Confused about where to stay in LA - please advise!!

Hello everyone...

I know you have probably read so many similar posts before but I am planning a trip to california in august and have researched so much but still cant decide where to stay when in LA. Plan to spend 5 nights/6 days and want to visit Santa Monica/Venice one day, Hollywood/Farmers Grove another, Disney another, Long Beach (Sand sculpture competition) another day, Newport/Laguna another day and then Hermosa/Manhattan/childrens lagoon on last day before flying back to the UK. Would prefer to base ourselves in one place for whole of the time and we will have a car and don%26#39;t mind journeys of up to an hour. We have 2 children aged 4 and 5. If we stayed around Hermosa/Manhattan beach I thought we could leave our luggage at hotel until late afternoon flight to save having it in our car. Would be nice to stay near to a beach but most important to us is a pool as the children prefer to swim in a pool. Holiday Inn express, Hermosa looks a possibility but then so do so many... Aargh.. don%26#39;t know what to do and want to get it right. Please help! Any advice welcome.

THANK YOU

Confused about where to stay in LA - please advise!!

It all depends on your budget. What is it per night? One room or two?

Beverly Hilton is central to all you want to do and great for kids, but with your trips to Long Beach, Laguna, Hermosa - you might want to consider staying in Manhattan Beach, instead, or Laguna or Newport, for a couple nights. Otherwise, you%26#39;ll be driving about 2 hours each way, to all you want to do.

Confused about where to stay in LA - please advise!!

Check on the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood which has a beautiful pool with views of the Hollywood Sign

It is also very central to most touristy attractions in Los Angeles and just a couple of blocks from the 101 fwy if you want to venture out to Laguna or Manhatten Beach(Why not Santa Barbara?)

Hello

Thanks for prompt replies... we have a budget of around $200 or so. We would like to be in a room together. We will be coming down the PCH from SF so will visit Santa Barbara on the way. Do you think it would be best to spend two nights in one place to do Santa Monica and Hollywood and then three nights in Orange County to do Disney/Newport/Manhattan Beach?

Thanks

Regarding your question about splitting you stay between LA County and Orange County, I recommend staying in two separate places. The price for staying in one place would be the one hour (possibly more) drive in each direction between Los Angeles and Orange County.

Driving in LA is not as bad as people make it sound; it%26#39;s not worse than many other cities I have visited. Like many places, if you are going more than 50 km on the freeway (I-5, I-405), allow some time for contingencies and enjoy your vacation.

It sounds like you should stay several nights in central LA (Santa Monica or Marina del Rey if you can%26#39;t afford SM would be best in my opinion to be close to central LA and to Manhattan Beach/Hermosa) and the rest of the time in Laguna Beach. You can visit Long Beach on the way to Laguna/Newport. Manhattan Beach and Hermosa are definitely much closer to Santa Monica than to Orange County. I wouldn%26#39;t stay in one place and commute to Orange County unless you only want to spend one day there seeing Laguna and Newport, which is possible. Otherwise, Santa Monica/Marina del Rey would probably be most central to all the other sites, with driving times under 45 mins for all other places you mentioned.

Thanks for the advice... If we visit Hollywood/Farmers Market/Grove on way to Orange County we will have all our luggage in the trunk of the car. Will it be safe if it is out of sight? Are there safe places to park. Also on our way back to LAX from Laguna where would be a safe place to park for the day around Hermosa/Manhattan Beach as again we will have all our baggage in the trunk.

Where would be the best place to hire family bikes = the ones where parents sit at back on a bench and cycle and the children sit at the front and enjoy the ride? Hermosa or Manhattan?

Thanks

I don%26#39;t understand. On the way from where? LAX? What is the itinerary you%26#39;re thinking of?

And Hermosa and Manhattan Beach are expensive upscale neighborhoods. You%26#39;ll have no problems leaving your car parked with your stuff there, though I don%26#39;t see the need. If you stay at a hotel in Santa Monica, you can visit Hollywood/BH, Manhattan/Hermosa, and anything else in central LA easily during the day. And you can stop in Long Beach on the way to Orange County. This would make more sense to me, geographically and logistically.