STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

honey · Gucci

LA girls please help! (or anyone who knows about la)

shopgirl · Kenneth Cole

all i can say is: go bruins!

deborah
(i'm from l.a. and went to ucla and moved to nyc when i graduated from college.)

Lilykind · Hermes

So glad that you're coming to my neck of the woods!

There aren't a whole bunch of hotels in Westwood (it's more residential and student/young professional living oriented). The only two that I can think of within walking distance of campus are

The W (5 min walk from south end of campus...you might be able to get $210/night on Priceline)

The Century Wilshire Hotel (this is pushing it...it's probably a 30-45 min walk from campus, but it's $152 on Orbitz)

There is also a nice, clean hotel that's supposed to be cheap...I need to look into that one. I'll let you know how that turns out, because it's no more than $75/night.

You shouldn't pay through the nose for taxis, especially since taxi drivers here love to take advantage of anyone who doesn't have an iron fist and/or is a tourist. I don't know how comfortable you are with public trans, but you can take the Santa Monica buses while you're here which I promise are not scary. You can still do shopping and sightseeing although you'll have to keep it kinda close to the ocean. Westwood is right by the Getty Museum and you can take a MTA Rapid bus to get there in just a few minutes.

PM me if you have more questions. We should totally meet up!

and...um...shopgirl...fight on (usc) trojans!

*ducks to avoid inevitable pelting with tomatoes*

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

lilykind already posted a lot of helpful information, but just to throw in a couple of other ideas:

-- there's a doubletree on wilshire blvd in westwood that's not too far - you could probably walk although it's not super close and wilshire is a really really busy street so it wouldn't be a very nice or exciting walk (but it's also a 5-minute cab ride). and the hotel is fine, not great, but fine

-- the W, if it's in your price range, is probably your best bet - it's probably the closest to ucla (it's practically across the street from the campus) and the hotel is pretty fun. the weather will probably be nice while you're here so you can take advantage of their pool (and then you'll truly understand why la is a great place - sitting by the pool in march!)

-- if you're willing to stay a little farther away and take a 10-min cab ride, you might want to consider beverly hills - there's the beverly hilton and a few smaller boutique-y hotels (hotel mosaic, the crescent and one on rodeo but i'm totally blanking on the name). the location of these hotels is great - you could walk around the area and check out beverly hills, but you'll absolutely need to take a cab ride to get to ucla.

-- just a word of warning, although i know you're already aware - la is very much a driving city. it's REALLY hard to get around without a car and given that you're only here for a few days and want to see some different things, you might be better off renting a car for a day or two while you're here. there are lots of things to see that are close by (driving-wise) but not very convenient to get to without a car (for example, getting to the getty, robertson in beverly hills, and santa monica are all very close to ucla - about 10 minutes in a car - but it will be difficult and possibly really annoying to have to rely on cabs or buses to get there.

oh and i forgot to add - let's definitely plan to meet up!

-- Edited by LA Gal at 12:18, 2006-02-23

Cricket · Gucci

I agree 100% about L.A. being a driving city. Having your own car there is huge. If you haven't booked your flight yet, you might try a airline/hotel/car package through Expedia. Sometimes they are amazing deals. I've paid just a few dollars extra before to add on a rental car to my flight. It's worth a shot!

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

we FOR SURE need to meet up. i second everything lilykind and la gal already said (oh and the hotel on rodeo is called luxe i think), esp. about la being a driving city, w/o a car you're basically limited to just hanging out in westwood. pm'ing you right now...

honey · Gucci

yay! i'm so excited. esquiress i'm going to send you a pm. i'm not sure exactly what my schedule will be like, but i'm definitely free on sat. march 11, and love to meet up with people.

i