Week 1 of 4: Los Angeles, The Review

So you’ve read the story about what I did in Los Angeles and I’m sure you’re wondering what the detailed opinions are. Well as promised, here’s the post you’ve been waiting for! In this post I’ll go through the accommodation that I stayed in, some of the places that I visited, the activites that I did and one of the places that I ate! All for you to be able to tell whether it was actually worthwhile and good value for money!

Los Angeles
As a city, Los Angeles was terrific and a place that I would definitely add to your travel list if you haven’t got it already. A city spanning many miles across the Californian landscape, you have a wide variety of things to do. You can head to numerous spectacular beaches, go hiking in the hills and look over the city, day or night, get lost in the huge immersive worlds and theme parks, party all night long in Hollywood with the stars or enjoy the unique scene scene that is Venice Beach. After a week, I didn’t even scratch the surface and there was so much more this city had on offer for me. For me, a perfect blend of the chaos that is Hollywood, the city and late night parties with the relaxing feel of the beaches, watching sunsets and unwinding at the end of the day. A magnificent city that I was very lucky to visit! Recommended? 100%! It should be on everyone’s travel list.

Accommodation

This trip had many firsts and one of those was staying in a hostel but thats what travelling is all about, having new experiences and trying new things. All I knew about them was that it would involve staying in a dorm with strangers but this was a common thing to do for young travellers and was something my travel buddy suggested.

So the hostel of choice was Samesun Venice Beach, which are chain of hostels six hostels across Canada and USA. The booking was conducted through HostelWorld, as it was quick and easy to search by price and rating to ensure we were getting the best deal.

Location – The location of the hostel was perfect! Right on the boardwalk of Venice Beach, it gave brilliant views over the west facing beach, which gave you some brilliant sunset views whilst being able to watch the thriving local area buzz with people. In the day time you could hire everything you needed from the shop next door, be it bikes, long boards or stuff for the beach, or should you take a wander around, you had the varied entertainment right there on on your doorstep. With plenty of bars and places to eat in the local area, you weren’t short of options when it came to evening activities either. As for access to other places, it was only a 2 mile walk along the beach front and you were at Santa Monica Pier as well as the rest of Santa Monica, playing host to numerous more bars and places to eat.

Facilities – The hostel had everything that you needed when it came to facilities at the basic level. Starting with the key part of a hostel, the dorms were ranging from 4 to 8 beds in a bunk bed arrangement, all being of adequate comfort and thankfully providing light linen sheets due to the heat of Los Angeles in the summer. The rooms came in two varieties, either having shared bathrooms or an ensuite, with both of these being of a good, clean quality. Outside of this, the hostel played host to two relax/social areas that overlooked the boardwalk whilst there was a kitchen containing all the appliances required to comfortably stay there. Additionally, the rooms had air conditioning to keep you cool at night and provided a free breakfast every morning with bread, jam and peanut butter on offer to fuel you for the start of the day.

Staff – The staff at the hostel were both always on hand to be as helpful as possible with anything internally or should you be needing assistance with the local area. The wide knowledge and passion for the local area really showed in the tours and activities that they put on offer, making sure you got the most out of your visit. They weren’t afraid to make sure you joined them because they knew you’d have a good time, which was mostly down to them.

Price – These obviously depend on what kind of room you go for with prices varying from $45 per night for an 8 bed dorm, shared bathroom to $52 per night for a 4 bed dorm, ensuite. Addition to this, there are the private rooms, costing $150 for a shared bathroom to $170 for an ensuite room.

Recommended? – For the price, it was very well located, provided everything you needed and the staff were brilliant, making sure you had the best possible trip there. I would highly recommend this hostel!

Bar Crawl

As I mentioned in the story about this evening, the limo that we were driven around in was pretty crazy! Definitely an experience! This event covered several hostels meaning that you got to experience the night with new people staying across the city of LA. Within the limousine, we were offered free drinks and were able to chat and enjoy music as we cruised through the streets of LA. Access to the clubs was smooth and easy, with the chosen places being upmarket and good quality, both in music and in finish.

The only issue I had was it seemed that the evening was very rushed and the host that we had for the bar crawl wasn’t the friendliest of people. Example being, often was the case that should people walk along a little slowly after a drink or two, the host would shout and push/drag people along. The other issue, which ties into this, the time allocated to each place wasn’t that long. With a closing time of 0200 for LA clubs, the late start didn’t allow an enjoyable amount of time in each place.

Price – Unfortunately, I can’t remember the exact price of this bar crawl but it was roughly in the region of $20-30 for the evening. Costs once in the bars depended on how much you wanted to drink but drinks started at a quite costly $5-10.

Recommended? – For the price, experience and peace of mind, I would recommend this. It saves you from having to do the research and create your own night in Los Angeles. Yes, my evening had a few downsides but since then, the timings and hosts may have changed.

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Oh wow! This place was everything I dreamed of! Though it was a pricey day, it was a day well worth the visit and a lot of fun to be had! To be able to experience some of the largest, longest and fastest rides in the world was terrific fun as a rollercoaster fan!

Rides – If you’re into your theme parks then you will know about Six Flags and their array of rides that are “the world’s X” be it tallest, longest, fastest. Some of the rides still hold the record where are as others have since pipped them but they are still up there in the top selection from around the world. It was like nothing I’ve experienced before and would highly recommend it if theme parks are your thing!

Food & Drinks – Six Flags has on offer a wide array of cuisines for you to dine on whilst there, whilst having an array of places to treat yourself with desserts as well! Expect to pay slightly more than you would in the city, as you would with any theme park, with food starting at $10-15 for a full meal, depending where you decided to eat.

Price – For a set date, prices start at $59.99, with any day tickets costing $84.99. To get the FLASH pass, these start at $35.00 for the Regular, $65.00 for the Gold and $100.00 for the Platinum.

Recommended? – Of course! It was a fantastic day out with a wide array of rides that are amongst the top ones in the world.

Muscle Beach

If you have any interest in bodybuilding or have followed the inspiring story of Arnold Schwarzenegger, then you’ll have heard of Muscle Beach. Situated right on the boardwalk at Venice Beach and only 20 minutes from Gold’s Gym, Muscle Beach is an old school gym providing everything you need in an outdoor environment, viewable by anyone walking past. This played home to some of the training sessions and displays of many bodybuilders from the era of the 1970s, when bodybuilding boomed in the US. Next to the gym is an arena which plays host to championships and events of all kinds. As a fitness fan, it made sense to train at such a heritage sight bodybuilding and get the Muscle Beach experience. If you are into your fitness, definitely something I would advise experiencing!

Equipment – As a gym, it has everything that you need to be able to get a full workout on any body part. It may not be the latest and most modern equipment but it has a lot of character and takes you back to the old school ways that have been used for decades. Though not brand new, the equipment is always serviceable, as the gym is looked after by the local authorities.

Atmosphere – Being inside the gym felt fairly unnerving and made me feel a little uncomfortable due to the mass of people walking by and taking photographs of the gym.

Some poor souls had the unfortunate pleasure of taking a picture next to the Muscle Beach sign whilst I was squatting in the background. No one needs that face in the background! Thankfully, when I was there, there were a couple of guys conducting a show on the bars so attention was drawn to them. Once you’ve settled into it thugh and gotten rid of the stage fright, it felt like an added pressure that pushes you on to perform well. A definite experience!

Price – $10 for a day pass, $50 for a week pass, $170 for a year pass.

Recommended? – If you’re into your fitness, definitely! Be it needing somewhere to train whilst travelling or wanting to experience the place.

Hollywood Tour & Universal Studios

Paid for as a joint package, this tour started in Beverley Hills, showing you places where the stars have lived, grown up and shot the big films, before being shown some of the famous hotspots in Los Angeles such as Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. On completion of the tour, we were dropped off at Universal Studios and given free reign to go and explore until our pick up time.

Hollywood Tour – Overall, I think I expected more from tour. Yes, we saw some interesting places and there were a few interesting facts being told, mixed in with a few jokes. However, rather than have any depth when it came to certain places, the focus was breadth. This meant that you would speed past places, have a short fact about it and from what I recall, a lot of fillers with jokes about those on the minibus. The sense of rushing things was only emphasised when it came to the key places, such as Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, with us being allowed a very limited amount of time of around 30 minutes to take in as much as we could. In my opinion, the first part of the tour wasn’t that enjoyable.

Universal Studios – This part for me was very good and a more enjoyable experience. The scale of the studio was insane, with there being several all immersive worlds to get lost in covering many franchises that have been created there. Though the wait for the driven tour was a long one, it was entirely worth it as gave you an insight into the history of the place, how films have been created and the tricks used in TV and cinema. One main factor I noticed about this, it was taken slow and a completely different pace to the morning we’d had. Alongside the tour and the worlds you could walk around, there were a plethora of rides to get the heart racing and experiences to get lost in, allowing you to learn something new about your favourite films (unless you were already a die hard fanatic!).

Price – $140 for the combined tour.

Recommended? – As a combined tour, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re really restricted on time. If I were to do it again, I would break this down to two days and and slow the pace down of the day, particularly the morning. I would definitely recommend Universal Studios if you had to make the choice between the two.

Ye Old King’s Head
What great little find this was by the hostel staff for the start of an evening! Finding some home comforts whilst in a far away land isn’t ever a bad thing, especially when it’s your first big trip.

Decor – It was like being in a pub in England. The outside facade looked just like an English pub and inside even more so! Using traditional British paintings and decorations, whilst having the typical wooden beams and stone fireplace like many country pubs made the whole place quintessentially British and I loved it! It even has a set of dart boards! Just brilliant!

Food & Drinks – Whilst in other nations, I have experienced my own cuisine being mimicked by those that aren’t originally from England and though usually accurate, it’s never as good as home. Well, this place has an advantage over those; it has genuine British owners! Bring the UK to LA, they have the menu and food down to perfection to make it as authentic as possible.

To go along with the food, the bar is stocked with all your typical British favourites on tap whilst throwing in a collection of local produce to satisfy home and away. My favourite aspect is the fact that they stocked by favourite brand of tea, PG Tips.

The only thing this place was missing to fool me was the rain… Aside from the pub, there’s a gift shop and bakery should you want to take a little piece of England home with you.

Price – The menu and prices can be found here but you’re looking to be paying around $15 for a main meal.

Recommended? – I loved this place. If you’re English and want to get some home comforts, this is place to go when in LA. If you’re travelling and want to experience a touch of England without the price of the plane ticket, pay this place a visit and get a sense of what it’s like in the UK.

There we have it, a few reviews to get you started with some of the delights offered in Los Angeles. I realise that there’s a lot more on offer there that I didn’t get round to experiencing and is on a list for any future visits. I hope you’ve found this useful and if there’s anything from the story that you wish I had reviewed, get in touch and I’ll be sure to add it in or let you know my thoughts!