Los Angeles – hotel recommendations & sights to see.

[Ajogu]

I am planning to visit the famous City of Angels for the first time with the family this August. I’ve been on various sites looking for hotels, but then I thought I get great responses from you guys.
Here’s the deal, I’m looking for a 4-5 star hotel that is children friendly, I’ve got 3 girls aged 9,4,3 yrs. So far, I've found the Hilton/Universal city that seems nice.
I’m planning to do loads of shopping, check out Hollywood, universal studios, LA zoo, Disney world and anymore attractions you guys think would be worth seeing.
Could you guys point me in the right direction?
Thanks for your input.

[B-Line]

Hey AJ,

I live in LA but unfortunately, don't have enough experience with kids to suggest hotels or activities.

But there is always the traditional LA things to do:
1) Go on a studio tour
2) Hollywood Walk of Fame
3) The Hollywood sign
4) Rodeo Dr.
5) Famous murder sites (just kidding)
6) We have Disney "land" Disney "World" is in Orlando Florida
7) Obviously, Universal Studios
8) The LA Zoo is not the most interesting place in the world.
9) Griffith Observatory

Good luck and have fun.

[AzX5]

La Brea Tar Pits: http://www.tarpits.org/
Knottsberry Farm: http://www.knotts.com/
Raging Waters: http://www.ragingwaters.com/
Santa Monica Pier: http://www.santamonicapier.org/

[Ajogu]

Thanks guys. A friend of mine just suggested not to stay in one hotel since I'm planning to stay for 2 weeks. He said to spend a few days in the disney land hotel to take in the whole "disney experience". He also said it would be advisable to rent a car. Are taxi's that expensive or difficult to find?
I'll find a few hotels online and hopfully ask you guys if location wise are fine.

[Quicksilver]

Rent a car. LA is spread out and a Taxi would kill you for sure. Disney Land hotel is a good thing. Venice Beach is just plain fun and this page will give you load of things to do. http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/los...s/a/labest.htm

Me. I love staying in Newport Beach and going into LA from there, http://boomersint.org/pchwy/scalbch.htm

[Thunder22]

The Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey ...

[ca911]

I second the Ritz in Marina Del Rey. Also the Sofitel in Beverly Hills is very nice and reasonably priced. I would for sure rent a car and if you are there for two weeks I'd probably do a few days in LA, a few at Disney, and maybe a few down in Laguna or Newport Beach. In Laguna Beach the Ritz there is outstanding as well as the Monarch Bay.

[ca911]

Oh and Universal City is close to the studios, but is a little far from the majority of the sights in la. If you can you might want to stay closer to Beverly Hills or Marina Del Rey.

Another idea to do is try to get tickets for a tv taping. There are a ton of sites on the web where you can get them, usually for free.

[lakai]

Like everyone says, rent a car. Everything is spread out and we have no rail system or a convenient form of public transportation. Aside from the theme parks, there is the san diego zoo and sea world (1 1/2 hour from LA). 5 star Los angeles hotels aren't that great compared to other cities (from my experience).

Enjoy your trip!