Long Beach Travel Forum

Me and my friend have booked 10 days holiday and will be staying in the Long Beach Hotel, Long Beach in August. As we are going on holiday we are looking to relax durng the day but will probably be out every night but not sure where and how far we are from the nightlife and stuff and where the normal places to go would be when going to LA. Reviews I have read on the hotel seem as though its very quiet. I am worried we are gonna be in the middle of nowhere and far from any kind of nightlife. Can anyone advise on distances & frequency & the normal prices for taxi's.

Thanks

Hello!

If your hotel is in the downtown area of Long Beach then you are in walking distance of plenty of restaurants and nightclubs. Pine Street offers lots of entertainment, shopping, and assorted clubs. A few miles south is the 2nd street distict located in the Belmont Shores area of Long Beach. Lot's of fun to be had with numerous bars, and restaurants. You can hop on the local bus for cheap or hail a taxi for 7-10 dollars.
To get to Los Angeles:
You can hop on the Metro train right out of Long Beach and get to LA in about 30 minutes (alot cheaper than a taxi)

Have Fun!

Alan

What is the address of the hotel?

The address is: -
The Coast Long Beach Hotel
700 Queensway Drive
Long Beach, CA, 90802

Your hotel is quite near to downtown Long Beach. You could either walk to Pine Avenue and the Promenade (which has several restaurants, nightclubs, etc) or could catch the Blue Line (subway) into LA proper, where of course there are lots of things to do. I would not advise a taxi to Los Angeles, as it's bound to be very expensive. A taxi within Long Beach would probably be reasonable, however. In addition to downtown there is also the Belmont Shore area, which has lots of restaurants and a few nightclubs. There is a shuttle that runs between downtown and Belmont Shore (cute little red buses) and also a water taxi that gives a nice view of the shoreline. Each are only two or three dollars per trip.

All of you have forgotten Shoreline Village and THE YARD HOUSE! There are three of us from Long Becah over here in Iraq and we dream of pulling back a few pints there. It is a 3 minute cab ride from your hotel.

Too add to the comments of our brave fighters in Iraq, you will be here in Summertime, so there is a very cheap harbor boat that picks you up right in front of the Coast Hotel (which is very lovely, by the way - wait until you see the view of the city and the Queen Mary at night from there - WOW!) There are two water taxis. The AquaBus will take you across the harbor to downtown, with specific stops at the Aquarium, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary, then back to the Coast. this is $1.00 each way.

The other is the AquaLink, a much bigger vessel that takes you across to downtown, then to Belmont Shore ( a village/shopping area just south of Long Beach - great nightlife here too!) and then a bit further south to The Landing at Long Beach harbor. this is $3.00 each way.

The city shuttle busses mentioned earlier are free and they also pick up at various times from right in front of your hotel. They are red on that side of the harbor and red, blue and purple on the other side, indicating their destinations. You can also take these busses to Belmont and other places. Taxis are not necessary in the nearby area, unless it's late at night and the public transport has stopped.

Check out the website for the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau. they have maps and schedules of operation for all of these as well as restaurant and bar listings.

Incidentally, Pine Avenue, Shoreline Village and the new Pike at Rainbow Harbor are all within walking distance of one another. there are a huge variety of restaurants there now and plenty of bars and dance places. Some of my favorites are:

The Yard House (shoreline village) Beer, young crowd, patio on the water,
AMAZING food!
Sevilla (Pine Ave) Spanish tapas, salsa dancing
Cohiba (Pine Ave) Rooftop bar, dancing, pool & cigar area, something for all!
Bubba Gump's (the Pike) good seafood, reasonable prices, casual and fun
GameWorks (the Pike) Adults only after 9pm, great happy hour, fun games (video
and other) "bull riding", virtual and simulated rides (ie: rollercoaster) and
Live Band Karaoke on the weekends - FUN!
Anyplace in Belmont Shore - Just get to 2nd street and walk up and down for
pubs, bars, restaurants and shops. (I like Bono's for food and there's
several cantina type joints that have bands and dancing.)

If you have time, visit Seal Beach and Huntington Beach during your stay. They are just down the coast from Long Beach, about 10 and 20 mins away. Seal has old town charm and a lovely beach. Very relaxing and not as chaotic as Huntington. Huntington Beach has a huge beach, lots of surfing, and a lively main street with bars, a brewery and shops. It's just much more "touristy." Nonetheless, fun and worth a visit.

If you are interested, Disneyland is also only about 20 minutes away. Check with your hotel on transportation there or the website for the city that I mentioned. Just do a Google search on Long Beach Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau. I used to work with the fine people there and they will be glad to help you any way they can! Just ask - that's what they're there for.

Stay at the Coast - I think it's the nicest hotel by far that has a reasonable price - especially right there on the water! With all the cheap and free transport ideas for the immediate area, you have no need to stay elsewhere. This way you can go to the craziness instead of being surrounded by it all the time! You are certainly not in the middle of nowhere and you are very near to tons of great nightlife.

Also, don't pay to go on the Queen Mary! You should definitely see it, but their "Ghost Encounters" tour is overrated and stupid, the submarine is just dumb and the tickets for the private tours are overpriced. Somebody there is making a lot of money and putting none of it back into the ship - it's disgraceful! A tip: just say that you are going on board for lunch at the Promenade Cafe or dinner or cocktails in the Observation bar (which you should do, by the way...)and you get on for free and can wander around at your leisure. Just walk around and take it all in - the history there is amazing!! Just don't PAY THEM! It's a total rip-off and unneccessary!

Have a terrific visit to Long Beach! Lorine