We are going to be in LA for a night in May (coming in from FRA on LH450 at about 4 pm) and will be picking up a rental car to drive the PCH up to San Francisco on Sunday. I was wondering if there were any recommendations for areas to stay in for Saturday night which satisfy the following criteria, in descending order of importance:

1) Close to a rental car office which is open on a Sunday (preferably Avis though am open to others)

2) In a buzzy area with decent restaurants to go out and have a bite to eat and also pleasant just to have a wander round. +1 has never been to LA/California so it would be nice to stay somewhere other than LAX.

3) Easy to get from that area on to CA-1 up to San Francisco without too much driving through suburban Los Angeles.

Thoughts welcome!