I'm sure you have heard this before. The airport in LA was a nightmare...with serpentine lines winding back and forth through the airport and even onto the sidewalks outside. We went through one long line just to get to the escalators. Then once up the escalator we were put into another lineup. There were long lineups at every step in the process, and nowhere were there signs or any people to help direct you where to go. We had to ask other passengers what to do. There was a lady from India who didn't speak English and was totally confused. If you didn't speak English you were out of luck, I guess.

Allow 3 hours between your connections in this airport!

Have to say, the Gordon Ramsey restuarant at The London hotel is really cool with excellent ambience/location and top notch food, with great offer available for lunch. Location is in West Hollywood, so the nicer part of town, and the staff are very attentative, smart and helpful.

LA overall is a mixed bag with some great places to visit/see/shop, but also some areas that do not appear very nice, and may require entering with caution. West Hollywood thru to the coast is awesome though.

We stayed at the Marriott in Hollywood (North Highland Ave) and it was very good, with great public transport facilities to get around (metro/bus). Had a view of the 'sign' from hotel room which was cool. Did struggle to find some decent bars in evening though as the better ones tend to be going West on Santa Monica, which isn't within walking distance.

Thought this would be a nightmare but it was ok to get from Amtrak train to buses - very end of tunnel & up the stairs.

After our week at Camp De Benneville Pines in the San Bernardino mountains, a friend picked us up on Saturday and took us to lunch at the beautiful Mission Inn in Riverside, on the way in to LA. Once in Hollywood, we were very disappointed to learn that our reservation at USA Hostels Hollywood on Schrader Blvd would not be honored – you have to have a foreign passport or a non-Californian student ID card to stay there -- it says this so in the fine print on their website but I did not realize this was so exclusive, as it is so different from the many other hostels where I have stayed. So, we returned to Riverside and camped in our friend’s apartment overnight; hiked up to the top of Mt Rubidoux Sunday evening. Monday morning, we drove to the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, beautiful rose-scented gardens in Roman-style villa, filled with Roman, Greek, Etruscan and Cycladian antiquities; then had lunch (terrific fish and chips, and guacamole salad, in huge portions) at Paradise Cove, north of Malibu, which has its own private beach. We dipped a toe in the ocean before heading into L.A. to stay at a budget hotel in Hollywood, "America's Best Value Inn" on Sunset Blvd. It is in a very tacky neighborhood, but, despite initial misgivings, it turned out to be clean, safe, and very convenient to the metro and bus system -- which was excellent and got us everywhere we wanted to go, just by purchasing a $5 all-day pass from any bus driver (or $1.25 per ride). Monday evening, we went to Hollywood and Highland, a big glitzy Disneyfied mall, for yummy chestnut cream crepes at the French Creperie while people-watching. The mall is connected to the old Grauman’s Theater, with the movie star handprints. Tuesday, we shopped at Amoeba Music in the morning and then at funky shops along Melrose Ave in the afternoon, with a break to have a special treat at Canter's Deli on Fairfax. (There is a silent movie theater on Fairfax where we wanted to see a show, but they didn't have anything on while we were there). We spotted a celeb at the Cat and Fiddle Pub during lunch, my daughter recognized comedian Will Sasso of "MadTV". He was sitting right next to us talking with another guy about what would be funny to put in their show, tres Hollywood! Wednesday, we took the metro to Union Station (gloriously restored and very deco), then an express Big Blue Bus to Santa Monica pier, for early supper at The Lobster (prawns, calamari, salad, chowder); hung out on the Santa Monica beach and later along the 3rd street promenade where we saw a father-son Russian acrobat team skillfully busking, and ate hazelnut gelato. Thursday, we shopped at an AIDS Relief thrift store called "Out of the Closet" for a dressy/funky theater-going outfit; then headed out to Universal City metro stop, for the bus to Warner Brothers studios. It was great fun to see where they filmed so many famous movies and some of our favorite shows -- "Gilmore Girls," "ER," and "The Waltons." Back “home,” we dressed up and sashayed out to the Pantages to see WICKED, and after the show, walked back to Hollywood & Highland, to Johnny Rockets (open till midnight) for a late-night burger and malt. The town was full of people even at midnight on a Thursday, so we felt reasonably safe on the main drags (with a good grip on our handbags); but, not on small side streets, so we walked over to the big hotel by the mall to get a taxi back to our place. Friday morning, we went to the AFI Library which is in a beautiful hillside Spanish mansion at 2021 Western Ave, overlooking Hollywood appropriately. Ignored the snooty librarian, looked at everything including tons of scripts from films and TV shows and a collection of film bios and books about movie making. They have a M.A. degree program in various areas of filmmaking (cinematography, direction, production, scriptwriting). We got a catalogue in case my daughter sticks with her plan of becoming a film director or cinematographer. Our taxi to LAX was rather expensive (fare = $61) since Hollywood is not in the downtown "flat fare" zone ($42); but, not having to rent a car and hassle with driving and parking was well worth it.