Thought I would post my feedback from the first half of our vacation in Los Angeles from June 23 to June 27. Sorry, it is going to be long.
We really had a fantastic time in LA. The city has so much to offer for a wide variety of vacation styles. I did a lot of research for our family of 4, and I think it was key in having a successful time. I look forward to going back. I wanted to mention we used Undercover Tourist to book our car rental, hotels and all tickets. It was the first time using it after seeing it mentioned here so many times. The pricing was amazing for us. The hotel was $800 less than anywhere else that we checked including direct with Hilton, and we were able to rent a Jeep Cherokee for $250. The tickets for the attractions were the best price we could find, and we got an additional discount with a sale they were having by booking 1 night for when we returned from Hawaii for the night for our return flight to Toronto. The tickets and hotel vouchers and car rental confirmations were emailed within minutes of the booking. I would highly recommend checking out the website for pricing for your vacation needs.
We decided to stay at the Hilton Los Angeles Universal City. It suited our needs and was a good location to getting to the sites we were planning to see. We did have a rental car to get around. It is a distance from the airport. By the time we got our rental car it was 4:30 PM, and Google Maps had us taking side streets and main roads to get to the hotel. This took just over an hour. It was a great drive and very exciting, but a bit long after a 5 and half hour flight. The day of departure it took over an hour to get to the car rental drop off and that was at 7:00 A.M. Google Maps had us taking the highway, secondary roads, highway again. We had very little wiggle room after dropping off the vehicle, getting to the airport and through check in and security to make it to the flight on time for the next part of our trip, and we gave ourselves 3 and a half hours.
The location was fantastic for accessing Universal Studios and City Walk. There was a shuttle that dropped you off at City Walk that is very convenient , and an easy walking path to the main entrance of Universal Studios. The views were beautiful, and seeing the sunset melt into the hills and mountains was breathtaking. The hotel room was very spacious, but dated. I would have preferred that the washroom could have had the sink separated from the shower and toilet so that multiple people could get ready at the same time. The pool was a good size but not heated. The hotel has a very popular buffet breakfast which was good, but very expensive. It was handy for our day at Universal Studios, but we only did it the one time because the buffet was $33 a person. They did have an a la carte breakfast menu as well. The other days, because we were out and about we had breakfast at near by Denny's or went down to Breakfast Republic which was a 12 minute drive away, and a fantastic spot for the first meal of the day. Fantastic menu and the food really delicious. We did not eat meals at the other dining venues at the hotel because the menus were limited. We went to City Walk which had much better variety, better pricing and so easy to access. I have to say, the hotel even though it was very busy, the halls were very quiet, and you did not hear anyone in other rooms. We rarely ran into anyone on our floor. It is a large main building so it's possible they were able to space guests out but it was pretty quiet at night. The hotel is well staffed, and there were plenty of employees in the lobby and hotel. Unfortunately the WI-FI never worked for us during our stay, and no one was able to figure it out at the main desk. It was difficult a couple of nights to find a parking spot in the self park garage. It was at capacity and you would have to stalk a leaving guest after circling the floors a number of times.
The hotel suited our needs, and the price was definitely right through UnderCover Tourist. It is not a hotel though we will be returning to. Sorry but I don't have any photos of the hotel, but their website does have quite a few.
Our first adventure is Universal Studios Hollywood
We really had a fantastic time in LA. The city has so much to offer for a wide variety of vacation styles. I did a lot of research for our family of 4, and I think it was key in having a successful time. I look forward to going back. I wanted to mention we used Undercover Tourist to book our car rental, hotels and all tickets. It was the first time using it after seeing it mentioned here so many times. The pricing was amazing for us. The hotel was $800 less than anywhere else that we checked including direct with Hilton, and we were able to rent a Jeep Cherokee for $250. The tickets for the attractions were the best price we could find, and we got an additional discount with a sale they were having by booking 1 night for when we returned from Hawaii for the night for our return flight to Toronto. The tickets and hotel vouchers and car rental confirmations were emailed within minutes of the booking. I would highly recommend checking out the website for pricing for your vacation needs.
We decided to stay at the Hilton Los Angeles Universal City. It suited our needs and was a good location to getting to the sites we were planning to see. We did have a rental car to get around. It is a distance from the airport. By the time we got our rental car it was 4:30 PM, and Google Maps had us taking side streets and main roads to get to the hotel. This took just over an hour. It was a great drive and very exciting, but a bit long after a 5 and half hour flight. The day of departure it took over an hour to get to the car rental drop off and that was at 7:00 A.M. Google Maps had us taking the highway, secondary roads, highway again. We had very little wiggle room after dropping off the vehicle, getting to the airport and through check in and security to make it to the flight on time for the next part of our trip, and we gave ourselves 3 and a half hours.
The location was fantastic for accessing Universal Studios and City Walk. There was a shuttle that dropped you off at City Walk that is very convenient , and an easy walking path to the main entrance of Universal Studios. The views were beautiful, and seeing the sunset melt into the hills and mountains was breathtaking. The hotel room was very spacious, but dated. I would have preferred that the washroom could have had the sink separated from the shower and toilet so that multiple people could get ready at the same time. The pool was a good size but not heated. The hotel has a very popular buffet breakfast which was good, but very expensive. It was handy for our day at Universal Studios, but we only did it the one time because the buffet was $33 a person. They did have an a la carte breakfast menu as well. The other days, because we were out and about we had breakfast at near by Denny's or went down to Breakfast Republic which was a 12 minute drive away, and a fantastic spot for the first meal of the day. Fantastic menu and the food really delicious. We did not eat meals at the other dining venues at the hotel because the menus were limited. We went to City Walk which had much better variety, better pricing and so easy to access. I have to say, the hotel even though it was very busy, the halls were very quiet, and you did not hear anyone in other rooms. We rarely ran into anyone on our floor. It is a large main building so it's possible they were able to space guests out but it was pretty quiet at night. The hotel is well staffed, and there were plenty of employees in the lobby and hotel. Unfortunately the WI-FI never worked for us during our stay, and no one was able to figure it out at the main desk. It was difficult a couple of nights to find a parking spot in the self park garage. It was at capacity and you would have to stalk a leaving guest after circling the floors a number of times.
The hotel suited our needs, and the price was definitely right through UnderCover Tourist. It is not a hotel though we will be returning to. Sorry but I don't have any photos of the hotel, but their website does have quite a few.
Our first adventure is Universal Studios Hollywood