Need some hotel help (West Hollywood, Beverly Hills: rental car, rentals, hotels)

[himain]

Hi there. So the bf and I are flying into LAX on 9/5 and are looking to stay a couple of days before driving up the coast to San Fran. We'll have a rental car so driving around is possible. We haven't booked any hotels because we don't really have a set schedule set for anything and are kind of winging it. I know we'd like to visit BH, Hollywood. Is it possible to just find a decent hotel day of or should I definitely book something in advance? I'm assuming parking isn't that great like San Fran? Budget isn't set in stone either. Your help is appreciated.

[socal88]

Depends on what you're looking for and budget. Regardless, I suggest booking in advance. While tourist season winds down by September, it may still be busy, so no guarantees on finding something the day of.

As far as location, I'd suggest West Hollywood or Beverly Hills. Hollywood has some options such as the W and Roosevelt hotels, but West Hollywood and Beverly Hills are just nicer overall.

Since you're only going to be here for a couple days, I'm guessing you'll be gone most of the day and will essentially just use the hotel to sleep and maybe have a couple meals in which case it may be more sensible to find something on the cheaper side. While not exactly Motel 6 cheap, the Mondrian and Andaz are options if you want to be in the action on the Sunset Strip. If you want to go cheaper, there is a Best Western. If you Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and just too expensive at the end of the day, then I'd look at Hollywood.

Now if you want to go the fancier route, Four Seasons, The Beverly Hills Hotel, and The London are good if you have a bigger budget.

Airbnb is also another option. You can find some nice, affordable rentals there.

[himain]

Originally Posted by socal88

Depends on what you're looking for and budget. Regardless, I suggest booking in advance. While tourist season winds down by September, it may still be busy, so no guarantees on finding something the day of.

As far as location, I'd suggest West Hollywood or Beverly Hills. Hollywood has some options such as the W and Roosevelt hotels, but West Hollywood and Beverly Hills are just nicer overall.

Since you're only going to be here for a couple days, I'm guessing you'll be gone most of the day and will essentially just use the hotel to sleep and maybe have a couple meals in which case it may be more sensible to find something on the cheaper side. While not exactly Motel 6 cheap, the Mondrian and Andaz are options if you want to be in the action on the Sunset Strip. If you want to go cheaper, there is a Best Western. If you Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and just too expensive at the end of the day, then I'd look at Hollywood.

Now if you want to go the fancier route, Four Seasons, The Beverly Hills Hotel, and The London are good if you have a bigger budget.

Airbnb is also another option. You can find some nice, affordable rentals there.

Thanks for the suggestions. We just really didn't want to be tied into anything for time wise. I installed the Hotel Tonight app and I think that will be a big help as well. We'll only be in LA for a day or two before we take off for San Fran

[Statz2k10]

I also suggest looking into airbnb. They do have some people that rent out just for 2 days. Sometimes it's even beneficial to them because if they have a 3 day open slot it will be hard to fill that unless people like you try and book the place.

A lot of hosts are also flexible as well so if you tell them what your plan is maybe you can have a better check in/check out policy than the normal hotel. This could allow you to not be in a rush and possible do one more thing your last morning there.

For example. lets say a guest leaves on Monday. Technically Monday, Tuesday, Wed etc.. will be open. But if another guest is scheduled to arrive that Thursday it might be difficult to find somebody to fill in that gap.

So if you tried to stay Tuesday & Wednesday leaving Thursday the host might be willing to let you arrive at your convenience on Tuesday since the place is already clean. This way you're not waiting around till 3/4 pm like you would with a hotel to check in. Not allowing guests to check in at a hotel till 3/4 sometimes ruins an opportunity to actually spend time doing something. Of course this all depends on your flight arrival too.

[himain]

Thanks for the advice. I will look into that too