Santa Monica or Beverly Hills? Also need hotels

[Minnie824]

First I want to note that I am not familiar with California at all. We're planning a vacation there next year though, and trying to decide where to stay (other than Disney). For 2 nights, deciding on Santa Monica or Beverly Hills, to do stuff in that general area. Staying on a beach is not necessary, cuz we have a few nights at a beach hotel in another area. What is important, is to be kid friendly and safe. We had decided on Santa Monica, but now we keep reading about homeless people wondering around, and after dark, others are out causing trouble. I find it hard to believe that its really that bad, is it? Anyway, which area would you recommend w/a 5 and 3 yr old (both girls), and any hotel recommendations?

 

[captaincrash]

Well...

... I've lived 40+ years in the LA area. From Orange county to the San Gabriel Valley, to Malibu to Westake Village. As such, I am reasonably familiar with Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. They are both different and similar. For kids - I would say you could do fine with either location depending on what your family interests and tolerances are.

Take for example Santa Monica. Yes, we have vagrants there - as does almost any urban area in the US. Beverly Hills has theirs too - but not the same sorts - and probably fewer. Even where I live we have so called fameous people in town. IE - Heather Locklear, and Kenny G, Sophia Lauren and Hulk Hogan (the latter I saw at my local market), and just last week I saw Bob Barker at the local fedEX. AND we have vagrants, day laborers, and such. BUT comparatively speaking - very few compared to some parts of town. SO - if you are concerned about seeing vagrants - I don;t know what to say. I think if you leave them alone then they will leave you alone. And in general they are NO TROUBLE to anyone.

Now - vagrants aside - between Santa Monica and BH I would say there is more for young kids to do in SM. BUT... this is in the most general sense. We would do far better if we had more info to go on. More specifics as to what sort of activities and diversions you are intending. Consider... simply being cose to the beach means a lot (I kno you're spending some other days at the beach). BH is of limited appeal to kids - depending on their interests. BH to me offers slightly better proximity to adult diversions. Theater, eateries, shopping, some museums. And reaonable access to near by diversions. SM on the other hand has everything BH has in general plus the beach. This means there is the SM pier with light amusement diversions on the pier. You can rent biks or tricucles and ride SAFELY along the beach on a bike trail from Manhatten BEach to just north of Santa Monica. ry this link for detials:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...ier&start=400&ndsp=20&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&sa=N

Now - I have 5 and 2.5 year old girls as well. On the SM pier there is a guy who looks like a vagrant who operates a bubble device/machine. Photo below...

and my kids can burn an hour chasing the bubbles while dining on cotton candy from the vendor on the corner just 20 feet away from where the bubble man usually is. And at sunset - the cotton candy goes 2 for 1.

Also... about 100 yards away is the 3rd street prominade. This is normally populated by a bunch of free acts ranging from vocalists to break dancers, to artists and mildly wierd exhibitionists. Plus some obvious vagrants. My kids enjoy going there to watch some of the folks do their "things" PLUS there is some light shopping in the area. It is normally crowded with lots and lots of local folks there. A decent place to hang out and people watch a bit and soak up the life style of average folks in the area. Here's another 3 photos I dug up...

If you want to walk to venice - you will see an interesting variety of folks - but it is not necessary for such young kids. I think it's enough with the pier and 3rd street promenade at or after sunset.

Now if you are looking for REFINED experiences that are tourist safe may I suggest the Getty Museum - reachable from either SM or BH. It is free (except for parking) and they have serene views of the cities, reasonaby priced cafeteria, pleanty of area for the kids to run about (outside) while you tag team with your spouse in wandering the museum, plus there is one childrens area with rotating activities and crafts. So the kids and adults get something in this antiseptic environment. Guaranteed no bums here. It is good for an easy 3 hours diversion here. Retire to you hotel to rest afterwards... then venture forth for a little time on the pier at sunset and the bubble man. Ride the kiddie rides on the pier and try to win something. Here are a couple of web pix:

Right after sunset - get somethiung to eat then walk after dinner on the 3rd street prominade. For dinner - may i ask whether your family likes buffets or Asian cuisine? Well - the original Todai light house buffett is right there near the center of the 3rd street prominade = for dinner it ranges in price from $23-28 with kids prices based on height... 3' and under; 4' and 5'. Lunch fare is $13-16. Here's their web link:
http://www.todai.com/abouttodai.htm

Plus another dinner recommendation... if you're gonna dine casual with the 2 kids (we do a lot of that) then how about something like the food court at the adjacent Santa Monicaourt mall?

OK... gotta go....

hope this helped!

 

[MadeToLove]

I live in Santa Monica and my preference would be to stay there as opposed to Beverly Hills. There's less heavy traffic, cool ocean breeze, the prominade, etc. The hotels close to the beach are very very expensive and parking will cost you upwards of $15-30 a night. You may find the Best Western Gateway on Santa Monica Blvd to be more family friendly. It's 20 blocks from the ocean but has a free hourly shuttle to the prominade, mall, pier and beach. Parking is free, and there is an IHOP downstairs. It's pretty conviently located for other things. It's only a few blocks from the I-10 freeway and other roads that will take you Eastward. It's also more reasonably priced than the beach hotels (although it still may seem expensive for some).

Yes there are homeless everywhere in Santa Monica, and I usually keep the kiddies close by and not let them wander off, but honestly, most of the homeless will ignore you and shouldn't be a problem. You'll find panhandlers in the touristy areas, but again, they're pretty harmless. I walk to the prominade (it's 10 blocks away) with adult friends sometimes, and have never had a problem, just don't let the kids go by themselves.

Kids tend to like the pier and prominade, although, compared to Disneyland it's nothing. The old indoor carousel on the pier is fun for kids 3 & 5. The prominade always has live entertainers, especially on the weekends, magicians, musicians, dancers. Always tons of cute little dogs at the outdoor cafes; nice restaurants, even for the pickiest eaters; four movie theaters, toy stores, and it's a good place to see celebs when you least expect it (I'm always running into them at Barnes and Noble on the Prominade), and there are security people patroling and watching the prominade (even though you may not see them).

The farmer's markets all over town are fun for kids that age, usually having clowns or face painters. There are two in Santa Monica, on the prominade (Wed. and Sat.) and on Main St (forget the day, Sat. or Sun.)

Hope that helps you make your decision.

P.S. I can't post you a link to the Best Western's site cause I don't have enough posts yet, so you'll have to Google it.

 

[Alice's Mom]

I too think there is more to do in Santa Monica for kids. Fellow posters have posted some great information for you.

If you get the chance you should make the trip to The Grove at the Farmers Market on Fairfax, next to CBS studios. It is a great shopping experience, open air, dancing water fountain, and one of 3 American Girl Stores. The Farmers Market is a quick walk or a 1 min free trolley ride away from the shopping.

It would only be a couple hours out of your day, but well worth it.

 

[mjvans]

We finished our trip to Southern California (Disneyland) by staying the night at Shutters in Santa Monica. We loved the hotel and the beach access. The beach was wonderful. We rented boogie boards for the kids and they had a blast. We did want to walk to the pier, but we got started way too late (9pm) and did not make it. I had heard also about the promenade. Is that by the pier and in walking distance from Shutters? We plan to go again and look forward to exploring the venues we missed.

 

[captaincrash]

Glad you trip was a "success". Shutters on the beach is a great property! I've visited for business and hung out there many times - not stayed yet as we live about 30 miles away and would have little need to overnite there. Which brings to mind an entertaining footnote... one of the last times I was there at Shutters I brought our 110 pound Samoyed along for the ride and stroll in (the Valets would not let me leave the dog in the carf as I was just dropping off something for friends) - so I took our dog up to the top floor to meet our friends... and on the way out we paused to chat and there was a huge christmas tree there - and you know - dogs being dogs - and our Samoyed needed to take a pee break - the first I knew of what was happening was when my friends broke out laughing! Needless to say I chasticzed the dog as if he really cared or fully appreciated what had happened. We parted in a hurry with mild embarassment - and my friends were still all smiles over the episode. And in our defense - I caught him pretty quick after he lifted his leg - I think....

Aside from that - the Prominade is another 2 blocks away from the pier and very walkable. And 9PM is not so bad except possibly on week days. I was just there last Sunday evening 9:30-11PM! Yeah - I was entertaining friends from Kansas who were visiting more or less for the 1st time in SoCal. They had a great time even though many of the street entertainers were gone or packing up. We say the Argentiniana Tango dancers, and several musical gigs... and hot chocolate.

I gotta run - so I'll post pictures later from last Sunday and yesterday when we visited again.

 

[Maria395712]

how is the loews santa monica hotel how far to drive to laguna and huntington and newport from there I want to go to all 3 beaches

maria