Author Topic: Los Angeles Master Thread (Read 2044531 times)

BigDanFan · « **Reply #2780 on:** January 31, 2014, 01:09:12 PM »

Quote from: springles on January 31, 2014, 01:06:06 PM

attractions added. More like things to do but whatever.
any other places to add please let me know.

+1
looks great was about to ask you to include beaches - you already did. thx!
just wondering if they've been specifically selected by you? Are these beaches particularly clean, and family/Jewish friendly?

springles · « **Reply #2781 on:** January 31, 2014, 01:18:07 PM »

Quote from: BigDanFan on January 31, 2014, 01:09:12 PM

+1
looks great was about to ask you to include beaches - you already did. thx!
just wondering if they've been specifically selected by you? Are these beaches particularly clean, and family/Jewish friendly?

I am going to be addiing notes and details to each point on the map as I find out things. Someone wrote about some of the beaches in the wiki. I dont know what you mean about family/jewish friendly. I imagine that any beach in california during the summer is going to have a lot of pritzus but I dont think that they are nude beaches or anything.

3yummyboys · « **Reply #2782 on:** January 31, 2014, 01:28:24 PM »

We are going to LA in mid-February. Looking for a recommendation for a nice hike, not too intense maybe about 3-4 miles. I would love to go to Channel Islands, looks gorgeous but don't want to take the boat there. Anything within an hour from LA worthwhile? I would also go somewhere that's near to Oxnard, we can just stay overnight after Tierra Sur. TIA

Yehoshua · « **Reply #2783 on:** January 31, 2014, 01:37:12 PM »

Quote from: 3yummyboys on January 31, 2014, 01:28:24 PM

We are going to LA in mid-February. Looking for a recommendation for a nice hike, not too intense maybe about 3-4 miles. I would love to go to Channel Islands, looks gorgeous but don't want to take the boat there. Anything within an hour from LA worthwhile? I would also go somewhere that's near to Oxnard, we can just stay overnight after Tierra Sur. TIA

Check out our new map in the wiki.

3yummyboys · « **Reply #2784 on:** January 31, 2014, 01:55:10 PM »

I did, thanks so much! But I was hoping someone could tell me based on personal experience about hikes that they liked.

Yehoshua · « **Reply #2785 on:** January 31, 2014, 01:57:39 PM »

Quote from: 3yummyboys on January 31, 2014, 01:55:10 PM

I did, thanks so much! But I was hoping someone could tell me based on personal experience about hikes that they liked.

All the hikes on there are ones I've taken and liked. (I added them.)

Am · « **Reply #2786 on:** January 31, 2014, 02:02:29 PM »

Quote from: springles on January 31, 2014, 01:18:07 PM

Someone wrote about some of the beaches in the wiki. I dont know what you mean about family/jewish friendly. I imagine that any beach in california during the summer is going to have a lot of pritzus but I dont think that they are nude beaches or anything.

there are some beaches that are private but still accessible (e.g. Residential area right near Marina del Ray) these beaches are almost always pretty empty even in the summer

Yehoshua · « **Reply #2787 on:** January 31, 2014, 02:06:46 PM »

Quote from: Am on January 31, 2014, 02:02:29 PM

there are some beaches that are private but still accessible (e.g. Residential area right near Marina del Ray) these beaches are almost always pretty empty even in the summer

Already on the map.

BarryLincoln · « **Reply #2788 on:** January 31, 2014, 02:20:22 PM »

Quote from: 3yummyboys on January 31, 2014, 01:55:10 PM

I did, thanks so much! But I was hoping someone could tell me based on personal experience about hikes that they liked.

We recent did the hike at Solstice Canyon in the Malibu Hills, prob 2-3 miles in total, varying inclines, was really nice. We didn't make it all the way to the waterfalls bc our kids weren't interested in going the entire distance, but would definitely recommend.

Shua · « **Reply #2789 on:** February 02, 2014, 12:31:39 AM »

I have been meaning to write this TR for ages. Now that I am starting to forget parts of my trip I thought I would put it up here for mine (and hopefully some of yours) benefit. This is my first TR and Im pretty detailed so hope its not too long.

My wife had never been to the west coast, so for our 6th anniversary I decided we would take a short vacation to LA. It was mainly running around seeing all the sights but we did manage to relax a bit as well. We left Sunday morning and came back on the red eye Wednesday night/Thursday morning. We were there at the end of August so the weather was absolutely perfect.

Day 1
Left JFK with AA on the early Sunday morning flight and landed in LAX at 11 in the morning. Took the shuttle bus to Avis (used a Costco code, much better than chabad or the other cooperate codes) and got an Nissan Altima. We had a reservation for a 2PM tour at paramount studios so we had some time to kill. So I called our hotel (we stayed in the Andaz… more on that later) to see if our rooms were ready, but they werent, so we went immediately to coffee bean for some brunch and then to rodeo drive to window shop. (Seriously just window shop, the prices are insane!). After that we went to the Chinese theater/Hollywood walk of fame. First its amazing how easy it is to park. I literally parked around the corner by a meter from both the Chinese theater and rodeo drive. In NYC that would have cost me 2 parking garages! A lot of people dressed up around the Chinese theater in costume you could take your pics with them. Chinese theater is fun you get to see the footprints of all these famous actor and actresses. Go up the escalator to the right of the Chinese theater in the outdoor mall and you could see the Hollywood sign. After that we drove to paramount studios. This was a really amazing tour. While it is a bit pricy, it was worth every penny. It was in small groups (we had 7 in our group) and the tour guide was amazing! They focused more on classic movies (the godfathers, gone with the wind etc) but there was still a lot of cool stuff to see. The bench from forest gump, the 6 oscars, a real studio, an awesome theater. They tell you some cool tricks of the trade (you never see ceilings in TV cuz that’s where all the lighting is etc) and they use an ipad to show clips. Overall would recommend. After the tour we went to our hotel, the Andaz. Now I don’t have any status but another forumite had hayatt status that he wanted to extend. So he made the reservation for the basic room and got me a suite upgrade. The hotel is very modern, the check you in with ipads, and have an interesting lounge. They have valet parking which you must use but unfortunately costs $33 a day. Well when we got to our room, they checked us in to room that they didn’t clean yet! They apologized profusely and offered us complementary strawberries and champagne. I said “instead of that can you wave the valet fee?” No problem! So that was cool. The room itself was very nice. Big living room and enclosed porch, and 2 bathrooms. They mini bar is free (besides for alcohol) so we found some kosher chips and snacked on them. (The cleaning staff quickly realized which chips we “liked” and the next day there were 2 more of them!). Went to check out the rooftop pool. Small and not heated but it gets pretty hot up there so was fine. Went out and drove our Beverly hills just to check out some of the houses. For dinner we met up with my wifes cousins at Beverly hills Thai. First a reservation is a must. The place is tiny. I never had thai before but the people who we were eating with did so they knew what to order. The food was very good overall. Definitely recommend if you don’t want the usual steakhouse. After that we went back to the hotel and crashed.

Day 2
Woke up and headed out to Venice beach. First we actually checked out the Venice canals that are right next to the beach. Not nearly on the same page as the real Venice (or even the ventitan) but was cool to see the houses on the water. Walked up and down the boardwalk. Personally I think Venice beach and santa monica (which we went to next) are overrated. Basically a stonier coney island. Beach isn’t too nice either and very crowded and touristy. Then drove the 5 minutes to Santa monica and checked out the boardwalk there. We then drove up the pacific coast highway (which starts right by Santa Monica) to Fish grill in malibu for lunch. (We wanted an early lunch so we would be hungry for dinner). Really great food and the salmon tasted unbelievably fresh. Then drove back to getty villa (don’t forget to make a reservation) which has some really beautiful and amazing gardens. The drove back up the PCH and stopped off at the El matador beach in Malibu. To get down to this beach you have to walk down a few flights of really steep stairs but it’s worth every step. It’s a beautiful beach and totally secluded. We stayed there until sunset and then drove to Oxnard for dinner at Terra Sur. Terra sur is the Herzog restaurant and it was absolutely fantastic. The appetizers were great and the steak was the best I have eaten in my entire life. After some great dessert we drove back to LA

Day 3
Went to the pool for the morning. Then drove to the WB studios for the tour. There are about 15 people per group and it focused on more current movies/TV shows. Not as intimate as the paramount tour but still worthwhile to see. We saw the café and couch used in Friends, all the batmobiles, the town square from Gilmore girls, their museum which has a lot of cool stuff (the top from inception, batmans outfit, a whole floor dedicated to harry potter with a ton of items) and got to walk through a set used in TV (suburgatory). Nice tour but we liked the paramount tour better (even though we associated more with the TV/movies form WB). After that we went to Milk and honey for lunch which we weren’t to crazy about. Nothing bad but nothing memorable either. So we stopped off at meshuga for sushi and this place was great. Great sushi and really cheap. Then we went to LA brias tar pits. While it was interesting, but once you have seen one pit you have seen them all. Then stopped at the grove and walked around. Really nice outdoor mall. Why cant the malls in NYC be that nice? For dinner we went to Shilohs. The food was very good.

Day 4
Checked out in the morning and went to Univeral studios for pretty much the whole day. My wife hates roller coasters so I got us cut the line passes so I could go on the rides and she wouldn’t have to wait to long. But we both agreed that universal was a big waste of time. The shows weren’t that great, the rides were subpar, and the studio tour (compared to paramount and WB) was awful. It was good we got the cut the line passes so we were able to do the entire park in one day (it will be really hard to do every ride of you don’t have the passes) but I would just skip the entire park. Wasn’t worth it. For dinner we went to La gondola. Also very good but not as good as Shiloh (and not even in the same league as Terra sur). But we were pretty tired at this point from walking around the park all day. Since we were flying the redeye home I used some of my United miles and went first. Not all the planes at that point from LAX to JFK had lie flat seating and they weren’t even able to tell me what plane it would be a week before the flight! But we got lucky and our flight had the lie flat seats. Best flight I ever took as I slept the whole way home.

Sorry so long… but TL;DR 4 days in LA had a great time.

BigDanFan · « **Reply #2790 on:** February 02, 2014, 12:53:31 AM »

Quote from: Shua on February 02, 2014, 12:31:39 AM

I have been meaning to write this TR for ages. Now that I am starting to forget parts of my trip I thought I would put it up here for mine (and hopefully some of yours) benefit. This is my first TR and Im pretty detailed so hope its not too long.

My wife had never been to the west coast, so for our 6th anniversary I decided we would take a short vacation to LA. It was mainly running around seeing all the sights but we did manage to relax a bit as well. We left Sunday morning and came back on the red eye Wednesday night/Thursday morning....
...
....
We then drove up the pacific coast highway (which starts right by Santa Monica) to Fish grill in malibu for lunch. (We wanted an early lunch so we would be hungry for dinner). Really great food and the salmon tasted unbelievably fresh. Then drove back to getty villa (don’t forget to make a reservation) which has some really beautiful and amazing gardens. The drove back up the PCH and stopped off at the El matador beach in Malibu. To get down to this beach you have to walk down a few flights of really steep stairs but it’s worth every step. It’s a beautiful beach and totally secluded. We stayed there until sunset and then drove to Oxnard for dinner at Terra Sur. Terra sur is the Herzog restaurant and it was absolutely fantastic. The appetizers were great and the steak was the best I have eaten in my entire life. After some great dessert we drove back to LA
...
...
....
Sorry so long… but TL;DR 4 days in LA had a great time.

nice TR..
what were/are the good desserts at Tierra Sur?

Shua · « **Reply #2791 on:** February 02, 2014, 01:02:01 AM »

It was some apple strudel type thing. Really good. But this was 6 months ago. I imagine it has changed since then.

emknet · « **Reply #2792 on:** February 02, 2014, 11:50:50 AM »

im going to la for 5 nights 2/13 to 2/18 over shabbos with 3 kids and my wife

any ideas where to stay??

I assume a hotel is a problem because of shabbos

Yehoshua · « **Reply #2793 on:** February 02, 2014, 11:53:00 AM »

Quote from: emknet on February 02, 2014, 11:50:50 AM

im going to la for 5 nights 2/13 to 2/18 over shabbos with 3 kids and my wife

any ideas where to stay??

I assume a hotel is a problem because of shabbos

Welcome to DDF! Check out the topic wiki on page 1 for ideas of where people stay over shabbos. There's a map with all you need on it at the top of the wiki.

bznt · « **Reply #2794 on:** February 02, 2014, 01:05:13 PM »

I just stayed at the park plaza hotel on 3rd street. I this is the closest to a shul in the LA brea area. The hotel is Nothing exciting . but if location is a issue for you. I think the is the place to be for shabbos. Doors are electronic but the front desk people will gladly come and open the door for you anytime.

yank · « **Reply #2795 on:** February 02, 2014, 01:16:35 PM »

Has anyone on forums ever stayed at the St. Regis-Laguna beach? Just about an hour South from LA. Any ideas as to what to do there?

BigDanFan · « **Reply #2796 on:** February 02, 2014, 02:21:50 PM »

Quote from: yank on February 02, 2014, 01:16:35 PM

Has anyone on forums ever stayed at the St. Regis-Laguna beach? Just about an hour South from LA. Any ideas as to what to do there?

friends and honeymooners have stayed there - heard it's really gorgeous - saving up my spg (20K per night - will be more worth it with plat status to get a suite..)
plan to go within the year --
The Chayo restaurant and some Chabads are one hour north: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=chayo+monarch+beach+st+regis&ie=UTF-8&ei=ZJnuUr2WBqPYyAGivIDwDg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg
Lego land in Carlsbad is nearby -- 37 min away https://maps.google.com/maps?q=lego+land+carlsbad&ie=UTF-8&ei=P5ruUrfMMMqQyAGQnIGIDw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ
San Diego and their shuls/Chabads, Sea World, and great attractions are about 1+ hour south..

although for the time and money spent to go to the St. Regis, i think that the main point is to enjoy the luxury, beauty,
and the seclusion and not really fill up days and get too busy... go and relax..

momo613 · « **Reply #2797 on:** February 02, 2014, 04:00:54 PM »

Quote from: emknet on February 02, 2014, 11:50:50 AM

im going to la for 5 nights 2/13 to 2/18 over shabbos with 3 kids and my wife

any ideas where to stay??

I assume a hotel is a problem because of shabbos

Gorgeous 2 bedroom guesthouse in the heart of La Brea neighborhood for less than the cost of one room at the Park Plaza. Poinstpl@gmail.com

Cw3323 · « **Reply #2798 on:** February 02, 2014, 06:57:44 PM »

Quote from: emknet on February 02, 2014, 11:50:50 AM

im going to la for 5 nights 2/13 to 2/18 over shabbos with 3 kids and my wife

any ideas where to stay??

I assume a hotel is a problem because of shabbos

residence inn or crowne plaza this is in the pico area loaded with shuls and food just outside the door. I stayed @ the residence inn very clean and nice and full kitchen great for shabbos.

adam0619 · « **Reply #2799 on:** February 03, 2014, 01:00:56 PM »

Anyone have a suggestion as to which airline is best to fly paid ticket in coach RT NYC --> LAX? Overall best for comfort, in flight entertainment, service, etc.
Thanks!

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Author Topic: Los Angeles Master Thread (Read 2044531 times)