<p>Which is better? to stay Downtown or at the Airport? We will go to a game on Saturday but will also take a day and do some things around LA on Friday. Kind of a Geology nut anything near the tar pits? I will rent a car if needed but hate driving in LA.</p>
<p>All of my time in LA was spent down in Orange County and John Wayne airport, where the company, i used to work for, was located. I have not done much of anything in LA itself.</p>
<p>Any Tips or thoughts from experience. Wife stayed at the Raddison across from USC last time but it is booked already this time.</p>
<p>I would recommend going to the Farmer’s Market and the Grove, its right near the Tar Pits. The Beverly Center is also close if you guys want to go shopping.</p>
<p>Downtown is close and convenient and we have been able to get very reasonable prices for nice hotels but…you can pay ~$40 for parking, which when can bite into cheap car prices and cheap rooms. I would suggest use shuttle to get to hotel and then some form of cab or shuttle to USC (~2 miles). Find rental car for the day you want to explore and return it before you have to pay for downtown parking. Maybe someone knows how to do better at parking than I did, but if coming and going at nights I was told to be careful in downtown LA.</p>
<p>I suggest that you go to Priceline.com and bid for a 4 start downtown Los Angeles hotel.
You should be able to get a room there for $60-$70. a night.</p>
<p>Definitely stay downtown. The airport area is too far away when you take traffic into consideration. LA traffic congestion is not limited to rush hour- it can take anywhere from twelve minutes to one hour to get downtown from LAX. First, find a hotel you like downtown. Then, call the concierge and see if you can rent a car that has pick-up and drop-off at the hotel. Most cities have this service in some of their better hotels. The concierge can also tell you what to expect as far as taxi fares go.</p>
<p>There are buses that run from downtown to USC. We took one on game day last year. Just be aware that the weekend schedule is less frequent and the route is a bit different. Even so, it worked out fine.</p>
<p>If you can afford to splurge a bit, you might want to check out this B&B. It comes with what I’m told is a very nice breakfast & parking IS included (tho it’s a short walk to campus). This is NOT on Priceline or Hot Wire, so you have to pay “rack” rates, tho you may get a discount if you stay a minimum # of nites. Have only heard good things about this place but haven’t stayed there (we stay with close family friends).</p>
<p>The Omni is not predictably on priceline or hotwire, but I’ve heard they will give you USC rates if you ask. They also have good rates for government employees. A very nice place, with larger rooms with 2 beds.</p>
<p>The WestinBonaventure shows up frequently on priceline. I think we paid about $60 plus tax for our room there during parents weekend 08. Small room, 1 bed, but it was fine.</p>
<p>The Radisson is a joke. Stayed there once and that was enough. My daughter is a junior and I’ve frequently stayed at the downtown Marriott, very conveniently located five minutes down Figueroa from campus. Rooms clean, friendly staff but could use some updating. The rack rate is $239 but I’ve usually gotten a great rate through STA travel, $159 a night, or gotten free nights with Amex rewards points. It’s easy to get to everything like the Grove, Hollywood, west LA and Pasadena. The new J.W. Marriott at the LALive complex is supposed to be amazing when it opens next year, but I’m sure it will also have amazing rates. For upcoming parents’ weekend I’m treating myself and staying at the Fairmont in Santa Monica but it’s $439 a night. As for safety downtown you just have to use common sense. After dark it’s pretty empty except around LALive. I’ve seen homeless people panhandling, but I’ve never walked around at night and use the hotel valet.</p>
<p>If you can get the downtown Biltmore cheaply, go for it. It is a venerable old hotel with updated rooms and a real “Old California” feel to it. But do not stay near the airport. It is on a freeway (the 405) that has perpetual rush hour, and getting in and out is not fun at many times of day. Also, not close to USC.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, DO NOT stay at the Holiday Inn across Staples Center. That is the WORST hotel we have ever stayed in. We did not get any rest there, it was over-priced & the walls were paper-thin: we could hear some orgy or something that woke all of us out of our troubled sleep one night, some blasting sound from a TV above our room another night, a violent fight next door, and nasty carpetting. We will never go back!</p>
<p>We have stayed in Old Pasadena. It is about a 30-minute drive from USC, but a nice place to stay. I believe we were at the Courtyard Inn or Hampton Inn there.</p>
<p>The Westin is almost guaranteed on Priceline in the $60-$70 range, I stayed there last week as we were helping our D move into her apartment. Just watch out for the parking. I used to park in the lot across the street, was under $30 for 24 hrs last year. It is now $50+. However, the Westin seems to have lowered its own rates, it is now around $30 for overnight guests if you self-park.</p>
<p>As FN said, you will likely get a small room with a single bed, which is nevertheless infinitely better than that dump known as Vagabond Inn, which will cost you more even when you factor in the parking.</p>
<p>Using Priceline for downtown LA, my husband has gotten the Westin Bonaventure, Marriott, and Kyoto Grand (spelling?). He also stayed at the Raddison USC but not via Priceline.
Sometimes good rates for other hotels show up on Travelzoo.com. For Century City, we stayed at the Century Plaza (via Priceline) which is a wonderful hotel but a much longer drive to USC.</p>
<p>For future reference, downtown will soon have the new hotel complex at LA Live/Staples Center.</p>
<p>It’ll be a Ritz + Marriott (so expect it to be pricey) but it’ll be very short driving distance from USC, and short walking distance from the expo line (light rail) which drops you off right at USC.</p>