Places to stay when visiting Hollywood, etc.

[Hidden_Mickey]

We are from NY and have decided to visit DL/Hollywood for the first time this summer, during the last week in July. We have booked the Fairfield Inn across the street from DL for 4 nights (3 full days at DL). We then want to leave Anaheim the next morning and move to a hotel in another city to be closer to Hollywood.

I have heard so many horror stories that I have some questions about timing and location. I am wondering what time of day we should drive from Anaheim to Hollywood? It will be a Wednesday morning so we want to avoid rush hour. Should we leave at 6:00 am and try to beat the morning rush, or wait until 10:00 am and hope the worst of it is over?

Second, what city should we stay in for the Hollywood portion of the trip?
We would like to do the Hollywood tours and museums, see a Dodger game, go to Universal Studios, and visit Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. DH wants to stay in Santa Monica, but it looks very expensive, and like it may be too far west to be considered a central location. Will it be difficult to get from Santa Monica to Dodger Stadium for a 7:00 pm game on Wednesday night? I don't want to spend half the day getting from Anaheim to Santa Monica, only to check into a hotel and have to get right back into the car to head to the stadium before rush hour. Would staying in Hollywood or Burbank be more central and less expensive?

I should add that we are WDW Unofficial Guide veterans. We plan to do DL and Hollywood "Commando" style, lol!

Thanks!

 

[sheetz]

You should be OK leaving Anaheim after 10am.

For Hollywood, in order to cut down on commuting time I normally recommend choosing a hotel central to where you will be spending most of your time. So from your plans it sounds like Hollywood would be a good choice.

If you would like to stay in SM that can be doable, but I wouldn't recommend leaving for the Dodger game from SM during rush hour. You should plan on spending the day somewhere closer like Hollywood, the Grove, etc. and then heading to Dodger Stadium afterwards.

 

[rtfelt]

You will hit LOTS of traffic leaving at 6 am. Even 8:30 would work. You don't need to wait until 10, but it will be less then.

I would not stay in Santa Monica. It's hard to get to anything from there. You either have to go south of where you're going to get on the I10 or take side streets/highways (with stop lights) that can take a long time. I don't know what airport you're flying into/out of, but if it's LAX, I would recommend you stay in Hollywood then drive down through Beverly Hills to Santa Monica on your way to LAX or if early flight stay at airport hotel the night after spending the day at Santa Monica.

I'm assuming you want to stay in one hotel during your whole Hollywood stay. When you say Hollywood tours, do you mean studio tours or Stars tours or what exactly? You want to see Universal but are you going to Warner Brother's too? If not I would not stay in Burbank because it's still not central to what you're doing. Even if you are going to Warner Brother's I don't think it's real central. Most tourists who want to see Hollywood, want to see the sign, Walk of Fame, Chinese Theater... If you stay in Hollywood that's in the middle between Dodger Stadium and Universal. That would be the most central location.

 

[Pinup Mommy]

Being from the east coast you may already be awake and ready to go by 6AM, which will allow you to miss a lot of the traffic. I commute daily and find prime traffic is from 645-930.

Have you considered staying in Pasadena, it really a great place and easy to navigate. Santa Monica is nice, but it is always congested and parking there is a pain and pricy.

 

[GenGen22]

We have asked this question a few times as we go to US a couple of days usually & spend the rest of the time at DL. We always stay in Anaheim the entire stay because the hotel cost in or near Hollywood is so expensive. As far as traffic I would say we leave around 10 am and it takes us about 45 minutes to get to US. The same when we went to Warner Bros. Studios. Thats not too bad for us & we get to sleep in too.

 

[MrsM1955]

I agree with GenGen22. Stay in Anaheim if you get a good rate. Try to drive the 91 (use the Carpool lane.) the 110 or 405 (hwys with carpool lanes). Get the Carpool box thing from your rental car company so you can drive the Carpool lane on the 110.

Driving in LA tips
1. Have map.
2. lock the doors
3. Put the radio on KNX AM 1070. At the 5's you get traffic updates so you can try to avoid accidents. There is also KFWB AM 98.
4. Have patience.
5. To be on the safe side always budget 2 hours travel time.
6. Have fun!

If you still want to stay elsewhere go for it. In Hollywood the quintessential Hollywood hotel is Chateau Marmont. The most amazing is the SLS Beverly Hills. The one closest to Hollywood and Highland is the Roosevelt. The most convenient hotels for Dodger games would be in downtown LA. You could also alternate Disney days and non-Disney days.

I just put together a trip for friends this week.
Day 1 Disney
Day 2 Pasadena - Huntington Library dinner Old Town Pasadena
Day 3 Disney
Day 4 Getty Center Beverly Hills - Hollywood Sign - Hollywood & Highland
Day 5 Open Day
Day 6 Disney
Day 7 California Science Center (Space shuttle, aquarium)
Day 8 Disney
I made this map and plotted out the things I thought my friends might want to do based on their interests. You can try doing the same with a google fusion table.

With all your planning, I am sure you'll have a great time!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...The one closest to Hollywood and Highland is the Roosevelt...

Actually, the Loew's (used to be the Marriott Renaissance) is the closest hotel to H&H -- it is right next door. This was the hotel that ABD used for tours -- don't know if they still use it.

 

[tstidm1]

Actually, the Loew's (used to be the Marriott Renaissance) is the closest hotel to H&H -- it is right next door. This was the hotel that ABD used for tours -- don't know if they still use it.

It is still used for ABD trips. It's also $319 a night typically for those who aren't using the ABD rate. That's quite a lot for the hotel. I hear the BLVD hotel and Suites are pretty good and are a $100 or more less.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

I'm not sure how many are in your party, but thee years ago, we visited DL and went ot Knotts one day, then had one day in Hollywood. We just took the bus to Knotts but since there were 9 of us in the group, we found it easier to rent a limo for our one day in LA. But on that one day, we did the tour at WB, then went to Grauman's Chinese theater, saw the Hollywood sign, shopped on Rodeo Drive, and visited Culver Studios. (That is not open to tours, but since "Gone Witht the Wind" was filmed there and I collect GWTW memorabila, I HAD to visit the site.) On the way back, we stopped on the Santa Monica beach for just a few minutes to take some pictures. The cost was $900.00 but if we had rented cars, or even gotten hotel rooms, it would have cost more, and we did pretty much all that we wanted to do in LA without worrying one minute about traffic or directions.

 

[dragonflycurls]

The very best place we ever stayed at in Hollywood is the Magic Castle Hotel!

 

[SMD]

The very best place we ever stayed at in Hollywood is the Magic Castle Hotel!

Added bonus: They can make you reservations for the Magic Castle.

For the Dodger game, you could take the free shuttle from Union Station. The best way to get there is the red line, or Expo line to red line. The red line leaves from Hollywood. Wednesday the 30th is a good choice for the game, because Tues is a Vin Scully giveaway and Thursday is a bobblehead night. Both of those will sell out.

 

[rella's fan]

If you can get a decent rate at the Loewes (used to be Renaissance) hotel in Hollywood, it really is in a good spot, yes there are some "different" people hanging around but it's close to everything, the hotel is really nice and our room even had a view of the Hollywood sign. We didn't even need a car. We started out at the Fairfield in Anaheim and did 3 days at Disney, then we took the Amtrak to LA (Union Station) and from there we connected to the red line subway that took us right to the hotel. Very easy to do. The hotel is connected to a big shopping center with many restaurants and shops and is within a block of the chinese theatre, walk of fame, etc. It's also very close to the Starline tour desk. We bought a 2 day hop on/off pass and the first day we rode it and got on and off at all of the stops we wanted (Rodeo Dr., the Grove,etc.) and then the 2nd day it took us to Santa Monica for the day.

 

[bucsfan1029]

We spent 4 nights at DL hotel this past week followed by 3 nights in Santa Monica. We left DL on Wednesday morning around Noon and did not encounter any significant traffic on the way to Santa Monica. I did have my traffic app, WAZE, open to keep an eye on the roads ahead, just in case.

We stayed at the Double Tree in Santa Monica, about 3 blocks from the pier, and had no issues getting anywhere (Beverly Hills, Malibu, Hollywood, Universal, etc.). The only time we had any sort of traffic to deal with was Friday night around 6pm, and that is to be expected pretty much anywhere in LA from what I hear! Parking was expensive at the hotel, so be sure to budget accordingly if you do pick a Santa Monica hotel.