You may find a few ideas in THIS THREAD.

Pippy

I felt the same when it came to booking our LA hotel. We (4 guys) plumped for Hollywood. We were a minute walk from Hollywood Blvd and the Kodak Theatre. We thought that this would be prime position for "Hollywood Nightlife" but we were wrong. We spent the day in Santa Monica and we all agreed that we wish we had booked in somewhere there.

If i was to go to LA again i'd stay in Santa Monica because it was so nice. WEST Hollywood if I wanted the nightlife.

I agree. We stayed in Santa Monica on one of our trips to LA and it was a good choice. It was one of the few places I felt safe walking around.

Me too, I had a couple of days there at the end of my round the world trip and it felt totally safe as opposed to previous trips when I had stayed more 'down town'. I enjoyed my early morning walk along Venice Beach, watched the people setting up their stalls and the skaters doing their routines.

Thanks to all for your advice. LA seems such a big place and since we usually depend on local transport, it is going to be a challenge !!

Thanks again

Sorry, forgot to say, can you recommend a decent hotel in Santa Monica we will definately stay here for part of our trip. Some of the hotel reviews are not too good. We are not hard to please, but don't want to end up somewhere that hasn't been refurbrished for years and years.

many thanks.

When you say you are going to use local transport, do bear in mind that LA covers an absolutely huge area, so travelling from A to B by bus can quite literally take all day, as we found to our cost many years ago! Never did get to Universal Studios as it was nearly closing time by the time we arrived!

LA seems such a big place and since we usually depend on local transport, it is going to be a challenge !!

Probably more than you think I'm afraid. You really do need a car in LA, it is such a big city/area unlike some of the other big cities in the USA which have excellent public transportation (San Francisco, Boston, New York, Chicago etc).

I drove over there. It's daunting to start with, especially as the only experience in the US prior to this was the relative calm and ease of Orlando, but after you get your bearings it is a doddle. Worth keeping your journeys outside of the rush hour though, traffic can build up to horrendous proportions.

Oh and I broke down on a 8 lane highway!!! That was fun!!!

Which highway was that, J? And I suspect it was probably a freeway and not a highway, unless you meant 4 lanes in total and not 4 lanes in each direction.