Should I stay in Beverly Hills or Universal City/Burbank?

[fredandkell]

Trying to decide between the Best Western Media Center in UC/Burbank or the Residence Inn Beverly Hills. Both comparable in price, room type, and free breakfast.

We will be in LA for 3 nights and plan to see the Walk of Fame/sign/Rodeo stuff (maybe 1-2 hours, more of a drive-around, I know it's touristy), La Brea Tar pits, Santa Monica Pier, and Universal Studios.

My argument for staying in UC/Burbank is it's close to Universal, which we plan on getting to at or before opening time (e.g. early). But of course that's further from all the other stuff.

My argument for staying in Beverly Hills is it seems more central/true "LA-ish" and is closer to everything except Universal, but should I worry about Monday am traffic driving from Beverly Hills to Universal? (I live in Atlanta, so I'm used to traffic, but I know LA is even worse.)

Thanks for help! (Or any alternate "perfect" locations to stay, within Marriott/Hilton/Radisson/Best Western portfolios).

 

[StageTek]

Looks like Beverly Hills is your best bet. Closer to everything you want to see vs. one Monday AM commute. Yep, there will be traffic. But there will be traffic from Media Center to Walk of Fame, Hollywood Sign, Tar Pits, SM Pier and Rodeo stuff. too.

I live here. You're going to hit traffic no matter where you stay when visiting all those places.

 

[loloandstitch]

I agree with above. Traffic on Mon-Thurs AM is not fun, but you should probably get there in 30-40ish minutes, and it's a good excuse to drive through LA since you probably will take the streets until you pass Hollywood. And even then, that freeway (101) won't be bad because you're going against rush hour AM traffic, away from downtown.

 

[sjmac42]

Another vote for Beverley Hills. The issue with staying near USH is that’s all there is there and it’s a long way to everything else. Other options would be Beverley Grove, places like the Sofitel or Orlando hotels. Never stayed in those places but have visited and they are well rated and close to the Beverley Centre, Farmers Market and lots of good shops and restaurants.
All the best

 

[nkereina]

Not sure if your trip has occurred yet, but we were just there over the weekend and wanted to provide some insight. We stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, which is one block up from the Walk of Fame. The area is very touristy, but we found it a little seedy with homeless and pushy vendors all around. It was also very high traffic, so whenever we took an Uber, it took some time. We opted to purchase a hop on hop off double decker bus pass with Big Bus Tours on our sightseeing day - this tour or the Starline one may work well for you. You can join it at any stop, and it has a blue line that goes out to Santa Monica and Venice (originates in Beverly Hills) and a red line that has two stops in Beverly Hills, the tar pits, Farmer's Market/Grove, Walk of Fame, etc. The hotel in Beverly Hills would be more convenient for taking advantage of this.

We did visit Universal City Walk and Burbank, and the area was much less convenient with fewer things to do in the immediate vicinity. With the way traffic is there, you'd want to stay in the area closest to the majority of what you want to do, which would be Beverly Hills. We enjoyed Beverly Hills and West Hollywood the most, and agreed that we'd stay in either of these areas if we ever visit again.

 

[fredandkell]

Not sure if your trip has occurred yet, but we were just there over the weekend and wanted to provide some insight. We stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, which is one block up from the Walk of Fame. The area is very touristy, but we found it a little seedy with homeless and pushy vendors all around. It was also very high traffic, so whenever we took an Uber, it took some time. We opted to purchase a hop on hop off double decker bus pass with Big Bus Tours on our sightseeing day - this tour or the Starline one may work well for you. You can join it at any stop, and it has a blue line that goes out to Santa Monica and Venice (originates in Beverly Hills) and a red line that has two stops in Beverly Hills, the tar pits, Farmer's Market/Grove, Walk of Fame, etc. The hotel in Beverly Hills would be more convenient for taking advantage of this.

We did visit Universal City Walk and Burbank, and the area was much less convenient with fewer things to do in the immediate vicinity. With the way traffic is there, you'd want to stay in the area closest to the majority of what you want to do, which would be Beverly Hills. We enjoyed Beverly Hills and West Hollywood the most, and agreed that we'd stay in either of these areas if we ever visit again.

Thank you so much! No, our trip has not yet occurred; it's for spring break of next year.

 

[FCDub]

I always stay at the Garland in Studio City.