Well, we arrved from Australia and we were booked in for 2 days, which was OK, the rooms are reasonable and clean and very good value for a downtown hotel, then went up the coast for another 2 days and then return to L.A and stayed at the clarion for a further 3 days.This was all booked prior to coming to L.A. and the room cost was approx $81 per night.
Our schedule had changed and we ask management more that 24 hrs prior if we could stay another night and they said the tariff would be $154 + taxes for the extra night.
I sort off took a step back and said WHAT, YOUR KIDDING, managements reply was that the hotel is very busy and that will be the rate, yes they did have spare rooms available.
Anyway I was really pissed off and there was no way in hell that I was going to pay that, and the rooms are not worth that anyway. This left me very angry, and is NOT the way you treat a returning customer.
So I went up to the Wilshire Plaza and they were full and they recommended the JJ Grand Hotel in South Harvard Blvd, was a little more expensive $114 + Taxes but a far superior hotel. the rooms were very, very good, and extremely clean.
Clarion get your act together, do treat your customers in this fashion..

In LA for 4 days at Convention Center, needed affordable hotel without huge daily fee to park on top of room rate, cleanliness is important to me. Very happy with my selection of Clarion, would stay there again, recommend it for most but not all.

Easy drive to Convention Center parking, or local bus runs straight down Olympic too if you aren't lugging boxes and photo displays like I was. Parking at the hotel was free, a big plus, and the parking lots both felt very secure, security staff 24/7 too.

Room was great, lots of space, king bed, desk and tv area, coffee area, table and chairs, big bathroom. Door opened onto courtyard area in center of hotel, nice setting. Ashtray was way in the middle of courtyard away from the rooms so I wasn't bothered by smoke but that could be an issue. Pool was also in center of building, good size considering the space, very nice, much better than if pool was on the street in public view. Lobby area was very nice, comfortable setting. Hallways had a wierd dingy smell, but everywhere else was fine, and my room wasn't off a hallway anyway, glad I had an outside door.

Front desk staff were almost all very friendly and helpful, pleasant and nice. It would be great if breakfast were included in the rate, but $8 was reasonable for a very nice selection, buffet room staff were extremely nice. Wish they had hot cereal, instant oatmeal, as a breakfast item.

The area seemed a bit dodgy, wouldn't want to walk around a lot at night, but felt totally okay and safe in the daytime, and the hotel felt very secure. Not a lot of restaurants nearby, some fast food outlets, a Thai place, a Mex grill, lots of choices near Staples Center and downtown a few miles away by bus or car. Maybe they'll get a new restaurant downstairs where the Japanese place used to be. Started having some ants in the room on my last day there, shouldn't have put leftover food in the wastebasket, oops my bad, one downside to that outside door/access for ants to come in.

my girlfriend and a i visited for two nights from san francisco, and we have decided to stay here again when we visit l.a. this summer. the rooms were clean, the hotel is quiet, the area is close to everything, they have parking avaliable and they have free high speed wireless internet. what more can you want.

We found it very hard to find reasonably priced accommodation in LA. We didnt have any specific agenda for our time there, so we just picked a hotel that seemed ok for the price. That's pretty much what the Clarion Hotel Downtown was.

The room was nice, the bed comfortable, and everything was clean, but like the majority of hotels we found in LA, was overpriced - especially for the area it was in.

It's really not in a very nice location at all - very dirty, very old and run down, and not filled with the nicest people. There is public transport nearby, but I wouldnt recommend using it - like everyone says, you really need a car in LA, and I think had we listened and hired one, the location of the Clarion wouldn't have been so important because it would have just been our base, as opposed to the area that we were mostly confined to.

So all in all, decent hotel, not bad for the price - but if you're going to LA to experience the glitz, glamour or even just a friendly face and a semi-clean city...this area probably isnt for you.