I am directionally challenged and completely unfamiliar with this area, but I would like plan a vacation out there. The dirty secret is that I want to visit a relative with a baby, but my husband will be less thrilled with that, so my goal is to find a nice beach hotel and come up with some activities that would constitute a wonderful vacation, and then spring the baby visit on him. Any suggestions?
Wellll…don’t you think it would be more likely to be a wonderful vacation if you don’t spring a surprise baby visit on your husband?
In any case, I’ve stayed in Redondo Beach before, which is one town south of Hermosa and has more fun tourist things to do than Hermosa (in my opinion). I stayed at the Portofino and it was very nice. You have to request a room with an ocean view: the other side, the marina side, also has a view of the power plant. http://thevacationgals.com/the-portofino-hotel-and-yacht-club-in-redondo-beach-california/ One town north of Hermosa is Manhattan Beach, very upscale and pretty.
or a short drive away, you can mingle with stars and wannabe stars at Shutters in Santa Monica.
The Beach House in Hermosa Beach or Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes
Do you have big bucks for accommodations? Hermosa can be a little gritty and partyish. If that’s not what your looking for, you can go south to Redondo or Torrance Beaches. Manhattan Beach (one beach north) is also a good call.
Terranea is speculator, but big bucks!
I’m not looking for partyish, so I will definitely look at the places you suggested
I wasn’t necessarily exclude Hermosa, but just expand your search to more of the South Bay. Also, be sure check the distance to the beach (if you that’s a factor to you). Good luck!
I am a middle aged mom and think Hermosa is not gritty and not too partyish. @cnp55 visited not too long ago and might weigh in.
I can highly recommend Manhattan Beach. It’s a very nice, fairly compact town with a great little city center. The Boardwalk, called the Strand, is a beautiful paved walkway. Additionally, there’s an awesome bike trail that goes for miles, separately set down on the beach, even closer to the water than the boardwalk. Not a lot of hotels, but we’ve had great luck with Homeaway and vrbo. The surprising thing is that it’s a 15 minute drive to LAX but feels like a different world. Never once heard a place overhead. Lots of great restaurants, shops. Clean, safe, beautiful, and people are so friendly.
Any of the beach towns around there will give you typical beach town entertainment (restaurants, shops, people watching, the beach itself…). Hermosa Beach has the Comedy and Magic Club. It’s a very intimate setting and often has big names there. Jay Leno performs most Sunday evenings.
While I personally don’t mind visiting babies/young children, someone who does is unlikely to take such a deceptive surprise very well. Especially if he has already indicated that doing so is not something he enjoys doing.
Wouldn’t it be much simpler to tell him straight-out, but leave him an out of doing something on his own for a few hours in the area while you visit the baby if he not inclined to enjoy such visits?
I think Hermosa Beach, where my DS lives, is a little too “frat party.” Having said that, I do like The Beach House in Hermosa, just north of the pier. The management of the Beach House has always been wonderful to us when we visit. Manhattan Beach has some very nice, and very pricey, hotels and is a nicer vibe overall. We have stayed in Redondo Beach – the next town south, I am thinking the hotel was Portofino. Older, but nicely maintained. Not cheap! I think Terranea out on the Palos Verdes peninsula is spectacular. It’s one of those hotel+ condo resorts with golf and restaurants etc. I have not stayed there, but DH and DS like it for golf and then eating at the sports bar overlooking the ocean.
Since we have some people here who are familiar with Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo Beaches, I have a question. We are flying to LA for a birthday dinner for my SIL Sunday night in Redondo Beach and are able to meet up with my brother and his wife in the area a couple hours earlier (they are not going to the dinner). Can someone help us figure out a place we can meet? Our preference is to take a walk, maybe ending up at a coffee shop. I love walking along the beach…Venice is an option but parking is such a challenge. My brother and SIL will be driving from the westside to their home in Orange County so it occurred to me that meeting in one of the beach communities might work well. Also, not looking for a hike as we’ll be heading to a pretty nice restaurant afterward and won’t have an opportunity to change much other than our shoes. Thanks for any suggestions.
I don’t know if it is too late but Shade Hotel in Manhattan beach is nice and walking distance from the beach. http://mb.shadehotel.com/