Los Angeles LA where to stay & what to do?

Aybara

The story goes like this....there's 4 mid - late 20 something guys heading to LA for 4/5 days in early July. Will be there for the 4th of July.

So what area should we stay in? Somewhere close to the action, cab ride to the city centre if not the centre itself but in a area where's there's good bars and nightlife. So any suggestions?

Anything good to do in LA outside of the obvious stuff?

I've plenty of research to do yet but getting a good base that's clean and comfortable and not too expensive would be great. All suggestions welcome.

BuffyBot

Any reason you've chosen LA. It's not exactly the ideal holiday destination, really. It's sprawly, not all particularily nice in places and doesn't have defined "city centre" like many Irish people imagine it.

There are nicer places on the West Coast!

keefg

Have a read through the threads on this travel forum, there are plenty on LA.

quickstitch.ie

Stayed in LA last november, didn't find it as bad as everyone made out, but by the amount of bad reviews it got I wasn't expecting much... you would def need a car to get about anyways, if you could imagine that maybe the walk of fame part of LA was where dublin airport was, then maybe Rodeo Drive where the swanky shops were was the equivelent of o'connell st away, and so on, things are pretty spread out, so don't expect to just go looking for main st when you arrive! Do expect beggers, and do expect the walk of fame to be set on a st that seems to be a fashion district for hookers...
Having said that, we stayed at the Elan hotel, (very helpful and friendly staff with plenty of suggestions of activities) and found a great bar called St.Nicks only a block away, plenty of reviews of it around on google, not a pretentious place, more college-y!

Things we did (didn't have much time!) Went to a big mall right beside that hotel, went Manns Chinese theatre with all the famous handprints outside, another big mall beside there (called hollywood&highland looks new) did the the walk of fame, drove up to the Hollywood sign (well as near as you could up in Hollywoodland (actual name, not a theme park!)) then just drove around a few of the famous streets really..

Plenty of tours and cheesy stuff to see and do if you have the time..

Ms Inquisitive

A place to spend the nights could be universal city, plenty of restaurants, bars and nightclubs there! We stayed in the Sheraton at Universal city, it was a lovely hotel but a terrible walk to it from the subway. We regularly got the subway into Hollywood and the walk from the subway to the hotel was very very steep. There was, however, a tram stop at the bottom of the hill that went directly to Universal City.

Otherwise, you could find alot nicer citys to visit than LA. Why not venture to Vegas while you're that close!!! Only 1 hour on a flight (I think) and you would not have any trouble filling 4 days there!

peeps78

we stayed in the farmers daughter hotel and found it quite handy, its a cool renovated motel that is right on a major bus route so if you dont drive thats a must.
its opposite the farmers market where you can get reasonably cheap quick food and behind that is the grove a very fancy shopping area. 4 blocks from LACMA, La Brea Tar Pits, Melrose Ave, Beverlly Centre (all in different directions)
but unfortunatly the best way to get around LA is by car so if you can rent one your options increase tenfold.

Aybara

Thanks for the suggestions, we're also heading to Vegas and San Fran while over there so not just heading to LA. Not much point in going that distance for just 4 days!! Sounds like we'll just have to find a good bar and spend the rest of the time on the beach.......sure how bad!!!
We'll be hiring a car alright so we should be able to make the most of it.

lizzyd66

Santa Monica is a very nice area - lots of lovely bars/rest by the beach, good shopping. I would recommend maybe one or two days in LA then hire a car and take the coast road up to SF - Santa Barbara is just up the coast from LA - I would nearly prefer to stay there than LA!

quickstitch.ie

lizzyd66 wrote: »

Santa Monica is a very nice area - lots of lovely bars/rest by the beach, good shopping. I would recommend maybe one or two days in LA then hire a car and take the coast road up to SF - Santa Barbara is just up the coast from LA - I would nearly prefer to stay there than LA!

Get a night in santa monica as well alright, stayed in santa barbara too, very pretty place on the beach, not a whole lot of touristy things going on there tho, good strip full of bars and restaurants there, you don't have to go far to find a good buzz, monterey is worth stopping into as well if you're driving up the coast, in San fran we did a cycle accross the golden gate then got the ferry back from the town called sausalito had few beers there, was really sorry to leave the place, smashing view of san fran, would love to retire there I think!!