The rooms are spacious and of a high standard with everything you would expect of a hotel of this standing.
It boasts a heated swimming pool, a fitness centre, a business centre with free computer access and provides free Wi-Fi internet access in every room. The wall mounted TV was a 50" plasma. Whist the pool was small, we found the bath like temperature of the water a great way to end each day.
The mini bar fridge in the room carried a 4-star selection of products at a 5-star price. However a quick visit to Trader Joe’s mini-market, just down the road, was a far more tempting option.
We found our mid-city west neighbourhood a great location from which to explore Los Angeles. The hotel is within easy walking distance of the Beverly shopping centre to the west and the Farmers Market & Orion shopping centre to the east – both of which were well worth a visit. There are so many evening eating options at the Farmers market, that you could easily eat your way around the world.
Not wishing to hire a car in this city of traffic jams, we decided to use public transport and found the Los Angeles Metro system one of the best we have ever come across. For $20 each (approx. £14.50) we purchased a weekly Tap ticket that covered all of our travel on the Orange (standard) and Red (rapid) buses and the whole local trains network (blue, red, green, gold, purple and expo lines) for the period we were there.
Using non-metro buses (Big Blue or the Green Buses) cost $1 each per journey – and this covered a one stop or a thirty stop journey (200 yards or 20 miles) – amazing.
We took also took a VIP tour of the Warner Brothers studio in Burbank, and cannot praise our tour guide highly enough for his professionalism and studio knowledge (Thank you so much Thom.)
The museum sector on Wiltshire Boulevard was two short bus rides away from the hotel. We visited the La Bria tar pits, The Los Angeles County museum of Art and the Peterson motor museum, who were all worth the entry frees. Whilst in this area we purchased a chilidog each at one of the many food trucks parked along this road that provided a global selection of treats. We found Hollywood Boulevard very tacky, which only held our attention for a short period. This is a must visit location that is way overhyped by tourist magazines and travel shows.
Rodeo Drive in Beverly hills is for the rich and famous – as we were neither rich or famous its shops, with a shopping appointment policy and closed doors, were not for us.
Santa Monica and its pier was a far more welcoming location, with fantastic sea views, great shops and restaurants.
Los Angeles is a great location to visit, with lots to see and do and we both highly recommend it.
