Oh my....I haven't entered anything here in a long time, forever, it seems. The housekeeping is vacuuming next door, will have to get up and put that "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle....

Well, this could be another navel-gazing extravaganza, but think I will keep it helpful for once. This past Thursday I went to see Mehr and Sher Ali (I'm sure the link will die soon now the event has passed). In a bid for solitude and privacy (and ease), I chose to stay in a hotel rather than with friends. I can't decide whether to be concerned about my isolation and comfort with anonymous paces? Anyhoo...visited hotels.com and the cheapest deal in town was the Historic Mayfair in downtown LA, near Figueroa and 7th. Now I know where that is, and potentially you know where that is....but thousands of international travelers don't. Not that it's a bad place; I was quite impressed considering the price. They don't advertise showers (only baths) on the site but showers are available in the rooms, a happy find! Don't get me wrong, a long luxurious scalding bath is one of the true amenities of life, but every day? The rooms are small, but who cares, why go somewhere if you'll spend all your time in the room? And for me, the guests were a treat, beautiful Israelis, Russian couples, Japanese families, the occasional prostitute...so for me, it was fine, even the call girls. But unfortunately for those traveling abroad, it is not in the most glamourous part of town. Downtown LA is great if you know where to go....many museums, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street...tons of things to do and see. But if you walk out the front door, none of these things are in sight. I walked a mile to the local Rite Aid (with many dollar stores and a Home Depot on the way, not the celebrity sight-seeing one might expect) and had some mildly clever children try to steal my phone, was sort of charming, really: hey lady, that's a nice phone, may we see it?

So I don't know, I guess my point is: if you're going to get a hotel in LA, do a lot more research. Google-map it, look at the photos, talk to someone who lives there or has at least been there...otherwise I might think it's your fault for being lazy and trusting the vague description on the hotel's site. There were far too many people in the lobby complaining about the area. I felt bad for the clerk at the front desk, she said "We are not so bad, people give us terrible ratings..." and I agree. They are not so bad. A good place to rest your head on the cheap and near so many wonderful things!

[...and before I forget, a reminder: for those of you who have not been, get a good map of LA. Then you will truly understand the epic scope of this collection of cities. Use Mapquest or some such engine, plunk in some addresses and see the estimated time and miles. Is hard to explain how large this place is. All the borders have blended together into one giant mass. A 3-hour commute to work is considered doable by insane people with no lives. Just FYI.]