Is Santa Monica a Good Choice for Pre-Cruise?

[Editor]

Hi All:

 

I'm still trying to figure out the best location to stay pre-cruise. We're flying in (to LAX) from New York on March 28 for our March 31 cruise on the Diamond to the MR. We're not interested in Disney or Universal, but would like to visit Santa Monica, Hollywood, a ride up Highway 101.

 

Would Santa Monica be a good locale for us? We'll be renting a car for the short stay.

 

Thanks!

[gratefulguy]

I'd think the best way to decide is to map out the places you do want to see--use a service that shows the mileage from point-to point--so you can decide how far you want to be from either the first place (airport) or last (pier). The traffic on 3/28 (Wed) may be heavier in the pm headed to Santa Monica, than that on 3/31(Sat) am headed to San Pedro/Long Beach. Where you have to drop off the car also matters. The whole LA area is so vast that you have many choices for the overnight hotel location, so you may want to choose based on price/value and ease of getting to your "must-see" sights. You will probably be happier with a place close to the coast--some inland neighborhoods (including much of Hollywood) are not the safest. Also, IMO, downtown LA is a place to go to, not stay in! There are some really good museums (Norton Simon and the Huntington) in/near Pasadena, so look there, too, though they are at least an hour from the airport or pier.

Happy Cruising

[Cruisin' Chick]

As stated above, LA is such a big place. And you have to be really careful as a wrong turn can leave you in a pretty bad area.

[Editor]

Travel distance is not too much of an issue. We'd like to be in reasonable driving distance to area attractions and the port.

What's most important is that we stay in a nice, safe area.

With that in mind, can you please give me some examples of where it would be best to stay?

[Bruin Steve]

ABSOLUTELY, Santa Monica is a great place to stay for a three-night pre-cruise...

 

You're about 10 miles north of LAX and 30 miles north of the Harbor...

But, your concern here is staying in a nice area, convenient to the tourist sites you want to visit, etc.

 

Santa Monica offers the best climate, some of the nicest "walking" streets, a great selection of restaurants and more...

 

It is in one of the nicer parts of the greater Los Angeles area and offers a lot to tourists...including some great ocean views along Palisades Park (on the cliffs at Ocean Avenue, above Pacific Coast Highway and the beach...

 

The Santa Monica Pier is an interesting attraction...The Third Street Promenade is a great place to stroll, shop, eat...and it is "alive" in the evenings...

 

With a rental car, both the Getty Center (405 at Getty Center Drive) and the Getty Villa (Pacific Coast Highway at Coastline Drive) are a short distance away...as are Venice Beach, Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills, UCLA/Westwood Village...

 

Hollywood can be a bit of a drive, but it can be a very interesting drive if you head up to Sunset Boulevard and pass UCLA/Bel Air, the residential part of Bevery Hills and the "Sunset Strip"/West Hollywood along the way...

 

It's not really the 101 you want to drive up from Santa Monica...but the "1"--Pacific Coast Highway...That takes you up through Malibu and connects to the 101 in Oxnard...You can continue from there up to Santa Barbara and Solvang if you want to make a "day trip" out of it...This is the Southern California "wine region"--where the movie "Sideways" was filmed and set...Solvang is a cute little Danish Village with gift shops and bakeries and restaurants--but, for dinner there, I recommend AJ Spurs--on the road to Buellton...

 

In Santa Monica, make sure you pick a hotel near Ocean Avenue/Third Street/Santa Monica Pier/Palisades Park...There are some fairly pricey ones--Loew's, Shutters, the Fairmont Miramar...but also some more reasonably priced ones in the same area...it's nice to be able to walk to the restaurants, park, etc.

 

I would never stay in Downtown LA or even Hollywood, though Universal City (north of Hollywood) is fine--if everything you want to do is centered around Hollywood/Universal/Burbank...

 

But, Santa Monica would be my first choice of locations for the most pleasant place to stay...

 

Good luck...

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you're not concerned about mileage/gas and all that and want to go someplace away from LA for the day, consider Ventura Harbor. It's about an hour and a half away from some places in LA (much closer for us...we don't connect to the 101 until around Thousand Oaks). We often go there for a day trip and just relax. There are some restaurants and eating places (one of the most popular hole in the wall fast foodish type of places is there...Andrian's, I think). Some little stores. Lots of boats. You can even take a little cruise around the harbor. We stayed there at the Sheraton overnight for the first time last July (have wanted to for some years).

[Editor]

Bruin Steve:

 

Many, many thanks!!!!

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Agreeing and concurring with my compadre BruinSteve...

If you have a lot of $, then there are quite a few high end hotels...

For some other cool options, I would recommend checking out these:

The Hotel California:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=451075

Cal Mar Hotel:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=423818

Jamaica Bay in Marina Del Ray/South Santa Monica:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=450593

http://www.bestwestern-jamaicabay.com/

These are good locations and hotels in the area for the price, if you want or can afford more, then there are several more expensive but good choices...;)

CJW