This year we decided to visit and explore Los Angeles and California during the holidays. It was a good decision, we had a wonderful time.
We stayed 4 nights in Beverly Hills, at Mr. C which is a member of The Leading Hotel of the World. The hotel was situated quite good in Beverwil Drive, not to far from Rodeo Drive.
Rodeo Drive was dressed up for the holiday season, and I loved this area of the city. So clean and beautiful decorated. It felt safe to walk around alone, both in the shopping street of Rodeo Drive, and also the whole street while I one day walked all the way from Beverly Hills Hotel in Sunset Boulevard down to Wilshire Hotel.
Sunset at Rodeo Drive
Christmastree at Rodeo Drive
Beautiful signs
Rodeo Drive
The visit in LA was very good, but not everything was as expected. For me Beverly Hills has been a very positive surprise, while Hollywood for me was a turn down. I had expected that Hollywood was more glamorous, but appeared to be a “tourist trap” with very little charm – from my perspective. I understand that people would like to see the Hollywood sign and the Stars on Walk of Fame, but there is nothing else to see or experience. The area appeared dirty and with a lot of people trying to force you to buy everything from a sightseeing trip to a CD. For me it was quite fussy.
Luckily we had this Best of Hollywood Food Tour the second day, were we had a private tour guide telling us a lot about the history of Hollywood. That added some value.
Trisha, our private guide, had picked out some very nice places for us to visit and dine. First, she guided us around the Hollywood Boulevard area and taught us a lot about the history of Hollywood and the history of the different theaters.
After a good hour, we started to drive to different restaurants. interesting places we would not have found or chosen by ourself. We had the best pizza ever from the Pizza Mozza 2go – try it if you are in the neighbourhood.
At Mr. C we enjoyed the accommodation and the balcony. One morning we had breakfast on the balcony after view the sunrise.
Bellini welcomedrink
The Bar
Christmastree
Breakfast with a view
Sunset
Mr. C – Hall
Lemons in the garden
Continental Breakfast
Restaurant
Sunrise – Looking at Los Angeles Downtown
Breakfast on the balcony
Sunrise
View Los Angeles Downtown
One of the days I strolled around in Beverly Hills, and visited some of the beautiful hotels. Had tea at wonderful Peninsula Beverly Hills and had a very good lunch at Beverly Hills Hotel (Dorchester Collection).
A very good dining option in Beverly Hills area, if you do not want to spend too much money on a meal is Cheesecake Factory in Beverly Drive. The driver who picked us up on the Airport recommended us Cheesecake Factory, and we are glad she did. They have a large selection of dishes, and even have their own “slim” menu. The portions are huge, and are ideal to share. We ordered one dish each, and it was way to much food. On our third visit we had enough experience to just order one dish each, and share instead.
Another restaurant we visited and were very pleased with was Il Pastaio in Canon Drive. An Italian restaurant with very good ambiance and good food.
We visited Cheesecake Factory in Farmers Market (Grove) and in Macy’s in San Francisco too.
Our total experience dining in California or the country as whole, is that the food mainly is quite heavy and unhealthy. A lot of fat, especially for Breakfast were they mainly serve A la Carte.
If visiting Universal Studios, the recommendation is to buy First in Line tickets. It is a bit more expensive, but the time you save is worth it.
We would love to go back to Los Angeles, a big city and we did not have enough time to explore everything. But we would minimize the time spent in Hollywood.
We also had a wonderful time at Santa Monica, see the link below;
Hotel Casa Del Mar at Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles, California
Travel gems by Miss Sophie 