1 1/2 day in LA Area

[Sfun2424]

We wil arrive on a friday afternoon and ship leaves on sunday out of long beach. Plan to rent a car to do some sight seeing. We have never been to LA or the area. I would like to stay at a choice hotel brand (looking to use points for room but not a must) maybe near the airport. (???)

Looks like from reading the boards it will be best to drop the car off back at the airport and take a shuttle to long beach port. We are thinking of spending saterday driving around to see some sights and are looking for the must see things in the area. maybe take a drive along the cost???

looking for hotel suggestions and sights to see in a day and a half.

 

Thanks

[SadieN]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=511653&highlight=3+day+los+angeles

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1551456

 

The area around LAX is not set up for tourists and has several STRIP (in the true sense of the word) malls in the area.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would advise against staying by LAX too. Not the best locale. If you do a search on Bruin Steve's posts, he has listed some hotel choices for Long Beach. May be a good idea unless you're really tied in to choice (I guess you can look up on their website -- aren't there several brands of hotels under this name?).

 

If you stay in Long Beach, you can have lots of fun around there including the Aquarium (which is excellent), the Queen Mary, and Shoreline Village, which is a quaint outdoors shopping center with restaurants, etc. and a view of the Carnival berth. One option to renting your car at LAX (I'm assuming you're flying in there as opposed to LB airport) is to grab a shuttle (Supershuttle) to your hotel and then go to a nearby car rental place (I guess someone one can jump in with ones around there). Might be easier than to go back and forth to the airport/port on Sunday. Some hotels in LB will even provide a shuttle to the port.

[Bruin Steve]

We wil arrive on a friday afternoon and ship leaves on sunday out of long beach. Plan to rent a car to do some sight seeing. We have never been to LA or the area. I would like to stay at a choice hotel brand (looking to use points for room but not a must) maybe near the airport. (???)

Looks like from reading the boards it will be best to drop the car off back at the airport and take a shuttle to long beach port. We are thinking of spending saterday driving around to see some sights and are looking for the must see things in the area. maybe take a drive along the cost???

looking for hotel suggestions and sights to see in a day and a half.

 

Thanks

 

First, the LAX area is not necessarily a great place to stay...just not a lot around there...

 

Trying to do Choice Hotels in LA is...well...let's say it doesn't give you much in the way of decent choices...

 

The Choice Hotels in the LAX area are all ACROSS the 405...in Inglewood--an area that is definitely worse than staying closer to LAX on the West side of the 405...Absolutely do not opt for one of these...

 

There is a Rodeway Inn in Long Beach close to my recommended area, but it's not on the list of hotels I would usually recommend...

 

http://www.rodewayinn.com/hotel-long_beach-california-CA340?sid=xzL0YM.0x319g8IW.21&sarea=413535&sname=Long+Beach%2CCA%2CUS&sstate=CA&scountry=US&sradius=40.23&slat=33.76672&slon=-118.1924&schain=A&exp=&scity=&sort=&type=&map=n&srp=RACK&nroom=1&nadult1=1&nchild1=0&nadult2=&nchild2=&nadult3=&nchild3=&nadult4=&nchild4=&nadult5=&nchild5=&sstate_country=

 

Problem is that if you intend to do typical LA sightseeing, you likely want to stay on the West side, not in Long Beach...wait until the morning of the cruise to head down to Long Beach...

 

About as good a location as you are going to find among Choice Hotels is this one...in Santa Monica:

 

http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-santa_monica-california-CA430?sid=xzL0YM.0x319g8IW.21&sarea=413541&sname=Los+Angeles%2C+CA%2C+US&sstate=CA&scountry=US&sradius=80.00&slat=34.05349&slon=-118.24532&schain=A&exp=&scity=&sort=&type=&map=n&srp=RACK&nroom=1&nadult1=1&nchild1=0&nadult2=&nchild2=&nadult3=&nchild3=&nadult4=&nchild4=&nadult5=&nchild5=&sstate_country=

 

But, be aware, this is NOT in the prefered tourist area of Santa Monica...Choice's description says "near the Santa Monica Pier"...it isn't...it's at 28th and Santa Monica Boulevard...So, it is 28 blocks from the beach, the Pier, etc. It's in sort of a commercial area of Santa Monica...on the "other side" of Santa Monica...But, OTOH, you will have a car...and this hotel comes with FREE PARKING...

 

It's not exactly a 4 or 5 star hotel, but of all the Choice hotels in the LA area, this might be your best shot...

 

See Trip Advisor reviews:

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g33052-d82049-Reviews-Comfort_Inn_Santa_Monica-Santa_Monica_California.html

 

As far as the ranking of #23 of 34, note that most of the hotels in Santa Monica are just nicer and in better locations...no one can really compare this to staying at the Loew's or the Miramar or Shutters at the Beach...

 

But, it may serve your purposes...

 

At dinner time, you'll likely want to get in your car and drive over to the Third Street Promenade or to Main Street or to the Marina...

 

But, it may serve your purposes and help with your budget...

 

Good luck...

[kenish]

The first question is what do you want to see? I know you mentioned a drive along the coast. Even that has choices...do you want rugged and fairly natural coastline, sandy beaches, laid-back surfer communities, posh resort areas, or crazy/ bohemian areas? LA is culturally and geographically huge, so it will really help to narrow down likes / dislikes and focus on an area.

[Bruin Steve]

I get the idea the OP doesn't really know that much about LA...

 

I'll try to run through some major "things to see":

 

Most tourists coming to LA want to see a little of Hollywood--the footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Sign, the Walk of Fame...Hollywood can be somewhat seedy in parts--sort of an older urban area...but it's good for a few classic tourist experiences...

 

Beverly Hills can be quite popular--specifically Rodeo Drive, for it's high end retail shops...

 

Burbank and Universal City have most of the TV and movie studios---some with tours...and of course the Universal theme park as well as its restaurant/shopping attraction, Citywalk....

 

Santa Monica is a favorite of many with its famous Pier with rides and amusements...and the Third Street Promenade for restaurants, shopping and nightlife...Just below Santa Monica is Venice--with it's "Boardwalk" along the beach--with the classic scenes of the bodybuilders at Muscle Beach, bicyclists and girls in bikinis on roller skates...a great people-watching area especially in the summer...

 

For a little culture, try a visit to the Getty Center Museum (Art Museum) off the 405 just above Sunset Blvd. and the Getty Villa (Antiquities Collection) on Pacific Coast Highway just past Sunset as you enter Malibu...

 

There's lots more, but that could be a start...obviously more than a day and a half's worth there...

[Sfun2424]

First thanks for all the fast reply's... Ya I have no clue about the LA area. I am not stuck on the choice brand of hotels. Just have points to use up. For our pre cruise stay I will look into other hotel brands. Ya I'm thinking that we will want to kind of get the quickie look over of the area. See the Hollywood sign, maybe the Sana Monica pier or Venice beach ect... Is this a time of year (late April) to see Whales or Dolphins?

I will need a room close to the airport (LAX) for our return home on Monday. I had planned to get a place close to the airport for easy (less traffic to deal with) on Monday morning. Our flight is around 7am

But after reading the boards this does not sound like a good idea. What is my next best option? Does the airport have a hotel attached?

 

Thanks for all the help....:):):)

[kenish]

LAX does not have a hotel directly attached but there are many hotels within a few miles. Your thought of a nearby hotel is good since you have a 7am Monday flight. No traffic worries, just get a shuttle to the terminals which almost all of the hotels provide.

 

Start with Tripadvisor to narrow down the choices based on your preferences, location, and budget. Anything on Century Blvd. west of the 405 Freeway is fine. Things get "iffy" east of 405. The area south of the airport is hit and miss...there are some nice hotels and some serious dumps.

 

As others mentioned, the area along Century doesn't have anything to offer tourists. Consider taking a shuttle from port to your LAX hotel when you get off the ship, then re-renting a car at LAX and exploring the area on Sunday afternoon instead of sitting in your hotel room.

 

FYI there's a lot of people going between LAX and the ports on cruise days...fare on a shared van will be about $20 and usually everyone is going to the ship so they don't do pickups or dropoffs enroute (though no guarantee they won't).

[wilfros]

Don't want to HiJack the thread but have a question for all you LA experts.

 

Can anyone tell me what the Fishermans Wharf is like located south of LAX?

 

We are thinking of driving along the coast from San Pedro to LAX in the morning to noon hour time period next Monday. We thought we might stop at Fishermans Wharf for lunch before going to the Queen Mary for the afternoon and evening.

 

Any feedback in ideas appreciated.

[kenish]

I think you're talking about the Redondo Beach Pier, also called "Rainbow Pier" due to it's shape. IMHO, not really worth a dedicated trip unless you're driving past anyway. 45-60 minutes should do it, maybe a bit more if you want to eat there. FYI, the pier scenes in the series "The OC" were shot there, and it's nowhere near Orange County. (Everyone in LA would just as soon forget about that show). A bit run-down with a lot of vacant stores and "infill" shops.

 

This may be helpful: http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-socalcloseups-20110828,0,848664,full.story

[Cruisin' Chick]

First thanks for all the fast reply's... Ya I have no clue about the LA area. I am not stuck on the choice brand of hotels. Just have points to use up. For our pre cruise stay I will look into other hotel brands. Ya I'm thinking that we will want to kind of get the quickie look over of the area. See the Hollywood sign, maybe the Sana Monica pier or Venice beach ect... Is this a time of year (late April) to see Whales or Dolphins?

I will need a room close to the airport (LAX) for our return home on Monday. I had planned to get a place close to the airport for easy (less traffic to deal with) on Monday morning. Our flight is around 7am

But after reading the boards this does not sound like a good idea. What is my next best option? Does the airport have a hotel attached?

 

Thanks for all the help....:):):)

 

Pre-early-flight stays would be the only reason I would say to stay by the airport. We stayed at the LAX Marriott the night before our early morning flight to Honolulu for our honeymoon. But we waited until night before actually going to the hotel -- we had the limo stop in Marina del Rey so we can watch our first sunset as a married couple. Once we checked in to the hotel, we stayed there (which was troublesome later on when we got hungry and discovered that room service didn't have many choices at that time...fortunately we were given a fruit basket and champagne).

 

One thing to be aware of is that late April and early May when you'll be here is often when we have overcast weather. There's always the possibility of a heat spell or a rainstorm but usually it's just blah weather (easy for me to keep track as my birthday falls around then). You'll not want to stick your toe into the Pacific unless you like very cold ocean weather.

[cdamion]

On the night after the cruise, absolutely stay in one of the LAX-area hotels. You can even save money by bidding on Priceline or going to Hotwire - I would stick with 4 stars - maybe 3 1/2 - and you will get a nice hotel.

 

I have often stayed in LAX area hotels and have no complaints. No, there isn't much to do right there, but it is very central to getting places (I may be biased because I grew up in Culver City not that far away).

 

Actually, you may want to consider staying in the area pre-cruise as well. It is centrally located to many attractions and you can just return the car to LAX and take a shuttle or even Carnival's transfer to the port Sunday morning.

[LaCal]

I get the idea the OP doesn't really know that much about LA...

 

I'll try to run through some major "things to see":

 

Most tourists coming to LA want to see a little of Hollywood--the footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Sign, the Walk of Fame...Hollywood can be somewhat seedy in parts--sort of an older urban area...but it's good for a few classic tourist experiences...

 

Beverly Hills can be quite popular--specifically Rodeo Drive, for it's high end retail shops...

 

Burbank and Universal City have most of the TV and movie studios---some with tours...and of course the Universal theme park as well as its restaurant/shopping attraction, Citywalk....

 

Santa Monica is a favorite of many with its famous Pier with rides and amusements...and the Third Street Promenade for restaurants, shopping and nightlife...Just below Santa Monica is Venice--with it's "Boardwalk" along the beach--with the classic scenes of the bodybuilders at Muscle Beach, bicyclists and girls in bikinis on roller skates...a great people-watching area especially in the summer...

 

For a little culture, try a visit to the Getty Center Museum (Art Museum) off the 405 just above Sunset Blvd. and the Getty Villa (Antiquities Collection) on Pacific Coast Highway just past Sunset as you enter Malibu...

 

There's lots more, but that could be a start...obviously more than a day and a half's worth there...

 

I Live in Los Angeles......And you Nailed lots of GREAT things for the OP to check out.....

[welovetotravel]

Great post. We will be visiting next month and I will definitely be using some of your tips!

[wocheez]

I get the idea the OP doesn't really know that much about LA...

 

I'll try to run through some major "things to see":

 

Most tourists coming to LA want to see a little of Hollywood--the footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Sign, the Walk of Fame...Hollywood can be somewhat seedy in parts--sort of an older urban area...but it's good for a few classic tourist experiences...

 

Beverly Hills can be quite popular--specifically Rodeo Drive, for it's high end retail shops...

 

Burbank and Universal City have most of the TV and movie studios---some with tours...and of course the Universal theme park as well as its restaurant/shopping attraction, Citywalk....

 

Santa Monica is a favorite of many with its famous Pier with rides and amusements...and the Third Street Promenade for restaurants, shopping and nightlife...Just below Santa Monica is Venice--with it's "Boardwalk" along the beach--with the classic scenes of the bodybuilders at Muscle Beach, bicyclists and girls in bikinis on roller skates...a great people-watching area especially in the summer...

 

For a little culture, try a visit to the Getty Center Museum (Art Museum) off the 405 just above Sunset Blvd. and the Getty Villa (Antiquities Collection) on Pacific Coast Highway just past Sunset as you enter Malibu...

 

There's lots more, but that could be a start...obviously more than a day and a half's worth there...

 

Couldn't have said it any better!! I too live in the LA area.....

[Pearl64]

We will be arriving on a late flight (10pm) on MLK Day and dealing with a three hour time difference. We do not leave for our Australia cruise until evening the next day. We need advice on several items: a hotel for the night and what to do for the day before our flight. Since we are arriving late, I thought it best to get a hotel close to the hotel that also has a free shuttle and since we will be going back to the airport for our flight. I have looked at the Embassy Suites(I see there is a North and South hotel), Courtyard, and the Sheraton Gateway. I think it was the Sheraton that had 24 hour check in which sounded like a possibility. Now the next day, we have probably until about 5-6 pm to explore. We know very little about the LA area. We are in our 60s and are fairly mobile. We do not want to rent a car and deal with LA traffic. Are there studios that would be close we could see?What would be the best way to get there? I think we could see some things and get a late lunch and then head to the airport. We could probably leave our carryons at the hotel and pick them up before our flight.

 

Thanks for all suggestions. And, Bruin Steve, I hope you respond!

 

Pearl

[Bruin Steve]

We will be arriving on a late flight (10pm) on MLK Day and dealing with a three hour time difference. We do not leave for our Australia cruise until evening the next day. We need advice on several items: a hotel for the night and what to do for the day before our flight. Since we are arriving late, I thought it best to get a hotel close to the hotel that also has a free shuttle and since we will be going back to the airport for our flight. I have looked at the Embassy Suites(I see there is a North and South hotel), Courtyard, and the Sheraton Gateway. I think it was the Sheraton that had 24 hour check in which sounded like a possibility. Now the next day, we have probably until about 5-6 pm to explore. We know very little about the LA area. We are in our 60s and are fairly mobile. We do not want to rent a car and deal with LA traffic. Are there studios that would be close we could see?What would be the best way to get there? I think we could see some things and get a late lunch and then head to the airport. We could probably leave our carryons at the hotel and pick them up before our flight.

 

Thanks for all suggestions. And, Bruin Steve, I hope you respond!

 

Pearl

 

Pearl, to me, all of the LAX area hotels are fairly generic...pick by whatever chain you like... Embassy has the free breakfast and such..."North" may be a little closer for what you want to do...

 

The only movie/TV studio near LAX is Sony (formerly MGM)...probably need a taxi, but it's a short taxi ride from LAX...Near the Sony Studios, there are a lot of restaurant choices in the downtown Culver City area...along Culver and Washington Boulevards just to the east of the studios...

 

http://www.sonypicturesstudiostours.com/

[Cruisin' Chick]

What time is your flight? Remember, you'll have to be at LAX by a certain time. So you may be limited to the morning for any sightseeing, plus you may be a bit jet lag by the three hour difference (well, more in your favor, but it still might make your clocks off a bit).

 

The hotels by the airport aren't anywhere near anywhere you'll want to see. You can check the link in Steve's post about Sony Studios. Maybe try to be there for the 9:30am tour, but remember you'll need to take a taxi there (which means going down to the concierge desk fairly early just in case there aren't taxis outside waiting -- and for your return, you should program you cell with a taxi company's phone number as there probably won't be any waiting).

 

I was there as a little kid when it was MGM, but as a guest (my father knew the medical consultant on the show "Medical Center," so we got to see them film the show, met the stars plus Ida Lupino came up to us to introduce herself -- she must have thought we were the kids of some network murky murk, and eat in the commissary -- my sister went up to Walter Pigeon and got his autograph).

[Splinter]

I think you would do better to take a shuttle directly from the airport to a hotel in downtown Long Beach. The next day, visit the Aquarium (there is a free shuttle around the tourist areas along the port area), and perhaps tour the Queen Mary before getting on your ship. Remember you need to be on board your ship no later than 2 hours before departure as well.

[Pearl64]

We are not getting on a ship but a plane from LAX. Our flight is at 9 pm so as long as we are at the airport between 5 and 6 I think we should be okay. Keep the suggestions coming as we'll as ideas of what to do. Thanks.

 

Pearl

[SadieN]

An idea---

In the morning go back to the airport and pick up the Flyaway Bus to Union Station ($7pp one way, DO NOT GET ON THE ONE TO VAN NUYS) from the center curb under "Shuttles". From Union Station you can access the Metro Rail and get to various parts of LA & Hollywood. (Be warned that some parts of the Metro can be dangerous. Recently there have been a string of snatch and grabs near the Red Line at Hollywood & Highland.)

 

OR (my choice)

 

Across from the Union Station is Olvera Street and China Town. We have spent the whole day just in this area. Eat at Phillippe's ($) the home of original French dip sandwich. Other places to eat are any of the Mexican restaurants on Olvera Street ($$), Traxx in Union Station ($$$) or in Chinatown.

 

Olvera Street is the original street in LA. Surrounding the square is one of the original fire houses and the Los Angeles Mission Catholic Church, part of the string of mission churches founded by the Spanish in the 1700's.

 

www.metro.net

I would give you the other websites but my computer is balky right now.

Google-

LA Union Station

LA Union Station Flyaway Bus

Olvera Street

Phillipe's

LA Chinatown