Where do we want to stay while visiting Hollywood?

[JunieJay]

I know we want to do the Warner Brothers tour, and do the Rodeo drive thing. Is Santa Monica too far away to stay? Do I need to stay in Los Angeles? I'm looking on tripadvisor.com and some areas look pretty dicey. Its me and DH and our two kids, 12 and 9.

Any info you can give me is appreciated. We're also spending 4 days in San Diego, so any info you can offer there is helpful too (as well as decent lodging). Thanks!

 

[jlmarr]

We've stayed at the Universal Hilton, but that's a little pricey I think. One place we've never stayed but that sounds intriguing is the Beverly Garland Hotel (http://www.beverlygarland.com), which is in North Hollywood and so would be fairly close to the Warner Brothers Studio (and Universal, NBC, and Disney) and yet accessible to freeways so you could get to Beverly Hills etc.

 

[Cookiedude]

I wouldn't recommend staying in Los Angeles. It's not necessary and there's few nice places to stay in the city.

Santa Monica is a wonderful place to stay with lots to see in that area. It's a good 30 min drive from Hollywood/Beverly Hills at most times of the day though.

If you wanted to be closer, there's the Beverly Hilton hotel. It's a pretty standard Hilton and a little overpriced but the location is fabulous. It's walking distance to Rodeo Drive (well, a few blocks) and although it's on the crossways of two major roads, the surrounding areas are really pretty and make for a nice evening stroll. Plus, as a perk, every time I've stayed there I've seen LOADS of celebrities going to the numerous nightly events they have at the ballroom there (it's where they have the Golden Globes). The kids might get a kick out that.

Another alternative, since you're going to WB, is to stay in Burbank. We stayed at a really beautiful hotel there called the Graciela. It was pretty expensive though but definitely worth it. More like a boutique hotel, it had the best beds I've ever stayed at hands down and was close to Universal and WB as well as only a short trip down the hill into Hollywood etc.

If you've got the time, and the kids are into space at all, I'd really recommend a visit to the Griffith Park Observatory. It's in the Hollywood hills and has the best views of the Hollywood sign and the whole of LA. There's all kinds of interesting space exhibits and a really good (and reasonably priced) planetarium show. They've just remodeled it and it has a really nice new cafe there.

 

[c&m]

We had the same problem in July 2007, when we wanted to go to Universal. We couldn't find any decent affordable accommodations close by so we opted to stay in Valencia, which is a 25-30 minute drive from Hollywood. We found Valencia quiet, safe and friendly. We stayed at the Hyatt Valencia for $99 (taxes included, and free parking) per night. Across the street was a huge nice mall which my DDs loved. Close by for food is a Mimi's Cafe though there were also restaurants to eat at the mall. You can check out the Hyatt Valencia at Tripadvisor.com. We loved it so much that we'll probably stay there again this summer when driving down to SoCal.

In San Diego, we enjoy staying at the Hyatt La Jolla. We got it for $165 per night. Last year, we stayed for 6 days there. They have a great pool area. We enjoy buying take-out from the places nearby -- Whole Foods, California Pizza Kitchen, Rubio's, etc. -- and eating by the pool with the kids.

 

[DisneyDotty]

Chiming in here with questions. We'll be in the Hollywood area in late June for a couple nights and want to do as much of the studio/star tours/attractions as we can. Would the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn be a good location to avoid a lot of time in the car?
Any other suggestions? It's me, my niece (18) and my daughter (14). I'll be doing the driving, and I'm not a huge fan of traffic/major interstates.
Thanks!

 

[jlmarr]

Chiming in here with questions. We'll be in the Hollywood area in late June for a couple nights and want to do as much of the studio/star tours/attractions as we can. Would the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn be a good location to avoid a lot of time in the car?
Any other suggestions? It's me, my niece (18) and my daughter (14). I'll be doing the driving, and I'm not a huge fan of traffic/major interstates.
Thanks!

I'd say it's in a pretty good location, very close to Universal Studios and Universal Citywalk, and just north over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. Mapquest says it's about 4 miles from Hollywood & Highland. If you don't want to get on US 101 to get over the pass you can use Ventura Blvd, which turns into Cahuenga Blvd West and then turns into Highland Ave (all the same road, mind you), which will take you right past the Hollywood Bowl and then to Hollywood & Highland.

 

[mjgruber]

I know we want to do the Warner Brothers tour, and do the Rodeo drive thing. Is Santa Monica too far away to stay? Do I need to stay in Los Angeles? I'm looking on tripadvisor.com and some areas look pretty dicey. Its me and DH and our two kids, 12 and 9.

Any info you can give me is appreciated. We're also spending 4 days in San Diego, so any info you can offer there is helpful too (as well as decent lodging). Thanks!

I am headed with DW, DD, and DD2 in April. After some research, i found the LaQuinta Inn and Suites ( a mile or so from the airport ) for $80 a night ( with AAAA ). Recently remodeled. Email me with any ?s

Now on to looking into the San Diego part of the trip !

 

[sue1013]

We stayed at the Beverly Garland in May. The location was great we would stay there again.

 

[DisneyDotty]

We stayed at the Beverly Garland in May. The location was great we would stay there again.

Hi Sue--What about the Garland's location did you like?
Thanks!

 

[sue1013]

Hi Dotty we liked the location of Beverly Garland wasn't far from anything we did. It's very close to Universal they have a shuttle that runs frequently sorry can't remember the schedule. But it's frequent enough that we went to City Walk a couple nights for dinner. We did an all day tour of Hollywood that hit all the main tourist spots, they gave you alot of time to get out and explore at each stop. We only drove to Warner Bros tour and we went to the Tonight Show didn't take long to get to either. Also there are several stores grocery, drug right down the road.