College visits - where to stay?

My family (2 adults and 2 teens) will be visiting LA in February. Primary purpose is to do college tours with the older teen but it%26#39;s also going to be a vacation for us as well. We%26#39;ll be visiting USC, UCLA and maybe Pomona. Where should we stay? We don%26#39;t need to stay near the colleges since we%26#39;ll rent a car but we also don%26#39;t want to have to drive too far. And we%26#39;d like to be in an area that%26#39;s fun and has restaurants and things to do. I%26#39;m thinking of West Hollywood and Santa Monica but we%26#39;re open to just about anything. We%26#39;re New Yorkers so we like to be able to walk to places - is that possible anywhere in LA? We%26#39;ll probably also visit family and friends in Venice and Pacific Palisades.

Is Pomona near Pasadena? Could we combine a visit to the college with an afternoon in Pasadena?

We%26#39;re also open to renting a house. We had a fantastic experience doing that last year in London and would consider doing it in LA.

And finally, will the weather in February be warm enough for beach walking, eating outdoors and hanging out? (The Pacific is never warm enough for me to swim in). Swimming in an outdoor heated pool? Thanks.

College visits - where to stay?

Hi AngelHair,

There are a lot of neighborhoods in LA that are very walkable if you want to get from your hotel to some restaraunts and shopping. The problem comes when you try to walk from neighborhood to neighborhood - then you will find that things are very spread out and not easily walkable. From the sound of what you are looking for, Santa Monica and West Hollywood would both be good choices, as both have hotels that are in walking distance to areas with lots of places to eat, etc. The advantage of Santa Monica vs. West Hollywood is that it is located near the beach (in February, expect some days of rain, other days expect it to be chilly - at least by local standards! By chilly, I mean 50%26#39;s and 60%26#39;s in the daytime), however its not very centrally located to the colleges that you%26#39;ve mentioned. West Hollywood would be better for that as its more central to UCLA and USC. You might also want to consider staying in Westwood which is adjacent to UCLA and is an area with lots of bars, restaraunts and is where all the UCLA students frequent.

As for Pasadena and Pomona, I don%26#39;t see why you wouldn%26#39;t be able to do both in one day, however they are about 25 miles apart by car. Just time your trip so that the drive between them is in the middle of the day and avoids morning / afternoon rush hour. If you stay in West Hollywood or Santa Monica, I%26#39;d get up early, drive to Pamona, spend the morning there, then drive over to Pasadena around noon. Spend the afternoon and early evening there, then head back to your hotel after 7 or 7:30 PM to avoid the worst of traffic.

College visits - where to stay?

Since you have people to visit in the Palisades and in Venice, and you%26#39;re visiting UCLA, I would look in Santa Monica. You can walk to restaurants, shops and cafes, walk along the cliffs above the Pacific and/or rent bikes on the beach.

Weather might be rainy and cold, might be warm and sunny, we can%26#39;t predict from year to year. If it%26#39;s going to rain, it would rain in Feb.

USC is about 20 minutes from SM on the 10 freeway, just don%26#39;t drive during rush hour or it will be a 60-90 minute drive. Wait until 10:30 to head to USC. UCLA is about 10 minutes, easy drive along Wilshire or Sunset.

VRBO.com and Homeaway.com both have homes to rent by owner. SM is rather large, so ask here about the neighborhood of the homes you%26#39;re considering. You don%26#39;t want one near Ocean Park and 20th, for example. The neighborhood is okay, it%26#39;s just not convenient or close to downtown SM. But one near Montana and 20th is great.

You can visit Pasadena after a tour of Pomona, but if your child is serious about Pomona, you should at least check out downtown Claremont to get a feel.

A second vote for Westwood. Santa Monica is at the ocean but since the low/hi temp range in Feb in Santa Monica is 51/63, and it is the rainiest month (over 3'; of rain, on average, and blown around by ocean breezes) I%26#39;d stay more inland.

Westwood has several advantages:

1. It has great freeway access

2. It is, in fact, the %26#39;village%26#39; that serves UCLA so you%26#39;ll get a taste of what it%26#39;s like living in southern California as a student would.

3. It%26#39;s close to the three colleges (as close as you can get!)

4. The neighborhood is less expensive than Santa Monica, so you%26#39;ll save money on a home rental, or if need be, a hotel and hotel parking.

5. It has great public transit access so if your son will be without a car, he can %26#39;try out%26#39; the buses along Wilshire that go to Santa Monica (20 MInutes) and Beverly Hills (10 Minutes), and the bus along Hilgard that goes to the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood (20 minutes) and the Will Rogers State Beach (20 minutes).

6. Some of L.A.%26#39;s %26#39;premier%26#39; movie houses are in Westwood. Try to catch a movie at one of them.

7. I recommend drinks at Palomino and dinner at the Napa Valley Grill, both of which are adjacent to one of L.A.%26#39;s best kept secrets at the corner of Wilshire %26amp; Westwood Blvds., the Hammer Museum (the small but spectacular art collection of Armand Hammer). The original collection can be viewed in 30 to 45 minutes but each piece will make you say ';Wow';, In addition, there are 2 %26#39;temporary galleries%26#39; that feature the works of burgeoning and/or controversial artists. Admission is $7 (adults), free (students with ID) and, on Thursdays, it%26#39;s free to everyone. Parking is $3 for 3 hours (a deal!). http://hammer.ucla.edu/

Have fun!

Santa Monica is a great place to stay, and IMO has the better restaurants, but I%26#39;m with Hitch on Westwood, for your purposes. School will be in session and your kid can get a very good feel for what the area is like. You can walk to many shops, restaurants, movies, a stage theatre, or a UCLA basketball game. Also, quite importantly, wouldn%26#39;t it be nice to simply walk to your campus tour than fight traffic to campus (between 60,000 and 100,000 people pack in there each weekday)? Why pay for a day of parking at your hotel and also at campus? (This assumes you stay at one of the close-to-campus hotels like the W or Hilgard House, and frankly, I%26#39;m not sure of their pool situations.) Wilshire Blvd in Westwood is one of the most heavily travelled roadways in all of LA (it%26#39;s 10 lanes wide and still traffic gets bogged down at peak times!)

If you stay in WeHo, you%26#39;re near nothing but some restaurants and clubs, and would have to drive rather congested surface streets to every one of your planned destinations.

In any event, have a great visit!

As a Ucla grad, i hope your kids will visit that campus, which is amazing to say the least

The W is a great suggestion mentioned before, might want to look into it.

Not only will you be able to walk to the Ucla campus, but also experience a little of the Westwood ';Village'; life that comes with it

Thanks for all the solid info provided. Very helpful to learn driving distances during rush hour, average February weather, etc. So far Westwood sounds like a winner. We almost always prefer to be at the beach but perhaps Santa Monica is best saved for a warmer month. The only problem with Westwood is that I haven%26#39;t found any houses or condos for weekly rental there while Santa Monica has a lot. So we may end up in a hotel.

I%26#39;m sure I%26#39;ll have more questions as we get closer but for now here%26#39;s one about rush hour. What time span does it cover (AM and PM)? These college tours and info sessions are at set times, usually starting at 10 AM. So I would assume that would require us to drive during rush hour. True?

Thanks again!

rentals in Westwood and vicinity:

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation rentals/usa/california/los-angeles-catalina

look at Westwood, Brentwood, West LA, Santa Monica.

On weekdays, rush hour is generally from 7AM-9/9:30 AM%26#39;ish, and again from 4PM-7/7:30PM%26#39;ish. Being that your bodies may still be on east coast time, I%26#39;d take advantage of that, wake up early (regular time for you), and drive where you need to get to before morning rush hour. There%26#39;s no reason you can%26#39;t do a self-tour of the campuses before the formal tour starts at 10AM.

Look into staying at ';UCLA HOUSE'; which is a hotel-of-sorts right on campus. You qualify to stay there if you have University business, and a tour would qualify you. Nearby is Hilgard House (modest, clean, no pool, double beds...walking distance to plenty)....and more upscale the W hotel or the Palomar.

If you can get your Pomona area tours on a Sat or Sun, you%26#39;ll save lots of time in traffic.

dog hair