Swedes is coming to town (Santa Monica, Rodeo: apartment, rentals, houses)

[silfwer]

We are a Swedish couple in our early 30´s and we need some help in the planning of our vacation, summer 2011.
We´re planning to visit LA for about three weeks and rent a house/apartment. Can you recommend any trustworthy good websites where we to find a nice selection to choose from? vacationrentals.com?
Where in the LA-area would you recommend us to stay? Beaches, Restaurants & Bars are our main interests, but we will also do classic tourist things like Universal Studios. Is there anything you think that we absolutely must do/visit? Will we get a decent apartment for $800-1000/week?
We would also like to rent a car and make a short trip to Las Vegas for some days…Plan to drive to LV and fly back to LA, or is that weird? Read a lot of negative stuff about flying in US lately.
Is there anything special that I should take in consideration when renting a car in the US? Do we need a car all the time or is public transportation ok in the LA-area?
Of course the questions above don’t have one easy correct answer so all ideas are appreciated. Hope I made myself understood.
Tack på förhand

[londoner1]

Valkommen till LA! Not that I am in LA, but since nobody else is bothering to answer I think an outsider's reply is better than nothing

From what I learnt cruising these pages frequently these past few weeks, you get a really nice apartment for $800-1000/week. I myself am coming to LA in the summer and hence have been searching for accomodation. My budget is massively smaller than yours though, and keeps getting smaller as mamma och pappa unfortunately have refused to fund my fun times in LA. So unfair. So I now have to look for a room or small studio that's $900/month max.

I stayed in LA for 10 days last February and I would recommend living in Santa Monica. I liked it a lot and it's got everything that you guys are looking for: beaches, restaurants & bars, shopping. I think you should definitely visit Griffith Park Observatory and hop on one of those sightseeing buses, they're relatively cheap fun, and you get to see all the major celebrities' houses. Walk of Fame, Universal Studios, Venice beach, Rodeo drive... there's so much to see. Which is why I would recommend renting a car. I hated the fact that I didn't have a license, which is why I am now learning in time for my next trip down LA. Everything is just so much easier when you're cruising in your own (rented) car. I used taxis and town cars a lot and I don't want to make the same mistake again (and quite frankly couldn't even afford it now).

I heard so many horror stories about the public transport in LA, but in reality I actually found the Metro shockingly clean, safe and comfortable. Some station even come with art installations! Rode the bus once just for the sake of it, hated it. Utterly hated it. I thought I despised London buses but LA buses are really disgusting. I would not recommend it to anyone under any circumstances. They're slow, they stink, the driver was rude and a lot of the passengers probably haven't bathed for several weeks. Let me just saying it again: they're disgusting!

[BluSpark]

Originally Posted by londoner1

I heard so many horror stories about the public transport in LA, but in reality I actually found the Metro shockingly clean, safe and comfortable. Some station even come with art installations! Rode the bus once just for the sake of it, hated it. Utterly hated it. I thought I despised London buses but LA buses are really disgusting. I would not recommend it to anyone under any circumstances. They're slow, they stink, the driver was rude and a lot of the passengers probably haven't bathed for several weeks. Let me just saying it again: they're disgusting!

The Metro in LA is clean and comfortable. It just does NOT go as many places as it should. Give it another 10 or 20 years.

In the meantime, I agree...rent a car while you are here.

[BluSpark]

I agree with Londoner1: seems like Santa Monica would be a good place for you to stay.

Also, why would you want to fly back from Las Vegas? If you are renting a car and driving there...you might as well drive back. I would say either book a round trip ticket from LA to Vegas or just drive both ways.