Pacific, palm trees and the pier: Los Angeles is enormous – stay by the sea and you'll experience the laid-back side of the city.
Photo: Gabe (Unsplash)
Los Angeles isn't a city for strolling but a patchwork of neighbourhoods you drive between. Hence my advice: stay by the sea. Santa Monica with the pier and the promenade, Venice Beach with the boardwalk – that's where L.A. is the way you imagine it, and in the morning you walk to the beach.
I've been there several times, once in Santa Monica at the Huntley right on the sea, once at the Sofitel in Beverly Hills – two completely different worlds, both described on the hotel pages. From Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood and the Griffith Observatory are quick to reach; from Santa Monica, the coast up to Malibu.
You need a car, but not for everything: the Expo Line runs between Santa Monica, Venice and Downtown. The city is the ideal starting point for a California road trip along Highway 1 to San Francisco – four to five days that rank among the most beautiful drives I know.
Santa Monica is my first choice: beach, pier, restaurants, everything on foot. Beverly Hills is quiet and elegant, but nothing works without a car. I'd avoid Hollywood itself for sleeping.
Hotels I know myself and describe on their own pages: Huntley Santa Monica Beach, Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Ocean View Hotel Santa Monica.
I almost always compare hotels, apartments and guesthouses on Booking.com – with genuine reviews and usually free cancellation.
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