Travel & Holidays Recommendations for places to stay San Francisco, LA and Houston

Thanks for the New Orleans tip! I’ve now locked in 2 days there.

I think I’ll follow this article.
How to Spend 2 Days in New Orleans

So now I have to still confirm a bit more but the general plan is in place Yay!

Ok, I’m looking at opening an ANZ Travel Avdentures credit card account... There is an annual charge however it gives a return domestic Jetstar flight plus no international fees plus free international atm usage. I think it will be ok, and the free domestic flights will allow me to go see parts of Aus I’ve never been to.

Rewards Travel Adventures credit card | ANZ

 

It is a shame you cannot stay at SF longer as you should do a side tour to Yosemite National Park. It is a truly awesome national park to visit:

Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I did it all in a day from SF and back, very satisfying but very tiring trip (really should spend 1 night overnight at minimum though).

Also I would try to go to New York rather than Houston .....

 

New York will have to be another trip... as with the rest of the East Coast, I'd really like to see Boston too.

Anyway, I've now sorted out my accommodation today thanks to all you posters here, 2 Airbnbs (LA and New Orleans) based on your recommendations and one very well located hostel (SF) which I'm very excited about.
Houston will be a "day trip".

My ESTA plus an international credit card are also basically sorted, just need to be finalised.

Not sure what else I need to prepare now!

 

Join a local "Meetup.com" group
Catch up with the locals

 

Watch out when walking in San Fran

This Map Shows San Francisco Is Covered in Human Poop

But can't believe how expensive it is for hotels around Fishermans Wharf

 

I got a fair bit of time logged in LA.
It really depends what you want to do, but you will absolutely need a car to get around.
There are two things you should avoid no matter how much you want to see them!
1. The Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's a filthy, scummy area. Yes, the Chinese Theatre with its hand prints is kind of interesting, but you can see that on the net. Think Surfers Paradise but 50 times worse. It's full of tourists and if you only got two days, isn't worth your valuable time.
2. Venice Beach. While the Santa Monica Boulevard is quite nice (I was based a short walk up the hill from it), and the pier a nice little walk from the centre of SM, the VB end is really quite lousy. There is nothing there honestly. Muscle Beach isn't what it used to be and it's just a bunch of hippies selling junk. For people watching the SMB can be quite fun though.

IF you can get an invite to the Soho House in West Hollywood that would be worth it. You need to know and then go with a member though.

There are plenty of smaller Hotels in or around Hollywood with exceptional pool and dining areas. You could laze around a pool for a few hours, sipping on a cocktail and take in the view. As long as you act the part, they aren't going to kick you out.

2 of my favourite places to eat there were Umami Burger (I've heard there are better hamburger places now though) and Sprinkles Cupcakes. Umami burger's truffle cheeseburger was the best I've ever had and Sprinkles is just a lot of fun, although your waist won't thank you.

You can take a drive along Mulholland Drive. Go to the Getty Villa (reservation required) for a rather unusual tour or you can see the Battleship or the Space Shuttle as well. There are plenty of museums with interesting exhibits going on. There are also plenty of Cinemas with special event screenings, often with the director talking before or afterwards.

The Joshua Tree National Park is spectacular at dusk as well. Stay away from Downtown if you can.

Hope that helps.

 

I’m flying but still have about another 10 hours on this flight.
Last time to the States I was in Business class, (thanks to the Amex travel policy that was any flights over 5 hours meant you flew Business), but this time I’m self funded and flying in plain old economy....
I can’t even practice the unicycle skills on here :’(

#imbored.....

 

New Orleans is great. We spent 4 days/5 nights there just before NYE last year and it wasn't enough. It's on my list of places to go back to for sure.

 

Last couple of hours have been fine. A bit of sleep, a second movie.... but still 5 hours to go.....

Sounds awesome. Next financial year I’ll buy more holiday leave so I can go for a longer trip.....

 

Yesterday was Hollywood. And to be honest, I never have to come back here again! Turns out I couldn't give a toss about celebrities. Did a 2 hour bus tour but with the jet lag I fell asleep for the second hour. It was also too hot for the bus tour and that bus had no aircon and if you sat on the upper deck, the sun protection was only ok/partly shaded.

Today I went to Venice Beach and Santa Monica Beach. Tried to get there by bus but from Hollywood there were some bus diversions. Apparently it's very common and it happens whenever some event at Hollywood is on. Anyway myself and some others were waiting for ages for a bus at a stop and only after waiting for 30 minutes or longer (in the sun again) did I see something about bus diversions. (My phone had tk let me know about it!) There was nothing indicating that at the bus stop.

Both locations were nice, however the highlight was finding Muscle Beach (at Santa Monica)! All this wonderful fitness equipment! I could stay here!

Tomorrow morning I'm off to San Fran.
Should be very enjoyable.
And yes.... LA traffic is a shocker.

 

I was right at that spot a couple of yrs ago having a go at those bars. Don't know if you saw a thin Japanese guy with long hair who's adept at those bars. Couldn't miss him if you saw him. Apparently he's there pretty much every day,

 

Lucky Michael Douglas wasn't in any of those cars with you in the traffic