Honestly, traffic from Santa Monica can cost you so much in time and sanity (4pm on Santa Monica Blvd? Ridiculous!) that if you can afford to, it is worth staying closer. Have you ever seen the 10 freeway Yelp page? (The 10 goes from Santa Monica through West LA/southern border of Westwood to downtown.)

I recommend the W or Hilgard House Hotel, or checking out the Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel or Hotel Palomar. You might also look into the Beverly Hilton. All of these are, I think, in reasonable distance.

The W used to be the Westwood Marquis hotel which was rather pleasant. It looked like a Four Seasons hotel in many respects - light and airy, beautiful greenery, fabulous brunches, and so on. Neil Simon used to brunch there.

Then, Starwood acquired the property and kept the ivy crawling up the side of the building but in an effort to attract a younger crowd, Starwood changed everything else. No longer light and airy, it was dark and with heavy techno music in its first years. The pool area developed into a hot nightclub that was packed every weekend. Now, the property has mellowed some. Still the W, it is no longer dark with heavy techno music. Now that the hotel seems to have dropped its focus on only the trendy youth, there is light again in the lobby and the pool area is a lovely place to enjoy what I think is a delicious breakfast. If you have status with Starwood and are upgraded, you might enjoy your suite.

The Hilgard House, as noted here, is indeed much less expensive. It is an older property that has not changed much over many years in terms of decor. There is nothing terribly stylish about this place, in my opinion, but you will have a decent night's sleep, a basic breakfast (store-bought pastries, juice, etc.), a very close location, parking, and for the most part, responsive staff. This is the sort of property that is fine as long as you do not set your expectations to that of the W, but have the expectation that it is an older property and that the staff generally do the best with what they have to work with. The Hilgard House Hotel is less $ because it is not the W hotel. They do offer a UCLA parents rate and if you are going for medical purposes at UCLA, the Hilgard House Hotel generally offers a "UCLA hospital" rate (even if you are only going to the outpatient clinics).

Speaking of the UCLA hospital, if you are going for any medical purpose, you might try out the Tiverton House. They are literally just behind Hilgard House Hotel (also in the village). It is lodging only for patients and families that are in town for medical purposes at the UCLA hospital. I believe they work with the Ronald McDonald house for some of their support, but their lodging is for all ages, not just families of children.

One advantage to all three of these properties (in addition to the W and Hilgard House both being bed-bug free in my experience - I have not stayed at the Tiverton House) is that they are actually in the village. Note that there is Westwood (a larger area which includes south of Wilshire) and there is Westwood Village which is a subset of Westwood - and it is in the village where you will find UCLA (the village is only north of Wilshire). All of this to say that staying in the village means that once you are there, everything is completely walkable. While Westwood village is not quite the hot spot that it once was 20 years ago, it is still a perfectly enjoyable little college town to walk in the evenings with some fun restaurants and some shops. Depending on what you plan to do and what your purpose is in Los Angeles, if you are not looking to "see L.A." including everything from Hollywood to Santa Monica, Pasadena to Anaheim (which is not actually L.A.), and if you are in the Westwood area for a local purpose, I highly recommend ditching your car once you are there and embracing the little area where you will be planted for a few days. Go see a play at the Geffen Playhouse, tour the Armand Hammer museum, eat at a village restaurant, take in a film at the old Bruin or Fox theaters where going to the movies feels a bit like "going to the theatre," or eat an ice-cream-cookie sandwich at Diddy Riese. If you are feeling adventurous, take a short walk south of Wilshire into little Persia for some Persian food, or if you must drive your car, go closeby into Japantown (on Sawtelle) for some excellent sushi. My point is that there are interesting and unique experiences near Westwood and you do not need to go to or stay in Beverly Hills or Hollywood or Santa Monica to have a fulfilling trip.