Looking for reasonable family hotel
 

2 adults 40 plus 2 early teens first time to LA safe hotel for 4 days walking at night and disney hollywood universal by day.

thinking of sheraton delfina but it is a bit expensive. we dont drive in LA :(

any suggestions

Um, well, first of all. You cannot do Disney and Universal and Hollywood in LA in four days without a car.

You could stay in Hollywood/Universal city and take the red line to/from the other, but there is no direct service via train or bus to Anaheim for Disney. You should probably stick to either Hollywood/Universal OR Disney.

For safety I would stay at Universal rather than Hollywood. Or stay in any of the zillions of hotels and motels near Disneyland. I wouldn't recommend staying anywhere else in L.A. if your destinations are what you mentioned unless you are going to have a car.

In Universal city your two best bets are either the Sheraton Universal or the Universal Hilton. They are both right at Universal Studios. There are too many hotels near Disney. Simply do a search on travel booking site for hotels near Disney.

Well, I guess it depends on how long you want to spend at the parks, but you certainly could do Disney and Universal in 4 days. You can see everything at Universal in one day and then spend the rest of your time at Disney.

The Sheraton Delfina is in Santa Monica and much too far away from Disneyland. Instad I would recommend staying at one of the numerous hotels in Anaheim. I've heard good things about the Candy Cane Inn. If you want to go to Universal or most other tourist destinations almost any hotel will be able to help book you onto a tour bus.

Agree w/ kef - you can't get to all the places you want w/o a car.

If you want equi-distance from either Universal or Disney (which are a solid hour apart or more) it would be near the airport but not squat to do there.

You'd need to look at the Marina or Manhattan Beach at that point. But another place that people stay at in the Santa Moinca area is the Doubletree hotel (Hilton chain). It's usually more reasonable in terms of $$ than the Sheraton.

Just curious - why don't you drive in LA? It's not as bad as made out by overseas publications etc.

Enjoy your stay. Cheers.

I was really referring to the fact that the OP will not have a car. With a car of course you could do them, but how are you going to get there without one? Limo?

Do 2 Nights Universal...Cab or Limo to Disney for 2 nights, then Cab or Shuttle back to LAX

Skip Hollywood & Universal. Do Disneyland. Rent a car ($15) and Anaheim 3* hotel room ($50) on Priceline.com . Forget about not renting a car.

Since no one has explained it, I'd better.

Disneyland is not in Los Angeles. It's in Anaheim, in Orange County, a good 45 minute drive if there's no traffic, considerably more if there is. It is absolutely NOT feasible to go from the Hollywood/Universal City area to Disneyland by cab, unless you've got an awful lot of money. LA is not a walking city, and public transportation is pretty poor.

Also, if you're interested in how movies get made, I'd suggest skipping Universal, which is just another theme park and, instead, take the Warner Bros or Paramount studio tour, either of which will really show you "behind the scenes."

There is relatively little to see in Hollywood itself -- it's a tacky area, not unlike Times Square during the 70s.

You'd be much better off staying in West LA or Santa Monica, which would allow a visit to Venice Beach, and using a rental car to go to Hollywood. Then drive down to Anaheim, stay at a hotel there and visit Disneyland. Fly home from SNA if you can, or LAX if you must.

There are numerous shuttle services between LAX and Anaheim. For instance, Super Shuttle is about $15pp one way.From Anaheim to Universal for a day trip you can take a Grayline Tour, or for less money you can take Metrolink/Amtrak to to Red Line to Universal. This is best done one a weekday, of course.

Actually, UncleDude's suggestion to stay at Universal might work even better. From LAX you could take the new non-stop shuttle to Union Station for $3 pp and then take Red Line to Universal. Stay 2 nights at either the Sheraton or Hilton. Next day take Red Line to Union Station, Amtrak to Fullerton/Disney and cab it to hotel (Or call the hotel to see if they will pick you up at the Amtrak station.). Then take Super Shuttle to LAX.

Obviously it's preferrable to rent a car, but if one only wishes to do Universal and Disneyland it can be done this way.

Yes, and it's also possible to Do L.A. and San Diego in one day via Amtrak, but c'mon. Would you?

Hardly the same thing. :rolleyes:

ETA: But if one is adamantly against driving for whatever reason, I think the most feasbile solution is to stay the entire time in Anaheim and make a day trip to Universal either by Gray Line tour bus or Amtrak/Red Line. That way you wouldn't be dragging lots of luggage on the subway.

The journey to and from Anaheim can be done by shuttle or for less money using the Union Station flyaway/Amtrak.

Well assuming the OP doesn't get a car (for whatever reason) what's outlined above by sheetz is doable.

Cheers.

One word about Super Shuttle:

It's one of those van services that cruises around the airport picking up fares and then drives to each location serially. I know some people who have used it and liked it. However, I know far more people who complained that, after getting picked up at the airport, they were driven round for 2 or 3 more circuits (and LAX is a fairly big airport in which to do that) until the driver had a full van, and then spent hours more getting driven around southern California until it was finally their "turn" to get dropped off. Once, when my elderly mother get re-routed from BUR to LAX due to weather, AA put her on the SuperShuttle to get to BUR -- it took more than 3 hours for what should have been a 45 minute ride at that time of night.

If your finances are really tight, you might consider SuperShuttle, though I would think the price advantage evaporates when you're talking about a family of four. When I lived in SoCal, I'd usually take a car service or a cab to the airport -- pricier, yes, but time is money, particularly in the OP's case because he's on vacation with a very limited stay in the LA area.

The OP should also note that LAX is in the southwest part of the city, not far from the county line. It is not at all close to Hollywood, downtown or Universal City because of the way the freeways are laid out in the basin. It is not feasible to use LAX as a transportation hub to get from LA to Anaheim if the OP is staying in Hollywood, Universal City or West LA.

Southern California is absolutely unique in that it has the worst public transporation system in the world. Virtually everyone drives -- for the most part, the only people who take public transportation are those that can't afford cars. Though it is possible to get around without a car by only using public transportation, it is not easy, pleasant or efficient.

Ozjet, stay in Santa Monica at the Shangri La Hotel (http://www.shangrila-hotel.com) which has big rooms, is quite inexpensive for LA, has kitchens attached and is on Ocean Avenue facing Santa Monica beach but two blocks from the promenade where you can eat easily any time of the day. Oh yes and they give you brakfast and afternoon tea. Santa Monica by the way is perfectly safe and will give you an idea of the famed laid back Southern California sunshine thing.

You need a car. Otherwise forget LA. Just not possible and not worth being here. Book Hertz. Collect at airport. Time to Santa Monica, 30 minutes. Go down Lincoln Boulevard.

When you get the car you drive on the 10 freeway from Santa Monica to the 5 freeway, head south and arrive in Disneyland. Total time 50 minutes to an hour and a half. Coming back 50 minutes. Universal its the 10 freeway to the 110 North to the 101 North. Drive time, 40 minutes to an hour. Coming back same thing. That give you two other days to see Beverly Hills, the Westside generally, Getty Museum, Malibu or just cruise around doing whatever.

I had someone in town doing what you're doing last week. Perfect time and reasonable combination of chill out and running around.

The ShangriLa is a great suggestion -- a perfect way to experience the LA lifesytle.

Re: going to Disneyland, if it's anywhere around rush hour, instead of the 10 to the 5, try the 10 to the 405 to the 110 to the 5.