SoCal hotel/itinerary recommendations

[ashleyasiegel]

Flying in and out of Long Beach end of March/beginning of April and will be there for 9 days. We want to do 4 days at Disneyland, a day at Knotts as we have Cedar Fair season passes, and then touristy LA things like walk of fame, Hollywood sign, Santa Monica pier etc. Where should I stay? Keep a home base in Anaheim or move somewhere else? I am not sure where to begin

 

[China Expat]

I would book a hotel in Orange County and move toward LA for the LA parts. YOu'll waste half days in traffic!

 

[disny_luvr]

I am a total newbie to CA and Disneyland, but we'll be visiting this summer and from recommendations on here and other FB groups I'm in, we are booked at a hotel near Disneyland and then we booked a hotel in LA for that portion of the trip. Like the PP mentioned, I've read traffic can be horrendous and we don't want to spend all our time in the car.

 

[cmph]

My daughter goes to university in LA. It's ridiculous just getting from Santa Monica to her dorm (~8mi) during the day! When we visited in the fall, we shoved a last-minute Downtown Disney/Trader Sam's outing on our way to Irvine, and it took 2h to get there. So I definitely agree that a split stay will save driving time.

We loved the Huntley Santa Monica, if you want a rec in that area. We've also stayed at the Beverly Hills Plaza. We'd stay there again but definitely would warn anyone with mobility challenges away. It's hard to explain, but it was a lot of up/down little stairways to get to our room. The Huntley rooms are definitely higher end, but there is some charm to the Beverly Hills Plaza. Lots of people love the Garland, so that is on my list for the future. I'd highly recommend nailing down what exactly you want to do in LA, then pick a hotel that is convenient.

 

[sjmac42]

Flying in and out of Long Beach end of March/beginning of April and will be there for 9 days. We want to do 4 days at Disneyland, a day at Knotts as we have Cedar Fair season passes, and then touristy LA things like walk of fame, Hollywood sign, Santa Monica pier etc. Where should I stay? Keep a home base in Anaheim or move somewhere else? I am not sure where to begin

Definitely definitely, definitely move hotels after Knott’s. You don’t want to be commuting between Orange and LA counties, even on the weekend, every day.
Where depends on your budget and what else is on your itinerary in LA but we really like the Beverly Grove area. It’s a very nice low key neighbourhood with plenty of attractions (La Brea Tarpits, Petersen Automotive Museum, what’s left of the LA Museum of Contemporary Art, the Holocaust Museum, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and others). There’s great dining along west 3rd St and at the Farmers Market and great shopping at the Beverly Center, The Grove and others. It’s also about as central a location as you can get in the very spread out LA Metropolis.
Some hotel suggestions would be Park Plaza Lodge (behind the Farmers Market) and Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel (between the Farmers Market and Beverly Center) at the low end. Mid range you have Sofitel and The Elan (close to the Beverly Center). Higher end there’s Short Stories (opposite the Farmers Market) and Palihouse West Hollywood (On West 3rd St).

 

[jimmymc]

I would use one hotel for Disney and Knotts, then a second in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica.