staying in santa monica

going to fly from san francisco to Los Angeles and planning to stay in Santa Monica for 3 nights - would anyone recommend a hotel, near the beach? Also, is it safe to go out at night as I have a child at 4 years? What are the %26#39;highlights in Santa Monica%26#39; and looking for suggestions - then planning to go to Anaheim, what would the quickest way be to get there? (preferably without having to hire a car)

thanks

staying in santa monica

What%26#39;s your budget per night? SM is much more expensive than other spots of LA, the run-down Travelodge starts at $175!

staying in santa monica

Check out Trip Advisors hotel ranking system for Santa Monica:

tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g33052-Santa_Monica_C鈥?/a>

(Link and scroll down for a list of hotels. Within each listing, click on READ ALL REVIEWS for complete reviews of the hotel (by your fellow travelers); then click on CHECK RATES for current offers on the hotel.

Santa Monica is totally safe to walk around day or night.

Transferring from Santa Monica to Disneyland is not a ';quick'; procedure. Here are you options in order of descending swiftness

1. The quickest: Hiring a car -- $50 or so for the day (about an hour plus the time it takes to pick up the car and drop it off at the end of your journey)

2. Taking a taxi to LAX (the airport) and picking up the DISNEYLAND EXPRESS bus from in front of any terminal -- runs hourly, around $65 for the two of your, one way (including the taxi). (About 1-1/2 hours plus waiting time for the DL Express Bus which runs every 30 minutes) info is here:

http://anaheimsightseeing.com/anaheimairport/

3. Taking a taxi to Anaheim-- about $100 (about an hour)

4. Using Public transit -- the longest but the least expensive. Express bus to Union (Rail Station) -- 1 hour ($1.75 per person); then transfer to a train to the Disneyland Area -- 40 minutes ($9 to $15 -- for the two of you -- depending on which train company your used and the day of the week) then either transfer to a bus (15 minutes -- $1.25 per person) or a taxi 10 minutes ($10). All in all, the trip would take: just under 2 hours and cost between $15 and $28 for the two of you). The one benefit is: the train ride is kind of fun!