Where to Stay and Visit in LA

Kat and I will be in the LA-area from Fri, Dec 30 to Tues, Jan 3. We want to visit many of noteworthy Tiki places in LA and vicinity. After that, we will most likely be in Costa Mesa staying with relatives until Jan 7.

What we need is a hotel recommendation for the time we are in LA (Dec 30-Jan 3). We want something somewhat centralized. We are most interested in a hotel in which we can get a good and safe nights rest and are not concerned with anything fancy.

We would also like recommendations for (Tiki) places to visit or dine at.

And most of all, we would love to meet up with local Tikiphiles!

Feel free to respond to this thread or PM me.

I have been to the LA-area twice, with most of the time spent in Costa Mesa and south. You can read about our adventures here and here.

Scott McGerik
Scott McGerik's Weblog
Scott McGerik's Tiki Collection

[ Edited by: ScottMcGerik 2005-12-07 09:41 ]

You should try and stay in Burbank. It is very central to Holloywood (Tiki Ti) and the valley tiki bars. It is very safe and the studios are there (NBC, DISNEY, WB) but if you stay, try the Safari Inn, The Annabelle, The Hilton, or the Holiday Inn. If you have the money stay at the Graciela very swank! Good Luck hope you have fun!!

Ka Maka

As indicated in the Tiki Road Trip, these are the LA area tiki restaurants:

Bahooka's,
Trader Vics
Damon's
Purple Orchid (courtesy of the restaurant next door, or pizza delivery)

For recommendations on where to stay, check out this thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15764&forum=6

Since you are going to be in Costa Mesa be sure to visit the following.

Sam's Seafood in Huntington Beach
The Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach

I had the same question back in August:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15764&forum=6
There were several good alternatives presented by thoughtful TCers, and I may check the others on future trips.
I choose the Hollywood Motel 6; it was clean, fairly cheap (whether it was just me, or me and two friends).
It also had ample parking a block away, was near enough to a subway stop, felt pretty safe (even to a small town boy) but is just a half block from the colorful, well-worn, touristic glamour and sleeze that is Hollywood Blv. It is very near some old rat-packish restaurants like Musso and Franks and the Pig n' Whistle. Most tiki, googie and museum targets were a fairly easy drive away (for LA).
Some, like Tiki Ti, were a cinch.

Thanks for the responses! :) I'll check out those threads mentioned.

Hakalugi wrote:
Since you are going to be in Costa Mesa be sure to visit the following.

Sam's Seafood in Huntington Beach
The Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach

Has Sam's Seafood improved at all? I dined there in March, 2005 only to find lackadaiscal service and poor quality food. :( However, I see posts for a crab night at Sam's Seafood, so, hopefully, it has improved.

My girlfriend and I dined there on an LA trip in August. We thought it was...well...passable, if you were hungry.

I had lobster, and it wasn't bad...exactly; but it wasn't as good as one might get at a midwestern Red Lobster. I seem to recall having to chase someone down to get a refill on my soda.
I tell ya, I'm having trouble bringing myself to say anything bad about a place with so many cool tikis, even if its the truth.
I'd recommend you go to Sams for lunch and enjoy the tikis, then have dinner at Bahooka, where the food was great and the servers were attentive, even if the tikis were fewer.

I agree with tikijackalope. Sam's for the Tikis and the Bahooka for food. I would have to say that the food and service at Sam's is no different than it was when you visited them last March. Although I have heard that the crab at Sam's is decent especially on certain Monday nights.

I was much impressed with the decor at Sam's when I was there. The decor was enough to keep Kat and I mostly happy. Our guests, who are not into Tiki, were less satisfied. I'll try do what was suggested, that is, Sam's for lunch and Bahooka for dinner.

Our itinerary has changed somewhat. We will be flying into John Wayne on Saturday, picking up a car from my sister-in-law and then drive up to LA where we will be staying at the Hollywood Motel 6 until Wednesday. After that, we head south to Costa Mesa until Sunday morning.

I'm getting excited for this trip. On the last Saturday of our visit, we will go sailing with Captain Don. It was on my first trip to Costa Mesa I first encountered the Pacific and went sailing on it with Captain Don. My sister-in-law and her husband liked Capt. Don enough they have sailed with him several times since.

Hey Scott. I'll show you pictures at the party on the 17th, but I'll say now that you have to go to Bahooka. The place doesn't have the greatest food in the world, but it is so worth the trip. Bizarre in a very good way. Try to get one of the "cell" rooms.

here is a thread of places to eat/drink;
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16476&forum=6&hilite=bars%20angeles

mrsmiley wrote:
here is a thread of places to eat/drink;
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16476&forum=6&hilite=bars%20angeles

Wow! That is a dense list of suggestions. It has taken a week just to read it!

On 2005-12-07 18:06, ScottMcGerik wrote:

mrsmiley wrote:
here is a thread of places to eat/drink;
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16476&forum=6&hilite=bars%20angeles

Wow! That is a dense list of suggestions. It has taken a week just to read it!

Thanks, I look forward to any additions you can add.

BTW, feel free to post your own list(s) of your faves in areas (like your home) that you have. We already have the LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas ones. For simplicity, a title like "Minnesota area bars and Restaurants" would make it easy to search for others to view.

mrsmiley wrote:

BTW, feel free to post your own list(s) of your faves in areas (like your home) that you have. We already have the LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas ones. For simplicity, a title like "Minnesota area bars and Restaurants" would make it easy to search for others to view.

I like that idea. I'll work on a list and post it as you suggested.