Hotel/Long Beach or San Pedro

[scrappycat2]

Hi All.

 

Coming in for a cruise out of San Pedro port in October.

Flying in to LAX and arriving around 9:00 a.m.  Looking for a hotel to spend the day and do stuff (maybe beach), but want to be close to the port the next morning. 

Uber or shuttle would be fine.

I now there is the Crown Plaza and Doubletree near the port but doesn't look like there is much to do there.

Was thinking maybe Long Beach?  Any suggestions?  Anywhere else?

Looking for a mid-range price hotel around $150 or so within a 20 minute or so range to get to the port.

Thanks!  :)

 

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I would say Downtown Long Beach for fun and entertaining things to do, but $150 is low for the nice hotels like the Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric, Westin, Hilton, Residence Inn, DoubleTree Maya, Queen Mary, Marriott Courtyard and Renaissance.

[Bruin Steve]

On 7/18/2019 at 4:11 PM, scrappycat2 said:

Hi All.

 

Coming in for a cruise out of San Pedro port in October.

Flying in to LAX and arriving around 9:00 a.m.  Looking for a hotel to spend the day and do stuff (maybe beach), but want to be close to the port the next morning. 

Uber or shuttle would be fine.

I now there is the Crown Plaza and Doubletree near the port but doesn't look like there is much to do there.

Was thinking maybe Long Beach?  Any suggestions?  Anywhere else?

Looking for a mid-range price hotel around $150 or so within a 20 minute or so range to get to the port.

Thanks!  🙂

 

 

First, if you want to spend time at a beach, know that neither San Pedro norLong Beach is really much of a “beach town”.  The waterfront is, largely, industrial harbor.  You can go a little bit away in either direction...say Redondo Beach, for example—between LAX and San Pedro—And find hotels near beaches...OTOH, October won’t exactly be beach weather necessarily...the water will be cold.

 

As to San Pedro versus Long Beach, the trade-off is that San Pedro would be far more convenient...Stay, for example, at the Crowne Plaza and you could even walk to the pier. Their are a few “things to do” in San Pedro...the USS Iowa, a small marine museum and some other stuff...but, yeah, nothing overly flashy or exciting.

 

Long Beach has a bit more...the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific, for example...and more restaurant and hotel choices and a little nicer area to walk around and shop...but you will pay more for taxis/Ubers and not have as much convenience.

 

As to your $150 budget, beware, LA is an expensive hotel town...you may find it hard to find a decent hotel at that cost...depending on a lot of factors, of course...but DON’T take risks on a non-recommended “deal”... it may be a BAD hotel or in a BAD neighborhood...

 

Good luck...

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

9 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

First, if you want to spend time at a beach, know that neither San Pedro nor Long Beach is really much of a “beach town”.  The waterfront is, largely, industrial harbor.  You can go a little bit away in either direction...say Redondo Beach, for example—between LAX and San Pedro—And find hotels near beaches...OTOH, October won’t exactly be beach weather necessarily...the water will be cold.

 

Long Beach has a great beach at Belmont Shore. Just south of that is Seal Beach. Both are great and much closer than Redondo.

 

The last two weeks of Sept/first two weeks of Oct are some of the best days of beach weather of the year. September ends in the low 80s/high 70s; Oct begins in high the 70s and tapers to the mid 70s by the end of the month.

[Bruin Steve]

4 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Long Beach has a great beach at Belmont Shore. Just south of that is Seal Beach. Both are great and much closer than Redondo.

 

The last two weeks of Sept/first two weeks of Oct are some of the best days of beach weather of the year. September ends in the low 80s/high 70s; Oct begins in high the 70s and tapers to the mid 70s by the end of the month.

 

Okay...let’s start with Long Beach.s Belmont Shore and neighboring Seal Beach.  Yes, they have some nice beaches.  I did say you could go a bit in EITHER direction and find a nice beach area. But, I suggested Redondo for some good reasons.  First, it actually has some nice hotels reasonably close to the beach...not many in Belmont Shore, if at all.  Pacific Inn in Seal Beach is only about three blocks from the beach...but “much closer” than Redondo?  Absolutely not.  Your cruise port is in San Pedro.  The shortest distance to port from the Pacific Inn per Google Maps is 14 miles...but that is by all surface streets and a whole lot of traffic lights.  Using the freeways, it’s 20 miles.  The Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach is 13 miles from the port.  AND, the Pacific Inn is 27 miles from LAX...The Crowne Plaza Redondo is only 7.4 miles from LAX.

 

As to the October beach weather, I would disagree that it’s the “best” of the year...after averaging highs well into the 80s throughout July, August and September, those highs drop quickly into the mid 70s...which is definitely a fairly comfortable temperature...but you don’t exactly kick back to get a tan in the room temperature heat...remember those are the highs...it doesn’t stay 75 all day.  AND...the average water temperature in October is a chilly 64. If the OP is accustomed to beaches in the Caribbean, better to know that this certainly isn't it...and it may be better to plan for other things in the SoCal area...

[Husky61]

22 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Long Beach has a great beach at Belmont Shore. Just south of that is Seal Beach. Both are great and much closer than Redondo.

 

The last two weeks of Sept/first two weeks of Oct are some of the best days of beach weather of the year. September ends in the low 80s/high 70s; Oct begins in high the 70s and tapers to the mid 70s by the end of the month.

I agree with you that both Belmont Shore and Seal Beach have very good beaches. I spent a lot of time at both of those beaches.😃  And there are two other decent hotels in Seal Beach besides the Pacific Inn.  There is the Hampton Suites and the Golden Sails, both very acceptable.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

19 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

 

Okay...let’s start with Long Beach.s Belmont Shore and neighboring Seal Beach.  Yes, they have some nice beaches.  I did say you could go a bit in EITHER direction and find a nice beach area. But, I suggested Redondo for some good reasons.  First, it actually has some nice hotels reasonably close to the beach...not many in Belmont Shore, if at all.  Pacific Inn in Seal Beach is only about three blocks from the beach...but “much closer” than Redondo?  Absolutely not.  Your cruise port is in San Pedro.  The shortest distance to port from the Pacific Inn per Google Maps is 14 miles...but that is by all surface streets and a whole lot of traffic lights.  Using the freeways, it’s 20 miles.  The Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach is 13 miles from the port.  AND, the Pacific Inn is 27 miles from LAX...The Crowne Plaza Redondo is only 7.4 miles from LAX.

 

The OP didn't say they wanted to STAY at a beach, just go to one. If they wanted to stay at beach, Redondo Beach would be the last beach I'd recommend. Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and even Marina del Rey would be above Redondo.

 

19 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

As to the October beach weather, I would disagree that it’s the “best” of the year...after averaging highs well into the 80s throughout July, August and September, those highs drop quickly into the mid 70s...which is definitely a fairly comfortable temperature...but you don’t exactly kick back to get a tan in the room temperature heat...remember those are the highs...it doesn’t stay 75 all day.  AND...the average water temperature in October is a chilly 64. If the OP is accustomed to beaches in the Caribbean, better to know that this certainly isn't it...and it may be better to plan for other things in the SoCal area...

 

With all due respect, you live in Calabasas, not the beach. You are way off on the average temperatures.

 

The ocean temp in Oct, the first two weeks, which was the time frame I referenced, is anything from 65° to 68° on average, it all depends on the day, the surf, the specific area of a beach. The Wedge in Newport can be 65° and 21st street, a mile away can be 68°. You can see the variations on NOAA's website.

[Bruin Steve]

5 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

With all due respect, you live in Calabasas, not the beach. You are way off on the average temperatures.

 

With all due respect, I looked it up on a website too...and it said the average water temperature in Long Beach in October was 64.  

 

And, yeah, I live in Calabasas...I’m a whole 10-15 minutes from the beach...except when I’m at my beach house at La Jolla Shores—when it drops to 10-15 seconds...AND, I grew up right at the Beach—Will Rogers, Pacific Palisades—where my family lived next door to Getty for 42 years...and one thing I KNOW for certain...first hand...is that the water in October is COLD!  But, thanks for telling me all about the ocean...I hope to visit it one day like you, Scott...

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 7/21/2019 at 10:59 PM, Bruin Steve said:

With all due respect, I looked it up on a website too...and it said the average water temperature in Long Beach in October was 64. And, yeah, I live in Calabasas...I’m a whole 10-15 minutes from the beach...except when I’m at my beach house at La Jolla Shores—when it drops to 10-15 seconds...AND, I grew up right at the Beach—Will Rogers, Pacific Palisades—where my family lived next door to Getty for 42 years...and one thing I KNOW for certain...first hand...is that the water in October is COLD!  But, thanks for telling me all about the ocean...I hope to visit it one day like you, Scott...

 

If you have all this extensive ocean temperature experience as you claim, then surely you'd understand how temperature can vary greatly, even at the same beaches, based in ocean depths, currents, current swell and several other factors.

 

The ocean is not uniformly cold in "October", since the first two weeks are very different from the last two weeks.

 

Tens of thousands of people still flock to the beach in October, especially early October, when temperatures can still soar in inland areas like Calabasas and they still go in the ocean and find it refreshing.