My wife is turning 30 in January and for her birthday I am taking her to Los Angeles. There isn't a lot we know we want to do while we are there since baseball season is over by then, but we will be hitting up the Commerce Casino and Bicycle Casino to play poker. We will be there 7 days and 6 nights, but don't know where the safest part to stay is, or if we should get a rental car or not. I know there are a lot of FOFC'ers that live in LA or have traveled there so we'd appreciate any suggestions or thoughts you might have.

Please tell me someone else thought this was going to lead to a story about a cow loose in LA.

ME

My wife is turning 30 in January and for her birthday I am taking her to Los Angeles. There isn't a lot we know we want to do while we are there since baseball season is over by then, but we will be hitting up the Commerce Casino and Bicycle Casino to play poker. We will be there 7 days and 6 nights, but don't know where the safest part to stay is, or if we should get a rental car or not. I know there are a lot of FOFC'ers that live in LA or have traveled there so we'd appreciate any suggestions or thoughts you might have.

I would stay on the west side, since that will be near LAX and the beach cities near there (Marina del Rey, Hermosa Beach) and you can reach most of the LA County stuff you would want to see in fairly close time (Hollywood, downtown, Santa Monica, etc.).

Definitely get a rental car. The song "Nobody Walks In LA" isn't just some pop thing; it's the freakin' truth.

BTW, there was a great thread for this for someone who came out last year, so do a search, you might find it. I forget the poster who came out (unfortunately).

BTW, there was a great thread for this for someone who came out last year, so do a search, you might find it. I forget the poster who came out (unfortunately).

Found it:

Trip to LA this week with wife, any suggestions? - Front Office Football Central (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=86316)

We saw that thread, but we were hoping for advice on where to stay since we will be spending a lot of time at the two casinos, Bicycle and Commerce. I read somewhere that Commerce was not safe and that is where we were initially looking. We will not be visiting Hollywood or Universal or DisneyLand. We will probably hit up a game at Staples, and walk a beach to enjoy the sunset.

We thought a rental car would be best, so thanks for verifying that Chief. My wife is a huge Gordan Ramsey fan so we'll be going to Fat Cow or Boxwood to eat as well. We've been to In and Out once and I loved it but the wife didn't, so thats a maybe.

The areas around the Commerce and the Bike both suck. It sounds to me like you want to go to Vegas.

Or at least one of the Indian casinos like Morongo or Pechanga. All the LA casinos are pretty crappy and in shady areas

Yeah - why LA if you want to spend time in the casinos and not the "LA attractions?"

I don't get it.

But then again I'm of the stated belief that "LA isn't a city, it's a freeway" so you won't find me having a lot of positive things to say about it.

The areas around the Commerce and the Bike both suck. It sounds to me like you want to go to Vegas.

Thats what I was afraid of. We were told the Crown Plaza at Commerce was nice but the area was terrible.

We go to Vegas 3-4 times a year, but since its her 30th we wanted to try a new city. She has a cousin in LA she hasn't seen in years so that's one reason we chose it, plus its January and the weather will be amazing. We'll do a few museums, Rodeo drive, maybe a bus tour.

The reason we will be at The Bike is because there is a World Series of Poker tournament that week that we will both play in, which is why we want to be relatively close.

So, I'd suggest one of the downtown hotels. Pretty decent restaurant and night time scene now and a 10-15 minute or so drive from Commerce and the Bike. (they are within a couple of miles of each other on different freeways)

I think most people in LA head out to the Indian Casinos moreso than they play at both of those casinos.

I echo the downtown idea tho

I disagree. If you are really here to play poker, then those two spots are where you want to be. They offer the most games and best service from a poker playing perspective.

The only places similar are the larger poker rooms in Vegas, and they really aren't the same thing.

That said, it certainly isn't a glamorous crowd. It is people there to play poker. And Asians there to play Pai Gow, of course.

Oooh, Commerce my old stomping grounds. East L.A. is not that far from there.

If you have time San Diego is a couple of hours away... worth the trip, I think.