Starwood Preferred Guest - Which LA *wood is closest to USC?

Doing a college visit with my son and trying to figure out which *wood property is most convenient to get to USC campus. I'm not very familiar with LA and traffic, etc., so appreciate advice.

Sheraton LA Downtown and Westin Bonaventure

Unless it's a weekend, it is faster and nicer to take surface streets from the downtown Starwoods to USC. The 110 freeway can get quite packed at times, especially when leaving USC north to the hotels.

Also note that the surrounding areas around USC aren't very safe so try not to wander off while you're driving.

The drive from downtown to USC should only take about 10 minutes on surface streets.

It's a straight shot down Figeroa and Fig is pretty safe. Also the whole area is vastly safer than it was 10 years ago.

The area is fine! Well, as long as you don't drive further south than MLK Jr. Blvd or so... but even then, I used to drive into Crenshaw (west and south) to get ribs all the time, and East LA for fish tacos... I guess I went a lot of strange places for food, enduring the strange looks and threat of personal harm. Hope you enjoy the visit! Fight on!

Thanks for the replies. One more question - if we didn't want to stay downtown, what would be another area that might be reasonably convenient - although I know drive times & traffic will be unpredicable.

Thanks for the replies. One more question - if we didn't want to stay downtown, what would be another area that might be reasonably convenient - although I know drive times & traffic will be unpredicable.

Have you tried using the map feature at spg.com?

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William R. Sanders
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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

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Thanks for the replies. One more question - if we didn't want to stay downtown, what would be another area that might be reasonably convenient - although I know drive times & traffic will be unpredicable.

I'll give you two very different choices. Long Beach is about 30-40 minutes south of USC (without peak traffic) and the Westin there is in a great neighborhood. Lots of things to do in Long Beach. The other choice would be the W or Sheraton Delfina on the westide. Traffic will be hell at most times going to and from USC, but you will have the beach or Westwood to hang out at.

Lastly, if you talk to LA people who don't live downtown, they seem to mostly think downtown LA is a dump. But if you talk to people who have actually lived downtown (like me :)) we might tell you that downtown LA has lots of treasures worth exploring. It has the Staples Center for major sporting events, Kodak Theater, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Disney Concert Hall, the huge LA Library, the jewelry district, theatres, museums, great restaurants, etc.

I agree with the above that DT is closest; but the drawbacks is there is nothing to do there; if its a weekend, it will be easy to get around but dead; if its a weekday; the nights are pretty dead.

Long beach is a choice although not one I'd make but it could be worse

LAX/manhattan Beach are choices I like better as it puts you near the nice beaches (as opposed to LB).. I do this all the time and its a 20 minute ride to campus without traffic.. 45 ish at rush hour.. it all depends when you are going

Careful of the construction on Exposition as its eliminated a lot of parking on the street which in turn has just moved on campus.

Stay at SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. Great walking area -- Robertson, WeHo, 3rd Street LA, Grove/Farmers Market 15 minute walk -- Beverly Hills/Rodeo in 15 minute walk.

Easy 20 minute drive - San Vicente --> Venice --> Vermont to USC.

When not at USC, you will want to be on the westside. Dowtown is a ****hole.

See what I mean? The above two posters never lived downtown and don't really know what it has to offer. It's kind of a secret where millions of SoCal residents think it's a dump and only a few locals know that it has some really cool stuff.

If staying DT, be sure to factor in the higher cost of parking, which can approach $50 per night at the Bonaventure (not sure about the LA Sheraton).

If staying on the Westside (Westwood or Santa Monica) , take Olympic Boulevard east to Vermont, then south to the campus (picking up the route that Colin laid out). Experiencing a commute in real time may give your son an idea about the wisdom (or lack of wisdom) of living far off-campus if he picks USC.

See what I mean? The above two posters never lived downtown and don't really know what it has to offer. It's kind of a secret where millions of SoCal residents think it's a dump and only a few locals know that it has some really cool stuff.

I'm with you Stimpy, never lived there but I visit LA quite a lot and am very fond of Little Tokyo and all the other delights that downtown LA has to offer!

Lastly, if you talk to LA people who don't live downtown, they seem to mostly think downtown LA is a dump. But if you talk to people who have actually lived downtown (like me :)) we might tell you that downtown LA has lots of treasures worth exploring. It has the Staples Center for major sporting events, Kodak Theater, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Disney Concert Hall, the huge LA Library, the jewelry district, theatres, museums, great restaurants, etc.

The Kodak theatre is actually in Hollywood (H&H Complex) NOT downtown. LA Live has brought a number of new restaurants and such to the area though (albeit on the outskirts of what I would actually consider downtown [yes I realize it's by Staples center]). There's also the Garment district, but I would generally avoid going there.

The Kodak theatre is actually in Hollywood (H&H Complex) NOT downtown.

Sorry, I meant the Nokia Theater. It's run by the same people and I just wrote it too quickly.

Anyhow, you can walk there from the Bonaventure (as I have done when I lived near the Bonny) so I certainly consider it downtown.

As for the Garment district, there is great shopping there especially on the weekends. And the nearby flower district is a great place to get flowers. Most all prices are cheaper downtown. But yes, I don't hang around there at night!

Our daughter is a senior at USC and we've been there dozens of times. We generally stay at the Westin Bonaventure on points and each time we were upgraded to a suite.

We can use her car if necessary, but our favorite way to get back and forth from the Westin to campus is the F bus. It is 1/2 block away on Flower, costs 25 cents, and just goes between campus and a few blocks north of the Westin.

Having stayed at all of these hotels, I'm agreeing w/Stimpy and smcmona: downtown LA is a lot nicer than most people recognize. The new LA Live area has the beginnings of a nightlife, half a dozen decent restaurants, and Staples/Nokia (pick up some tix and have a little fun!) I stay at the Westin Bonaventure a lot, and they take good care of plats (and it's a nicer property than the Sheraton in my opinion). But parking prices are outrageous...

I found the SLS to be excessively cool pretentious. Especially for college kids. More for 30somethings wishing they were in their 20's. And it's not inexpensive.

Delfina is a 4 points wannabe, and NOT on the beach.

If you want to tourist it up a bit, Universal studios is schmaltzy but the Sheraton Universal treats Plats pretty well. All the way at the other end, Disneyland is half an hour to the south. And driving in LA is part of the deal - have a great trip with your son :)

If you don't mind driving a little, you can also try Pasadena. The Westin Pasadena is nice and the Sheraton Pasadena is reasonable. Parking runs 10-$15/night which is a lot less than downtown.

There's no doubt that downtown has gotten much nicer in the last 5-10 years...especially the area around the Staples center. There are some nice apartment and condo complexes in the area. The garment district is ok but a bit of a dump if you ask me. And if you venture a few blocks away, it gets pretty bad pretty quick (I used to do volunteer work at Union Rescue Mission and it wasn't so nice around there).

Many years ago I interviewed for a job at the LA Times and the surrounding area wasn't so nice. Granted things have gotten better but that area still isn't so great.

In any case, the area around the Bonaventure is pretty good and I like DT because you can also get to Koreatown and USC pretty quickly.

However, the SLS in Beverly Hills is light years better and the area is a lot more fun with nice restaurants, easy access to the Beverly Center, etc.

And the south bay beach cities are great (this is where I live) but it can take about 30 minutes to get to USC from here.

RVD.