Have you been here before, Kicky? If not, the region is huge. If you decide you're interested, there are all sorts of places to live, including far south (say, where CJane lives, near San Diego) and where others do, thinking, isn't NickFun north, in Santa Barbara?
LA is as dense in some ways as new york city but with a thinner spread. Has, no doubt, pros and cons re NY. There are probably even websites about that.
Sunset Beach is a fairly quiet little seaside niche nestled between Seal Beach and Huntington -- I worked for an art gallery on the small boat harbor a few years back. There's some great little hotels that are more like seaside inns or bed-and-breakfast establishments. I think they would already be booked up but considering the economy, you could be okay. Hotels.com, Expedia.com or one of those sites should lead you to the right places. The Huntington Beach Hilton (right on Coast Highway and Beach Blvd. but, unfortunately, not near the freeways) is really the most centrally located as far as getting to Sunset Beach, or Long Beach and Seal Beach, including the harbors. Laguna Beach might have rooms in April and you can visit Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach, Laguna Niguel and Dana Point from there. The spring summer season basically stars on Memorial Day weekend in Laguna or any of the locales mentioned.
As far as Hollywood, any hotel from downtown LA to the Hollywood Hills, including the Sunset Strip, is good but the traffic is terrible. Not that Laguna isn't bad, but it's worse July 4th through Labor Day, especially when all the art festivals are in full swing. Parking in Laguna Beach is always bad news. The rents might not be any higher than NYC now but I haven't checked lately. The room rates in Laguna are not cheap at any time of the year and resorts like Surf and Sand are booked from a year before. However, if you're renting a car you can go inland and pay a lot less, only about a half-an-hour from Laguna Beach up the Canyon Road.
Hollywood isn't really what you'd expect it to be. I remember the first
time I got there, I was so disappointed. It was dirty, ugly and not
glamorous at all.
This is Hollywood Blvd. at night (it's nicer at night)
Be sure to give L.A. enough warning when Kicky and his Momma
embark on them...
