<p>Venice Beach is cooler, but it may not be worth shelling out the money for two rooms OR spending four nights in the same room with your teens. When I stated my preference, I thought maybe you were getting points for that hotel as well. </p>
<p>If you stay in Manhattan Beach to use the points and get a suite for more space, you'll still enjoy the location and you can still visit Venice Beach and all those other places just by driving a bit longer. Spend the day on L.A. adventures and head for the hotel well after rush hour and you won't mind the extra drive to get to MB. (And you'll have no need to query the hotel staff about potential gang activity in the area. ) Really, it's not like you're going to hate M.B. --- it's gorgeous. People spend nearly $1 million and up on homes to live there and there's shops and restaurants and views of the Pacific from many streets and you can drive up the beach road and just sightsee if you want to relax one day instead of braving the traffic for more of L.A. And it's very convenient for getting to LAX when it's time to leave, much better than Venice Beach would be. </p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with picking the option that's easier on the pocketbook and gives you more space to boot.</p>
<p>I dunno, jazzymom-- you re really enticing me with those gang burger joints :D</p>
<p>Someone actually suggested splitting the 4 days-- 2 at venice and the last 2 at Manhattan. As much as I dont want to keep hotel-hopping, it isnt a bad idea. That way we get to taste both.</p>
<p>And speaking of "taste", what are the joints I need to avoid??</p>
<p>My experience of living in that area is 10 years old so I'm not the one to ask. Send a PM to TheDad. One of the other posters said he lives in Santa Monica and might have a better idea --- from reading the local papers if nothing else. We lived for about a year in a neighborhood of L.A. that borders Santa Monica near the SM airport (Ocean and Pearl if you've got a map). I just remember that at the time there was a spate of gang activity around Venice High (which is not by the beach) and along Lincoln Boulevard, including a shooting outside a burger joint called Tommy's Original. For all I know that restaurant doesn't exist anymore and the area has gentrified so much I wouldn't recognize it today. The people to ask, of course, are those who work in the area, or live there, and I figure hotel staffers would surely have an inkling if there was some locale right around there that their guests should avoid. The location of the Venice Beach Inn is one where homes nearby are also in the six figures, even for little cottages, and the volume of visitors means it's probably extremely safe.</p>
<p>Thanks, cheers. In fact I had perused VRBO. (Thats how I found the place we are staying in Big bear.). Most places on Santa Monica want to rent by the week. The one you found is a possibility. And I found one more as well.</p>
<p>jym626 - we did exactly what you are suggesting and it worked well for us. We stayed at the Inn at Venice Beach for 2 nights so we could just hang around Venice, go to the beach and have a room to walk back to for breaks , etc. Then we knew we would be sightseeing all day and not spending much time in the room so we moved to the less expensive hotel in Manhattan Beach. We were basically just sleeping there so it was great for us.
FYI - We were able to get a loft room at the Inn that had a loft w/ a queen bed for us and the downstairs living area had a queen size sofa bed for the teens. Not totally private, but a little better than your standard double/double and cheaper than 2 rooms.
I am trying to plan a spring break college trip right now as well and balance cost vs location/ambience as well. Sometimes it's a tough choice. That's why I don't mind moving to a different hotel sometimes - it's nice to get a couple of different perspectives.
I also love trip advisor - I have found some hidden gems there.</p>
<p>PA mom-
Is the loft option INSTEAD of a bedroom or in addition to a bedroom? I assumed that there was a bedroom and living room on the main level and in addition a loft with a second bed. Is this not correct? Hmmmm..... I will have to recheck the website.</p>
<p>I remember being a little confused when we arrived so maybe the website is not clear. I thought I had reserved a loft, a bedroom and living area, but mine did turn out to be a living area with sofa bed, then upstairs to a loft bedroom. It was not a big deal for us because we usually just do the double double thing, but if you want more privacy or to not have the sofa bed sprawled out into the living area that may not work for you.
I wonder if they have a couple of different lay-outs? Maybe if you phone them you can get more accurate info. FYI - I noticed on Trip advisor that people complained about street noise...I did not notice it and I am a pretty light sleeper. Maybe it depends on whether it was a weekend or not ( bars? )</p>
<p>appstressin-
Which parts of Venice are sketchy? I am still looking around, as it turns out that many of the "suites" arrangements are really just one giant room with a sofabed, so I am still looking around... I have the opportunity to rent a small house in Beverly Hills (way up in the hills) with free access to the BH Country Club! That is looking interesting too... though I like the beach idea.</p>
<p>update-
Some places didn't have the availability I wanted (like that cute townhouse in Santa Monica, Cheers) or the hotel "suites" turned out to be just one giant room with a king and a sofabed. That would be unpleasant after a few days. Some had 2 queens and a sofabed, but there was some snafoo with using the hotel points. SO here are my latest options---each is quite different. </p>
<p>Option 1 - stay in a really cool-looking, pretty little 2 br house in Beverly Hills with a small pool, 3 plasma tvs and free access to the Beverly Hills Country Club (cost- about $1000 for 4 days, with tax, cleaning fee, etc) where one of the boys would probably sleep on a sofabed (second BR has only 1 bed and they hate sleeping together at their age) or</p>
<p>Option 2 - stay in a modest "suites" hotel with a sort-of separate bedroom (1/2 wall dividing the bedroom and living area) with 2 queen beds and a pull out sofa bed (the boys can sleep in individual "beds"), kitchenette, free breakfast, small pool and exercise room, etc... in the Manhattan Beach/Hawthorne area, about 2 miles from the beach. Able to use hotel points, but don't have quite enough. Price out of pocket would be about $120.</p>
<p>So, do I shoot the wad and go for the BH house or go on the cheap and spend our $$ elsewhere? $1000 is a lot of $$, but it isn't a total deal-breaker. Any ideas?</p>
<p>do you have cross streets for the BH house? </p>
<p>Also, in an earlier post you indicated you wanted to do some stuff in Hollywood. What did you have in mind? BH will be a better location for Hollywood than MB/Hawthorne</p>
<p>Avoidingwork-
BTW- I love your screenname-- I avoided putting a computer on my desk at work for the longest time because it is too much of a distraction...</p>
<p>Anyway, yes, we will want to do some tourist-y stuff when we are out there, but haven't finalized the plans. We will probably do something in Hollywod, but will also want to go out to the beaches. Once we arrive in LA Tues early evening, the only scheduled thing at this point is the USC visit Weds afternoon. We may not force older s. to drag along to the USC tour, so he will have most of Weds free to do whatever. Thurs and Fri are totally open "playdays" to be tourists. Our flight leaves around 1:30 Sat afternoon. </p>
<p>The BH house is not in walking distance to anything. I'll PM you with the address. Thanks!</p>
<p>My off-the-cuff reaction is that four days is too short a stay to spend $1,000 on, considering how busy you will be trying to see all there is to see in that area. A week, yes. With a week, you might actually find you want to use the country club to just chill. But you're really not flying across the country for this brief trip to play tennis or sit by a pool or such things that you can do at home (and that includes the plasma TVs. Three! So L.A. :) )</p>
<p>The money you would save staying in MB/Hawthorne would pay for a really nice dinner for four along the way and cover Universal Studios and pretty much all your other excursions in the area, I would think. </p>
<p>And it's possible that travel time would be about equal. If you're on the 405 or 105, you'll make freeway time if you avoid the worst rush hour times and you can head out of L.A. quickly (to Malibu or to LAX). Traffic on the westside (Beverly Hills, Westwood, Cheviot Hills, etc. all the way down to Santa Monica) is often crawling and gridlock prone so you would need to factor that into travel plans (especially going to the airport.) </p>
<p>Beverly Hills puts you in the heart of the westside, but I doubt it's in a neighborhood where you can walk to restaurants, shopping, movies, etc. So you are going to be in the car and driving and looking for parking whether you stay in MB or BH. Still, to stay in a little house in BH, nicely located for seeing L.A., sounds like fun. If the cost difference were closer, I would probably choose the house. I know what my DH would say, though, and I'd have to agree that the MB suites is the more practical choice for such a short stay. My two cents.</p>
<p>I've stayed in BH for business in the past and was never comfortable being out and about in the neighborhood without a car. This time, I'm staying in Santa Monica because I know from past experience that there'll be folks around. For the weekend (on my dime), I may stay at the UCLA Guest House--there are always students on campus and it's surrounded by residential communities with good walking opportunities.</p>
<p>Lots of great suggestions here, if I might add:</p>
<p>At the south end of Beverly HIlls on the "border" with Los Angeles are 3 hotels located on Pico Blvd. between Beverly and Beverwil (i think their actual addresses are Los Angeles and not BH): The Crowne Plaza, Marriott Residence Inn and The Tower Beverly Hills (the Tower being the most "upscale" of the three but not too out of control).</p>
<p>(certainly if you want to break the bank you have the Beverly Hills Hotel, Le meridian, the Four Seasons, The Beverly Regent, The Beverly Hilton and the various hotels in Century City and the Ritz Carlton in Marina del rey)</p>
<p>The location of these hotels on Pico puts you about a minute into the heart of Beverly Hills, a few minutes to Ucla/westwood on surface streets, a minute or two to Century City, a few minutes to the Museum area/Farmers market/The Grove in the Fairfax area (to the east of the hotels). </p>
<p>From Pico, where the hotels are located, you are a few minutes to the 10 freeway and from there (depending on traffic) 10-15 minutes to the east to USC and downtown LA, 10-15 minutes to the west to Santa monica/marina del rey and not too far from LAX.</p>
<p>Also, not to be presumptuous, but if you'd like to send me a PM with any specific questions, I graduated from USC, my wife from ucla and one of our kids is presently attending Pomona; oh and if you want to PM the address of the house in BH I know the area real well and happy to let you know more about that location.</p>
<p>And the decision is......
The house in BH. With lots of wonderful help and guidance form cc'ers (thanks especially to bullwinlke, mom60 , jazzymom and PA mom) we decided to splurge a little and stay here. I looked at other options in town in W. Hollwyood and at the beach, but decided this was a good central location,and would be comfortable for us.
Any and all suggestions for tings fun to do in and around LA will be appreciated and welcome-</p>
<p>Something to do - since you're so close, you can head over to UCLA's bookstore and buy your S a UCLA sweatshirt that he can wear proudly while touring USC. :)</p>
<p>Great plan, UCSD<em>UCLA</em>dad. I'll be sure to do that :)</p>
<p>Remind me of when my brother used to go to Boston to visit a friend-- they'd go to the ballgame, where my bro would wear his Yale sweatshirt and root for the Yankees.</p>