Hello,

I will be in LA for two nights in August and am looking for a nice hotel as a starting point for sightseeing... I have never been to LA before and would be willing to spend 100-200$/night.
Thanks for any help!

-txl.

Could you provide a bit more information, please? The question is a bit too broad to answer.

First - do you have any hotel loyalties (Marriott, Hilton, etc.)?

Second - Are you going to book directly, or via Priceline or some other opaque service?

Third - Where exactly did you plan to sightsee? LA is a large sprawling city and tourist attractions can be quite distant from each other.

I agree we need more information. It really depends on what you want to do in LA.

If you want to see Hollywood, downtown LA (not that there's anything to see), West Hollywood, etc, then the Renaissance Hollywood would be a good choice since it is in the middle of hollywood and next to Franklin where you could drive up to see the Hollywood sign up close : ) You can walk along hollywood blvd and perhaps check out a few venues there, see the Mann Chinese theatre, etc. There's also a metro stop in Hollywood (again, the metro in LA is useless). But, you could take the metro to Long Beach, or Pasadena, but both require long and complicated transfers.

If you want to see the beach life, I'd suggest paying a visit to Venice beach and Santa Monica. Those are more hip n happening beach communities in LA with lots of artsy cafes, restaurants, and interesting things to see. In that case, you can stay at hotels in Santa Monica (a few botique hotels there), or Marina Del Ray.

I personally prefer the beaches in Orange County like Newport Beach, Laguna Beach etc. Things are more laid back in OC and the beaches are gorgeous. They are also a bit less poluted than LA. If you like things more laid back, friendly people, cleaner area, etc, you can then stay in Laguna Beach (St Regis Monarch Beach or Ritz Carlton Laguna Hills). From there, you can do some hiking at crystal cove state park, play a round of golf, go to the beach, or take a boat ride from Dana Point to Catalina Island.

If you need specific suggestions feel free to PM me

Thanks very much for your quick replies!

Um, yes... Any hotels within the Hilton family would be great.

I would prefer to book via AmEx PC.

Well, I�ve never been there before and won�t have too much of a chance to plan ahead... Quite pitiful, if not ignorant. But I�m good-willed...
I would certainly be interested in seeing (driving through) Hollywood and Beverly Hills, but would prefer to stay closer to the nice beaches and artsy areas.
Thank you both again for your quick replies!

-txl.

Maybe the Doubletree in Santa Monica or Westwood; maybe the Hilton in Beverly Hills (Beverly Hilton) or Universal City. Not sure you'll get the rates you seek in the summer - others may have better information. I think there's a Hampton Inn in the South Bay, and hotels all around the Disney/Anaheim areas, too. As others suggest, depends where you want to be/go - the latter places are quite a distance from Hollywood (especially with traffic), but are accessible.

If you want to stick with Hilton, you might want to take a look in the archives of the Hilton HHonors Forum; I'll bet you'll find some threads on the different hotel properties. It sounds like you're more interested in the Western and Northern parts of LA, versus Orange County.

Tell us a bit more about what sightseeing you want to do & then we can narrow it down a bit in terms of Hiltons, and also suggested activities. Also, you might want to do a search on this forum (or pull up threads for the past year) because IIRC there are a # of threads on what should I do/see in LA (and I mean longer than the 4-9 hours ones). Cheers.

If your budget can afford it, the Beverly Hilton is by far the best choice (rates are probably USD 250/night and up, though). With its recent refurbishment this is one of the best hotels in the US and has a great location. If you want to stay on the beach, it won't be at a Hilton and more expensive. The beach is great to visit for a few hours (maybe more in the case of Venice), but Beverly Hills is much better location for a hotel.

Hiltons will be tough in a good LA sightseeing location at that rate. Before I moved out here, I used to stay at the Doubletree in Westwood - it was a little bit of a dump, but great location for what I wanted. The Beverly Hilton is about as central as they come, and nice, but it will also be in the low $200s at best.

My typical suggestions for decent rate/central location/relatively nice hotel mix include the Crowne Plaza Beverly Hillls, The Ambrose in Santa Monica, and the Hyatt West Hollywood. As suggested, search the various LA threads as there are many many posts on the subject.

Been awhile but I liked the Beverly Hilton. The use of their limo service to the surrounding areas was great. Just avoid going to Trader Vic's

You might try the Double Tree in Santa Monica. You would be just a few blocks from the water and near the 3rd Street Promenade for entertainment and dining at night. You are also not too far from Venice Beach and 15 minutes from Beverly Hills.

Of course, random dates in August are pricing at $279-299/night. AAA will knock a few bucks off.

Thanks again for all your replies! ^

Has anyone stayed at the Hilton Checkers in Downtown LA? Location-wise it seems ok and the rates are quite good... I know I�m not supposed to stroll around downtown, but Hollywood and Beverly Hills seem accessible.

I have stayed at the Checkers several times. It is a lovely hotel and about as boutiquey as a Hilton comes. However, I fear you are misjudging L.A.

Hollywood and Beverly Hills are only accessible from downtown via a +/- 1/2 hour car ride (depending on time of day) or, for Hollywood, a 20 minute Red Line subway ride. There are some very nice restaurants downtown and a couple of sights (the Library Building comes to mind) but there is really little reason to stay downtown unless you have business there or are going to see a lot of stage productions and the Dorothy Chandler or Disney theaters.

On the plus side, you would have public transit available to get you to Hollywood, the east San Fernando Valley, or Pasadena. And you would not be too far from the Natural History Museum and California Science Center.

Listening to all the posters that live around LA gives the impression that downtown LA is horrible, for various reasons (dangerous, dull, boring, dirty, empty ... take your pick). Certainly there is some truth behind this, but the LA of today is greatly improved from a few years ago -- and as a tourist, who is very familiar with LA, there are lots of great things in downtown and it is not a bad place to stay. But you do have to know your way around and what you are doing -- and that takes too long to explain in a post on FT. Five years ago I might have agreed with all the nay-sayers about downtown, but now downtown LA can be one of the best things about LA (though you really have to dig to find that!). Of course the whole LA basin is peppered with hidden gems (great cheap neighbourhood restaurants, stores and things you don't find in most cities), but downtown is starting to be reborn, in a great way.

I don't think downtown is a particularly bad place. And you are right, it has improved greatly over the last 10 years. However, I would never recommend it as a base for someone who has only two days and wants to sight see.