit. Too far away from the beach, however, and it's super ghetto.
Click to expand...

We were looking at the Westin, which is very near the waterfront, at the corner of E Ocean and Long Beach Blvd.
 
This may not suit you since you want to stay in one place. My wife and I spent a week in LA area for our 25th anniversary years ago, but moved around using a rented car. Drove almost straight east over the mountains to a tiny place called Twenty-Nine Palms in the middle of the desert. Then south from there through the Anza-Borego Low Desert (I think), then back west past the Salton Sea. You go from desert to lush agricultural area suddenly as artificial irrigation systems suddenly show up. Continued over the mountains again to San Diego. Also spent a couple days on Catalina Island (ferry ride there and back from Long Beach) - nice quiet isolated place, restful, great ocean view from hillside hotels, nice seaside to stroll.

We liked San Diego, too - actually went back there some years later. The Zoo is famous and deserves to be! Go to the south part of the city and drive over the bridge to Coronado on the thin peninsula that comes up to enclose San Diego Bay. It has beautiful sand beaches. At the other end, go north of city center then west past the airport out to the north-west area that is the top of the Bay. Traveling south along that area there are lots of places you can get right to the seashore in somewhat rocky areas and explore the water for shells, living beasties, etc.
 
Originally posted by: brandonbull
Originally posted by: peritusONE
Originally posted by: Kaieye
Originally posted by: OCguy
Anywhere that isnt LA.
Click to expand...

Like San Francisco...
Click to expand...

The wife and I think that there is more to do and see in LA than San Francisco (we actually considered San Fran), that's why we picked LA.
Click to expand...

Me & the wife went a few years ago for 4 days and there was plenty to see/do in San Francisco.
Click to expand...

Yea but LA is so much larger and there's everything around LA so of course there's more to see and do in LA.
 
I finally made a damn decision, and booked a week stay at a nice hotel in Santa Monica. I splurged a bit and got the nicest room they have with an ocean view and private balcony, so I think the wife will be happy. I've got my flight booked, now comes the horrendous 3 1/2 week wait. 🙂

Thanks for all the suggestions, I feel pretty good about Santa Monica.
 
We did a week in LA last year. We stayed at the Beverly Terrace hotel in West Hollywood, which is very affordable, all things considered, and a great location right off Santa Monica Blvd. Very convenient to Santa Monica, Malibu, downtown, the hills, etc. We rented a mustang convertible, and had a great time. Driving the PCH with the top down is bliss. Be sure to bring a GPS with you and program all the locations that you may want to see ahead of time. We enjoyed getting lost in the hills, and then just telling it to take us back to the hotel. I dont know what I would have done without that thing.

edit: One thing we did was drive the 4-5 hours to Vegas from LA. If you have any interest in going back to Vegas, I highly recommend the drive. Driving through the desert is a pretty amazing experience if you grew up in the southeast. Any ideas about doing the drive with the top down will evaporate once you feel the heat though. I had a romanticized, fear and loathing type vision in mind before doing that drive, but didnt even attempt it once I felt the heat.
 
if you will be staying in Santa Monica, you can drive up the "Pacific Coast Highway" aka PCH or Hwy 1. it's nice scenic drive and you can stop at any cafe / restaurant along the way with an ocean view. There quite a few along the way.

I don't know much about downtown, but stay away during traffic hours.
Hollywood for tourist spot, Beverly Hills for the famed Rodeo Drive, Pasadena for the not-so-crowded nightlife, Silver Lake for an indie-like town, Huntington Beach for the beach and beautiful ppl, Laguna Beach for the beach and rich ppl, Redondo Beach or San Pedro for live seafood, Palm Desert for the shopping outlet and a break away from the big city.... these are all the places you can check out.
 
Originally posted by: peritusONE
I finally made a damn decision, and booked a week stay at a nice hotel in Santa Monica. I splurged a bit and got the nicest room they have with an ocean view and private balcony, so I think the wife will be happy. I've got my flight booked, now comes the horrendous 3 1/2 week wait. 🙂

Thanks for all the suggestions, I feel pretty good about Santa Monica.
Click to expand...

I think You'll have a good time 🙂 Plus Everything is relatively close by so if you suddenly desire a day in SB you can. I don't think Long Beach really has much to offer. The norcal trip might be a bit much.

 
Originally posted by: andylawcc
if you will be staying in Santa Monica, you can drive up the "Pacific Coast Highway" aka PCH or Hwy 1. it's nice scenic drive and you can stop at any cafe / restaurant along the way with an ocean view. There quite a few along the way.

I don't know much about downtown, but stay away during traffic hours.
Hollywood for tourist spot, Beverly Hills for the famed Rodeo Drive, Pasadena for the not-so-crowded nightlife, Silver Lake for an indie-like town, Huntington Beach for the beach and beautiful ppl, Laguna Beach for the beach and rich ppl, Redondo Beach or San Pedro for live seafood, Palm Desert for the shopping outlet and a break away from the big city.... these are all the places you can check out.
Click to expand...

Pasadena for a not crowed night life??? Maybe super tiny bars like any other small bars but their bars on Colorado get packed. Silver Lake sucks. Nothing to do there.
 
Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
We did a week in LA last year. We stayed at the Beverly Terrace hotel in West Hollywood, which is very affordable, all things considered, and a great location right off Santa Monica Blvd. Very convenient to Santa Monica, Malibu, downtown, the hills, etc. We rented a mustang convertible, and had a great time. Driving the PCH with the top down is bliss. Be sure to bring a GPS with you and program all the locations that you may want to see ahead of time. We enjoyed getting lost in the hills, and then just telling it to take us back to the hotel. I dont know what I would have done without that thing.

edit: One thing we did was drive the 4-5 hours to Vegas from LA. If you have any interest in going back to Vegas, I highly recommend the drive. Driving through the desert is a pretty amazing experience if you grew up in the southeast. Any ideas about doing the drive with the top down will evaporate once you feel the heat though. I had a romanticized, fear and loathing type vision in mind before doing that drive, but didnt even attempt it once I felt the heat.
Click to expand...

Good idea about the GPS, I was definitely planning on bringing it anyway. We definitely want to rent a convertible and drive the PCH, that is on the to-do list. When we were in Vegas, we actually rented a convertible and drove the 4 hours to the Grand Canyon, so I was pretty amazed by the desert then....no desire to do that again this trip 🙂. The heat wasn't bad when we made our trip, but once you've driven 4 hours one way in the desert and back, you've pretty much seen it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top