Los Angeles 4 Dummies

May 13, 2007 10:14 PM

Four 19yos coming to Los Angeles within two weeks. Their privately arranged accommodations in South/Central suddenly unavailable. Me = mother of one and friend of the SC LA host. Any suggestions? (4 kids flying in for 3-4 days, midwest clean-cut... not me but them)

I have spent time scouring craigslist and ask.metafilter archives and forwardied the results to the travelers. Awesome resource.....

posted by maggieb to Travel & Transportation around Los Angeles, CA (9 answers total)

Are you looking for hotel recommendations?
posted by sharkfu at 10:34 PM on May 13, 2007

Best answer: Hostels.
posted by mdonley at 11:29 PM on May 13, 2007

Best answer: Couch Surfing. Great eye-opening experience for clean-cut kids from the Midwest, and it is free, to boot!
posted by arnicae at 11:35 PM on May 13, 2007

you need to supply more specifics...what exactly are they planning to do in LA? is there a budget? that makes a HUGE difference since LA is so spread out.

but if they're looking for a place to crash i suggest looking up some vacation home rentals. they're usually in better locations and cheaper (in the long run) than hotels...however, you may have trouble convincing owners to let four 19 year olds run amok in their place. try www.vrbo.com
posted by tastycracker at 6:11 AM on May 14, 2007

Best answer: Although it is convenient to USC (if that's where they're planning to visit), it might be a blessing that their accommodations in South Central fell through. I've spent quite a bit of time there, and there are probably better places for clean cut midwestern kids to start their first experience of Los Angeles.

Try the Banana Bungalow hostel in Hollywood or West Hollywood. Haven't been there in years but I have good memories of it. $17 for a dorm room... hard to beat. Those areas are far more central than SC.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:25 AM on May 14, 2007

second calling housing offices at the major colleges and univerisites. USC and UCLA should have lists of temporary places for "interested students in town to visit the campus" galore.
posted by krautland at 12:18 PM on May 14, 2007

Response by poster: The kids are planning to go to shows in the downtown area. We know that South Central is a jaunt but it was free. I got great links from old ask.me but I wanted more options. Thank you all so much for the responses!

I love Metafilter.
posted by maggieb at 8:43 PM on May 14, 2007

South Central is a jaunt. But it's also South Central. [Not gang-ist.]
posted by miss lynnster at 8:34 AM on May 15, 2007

Response by poster: Followup: The kids completed their mission and are now either home or en route home.

The day after my last post the accommodation offered by my friend in South Central L.A. was restored so that is where the kids slept. My friend told me his neighbors kept asking, "When are the white kids coming?".....lol.....(My son and I visited there in 2004... also I lived in a communal apartment with him in the 1970s in Europe... we share some history...)

Thanks again for the useful links.
posted by maggieb at 7:48 PM on May 26, 2007