Beverly Hills vs Hollywood – Where’s Best to Stay?

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Beverly Hills and Hollywood are two of the most popular places to stay in Los Angeles, but which is best?

If you want a high-end, luxurious trip to LA (and have the budget to support it), then Beverly Hills is the best place to stay. Here, you’ll find five-star hotels, stores and restaurants. However, most people, especially first-time visitors to LA, stay in Hollywood.

Hollywood is more central to the major tourist spots in LA. You can hike to the Hollywood Sign and Hollywood Walk of Fame from here. Meanwhile, the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park is just 15 minutes in a cab.

There are still great high-end hotels in Hollywood. In fact, I stayed in one on my last visit, the four-star Loews Hollywood Hotel. But you won’t find celebrities staying overnight in this part of town – they all head to Beverly Hills.

However, having been to LA more than ten times, I don’t think most people should focus on the neighbourhood’s vibe. Unless you’re ultra-rich, in which case Beverly Hills is a given.

Instead, you should focus on your hotel’s location in relation to all the other things you want to see and do on a trip to LA.

LA’s tourist attractions are pretty spread out. Sure, you can walk from the Hollywood Walk of Fame to the TLC Chinese Theatre to the Hollywood Sign. But you can’t walk from Venice Beach to Universal Studios to Disneyland.

Public transport is virtually nonexistent outside of downtown. So, if you’re not careful, you’ll spend much of your trip battling the crazy LA traffic or paying a fortune in Ubers.

This is why, for most people, Hollywood is the better choice. Sure you might travel from Hollywood to Beverly Hills, take photos in front of the sign and explore Rodeo Drive. But that’s a one-off compared to the several times you may find yourself from Beverly Hills in the direction of Hollywood.