I'll be honest and admit that I don't eat in restaurants in Chinatown, (other than Phillipe's French Dip), but I still think that Chinatown is way cool. There seems to be plenty of Chinese people there to me. A guy I know just bought a huge loft in the old part of CT, on Spring, it's the coolest thing ever.

Authentic Chinese food mostly tastes like ass to me. I went to a place recommended by a Chinese-American in Monterey Park and it was hideous. I had to throw it away. I can't figure out what I'm missing.

But this thread is not about Chinatown. It's about a young guy having a good time on a short stay in L.A. It's all about not driving while drinking and walking from bar to bar with tons of hot sluts everywhere. That's the Sunset strip, downtown or Hollywood.

True dat!

LOL. I typically don't like Chinese restaurants, but Chinese home cooking is great. :)

Hahaha snorted my coffee on that one! Welcome to LA boys.

I agree that Hollywood or DT by night and Mulholland, PCH, Santa Monica and Venice by day and you will get a good slice of what LA is about in a short visit. Museums can wait til you want to go a little deeper.

Thanks everyone for the input. I've decided to stay at the W the first two nights. After a half day on press day two at the auto show we'll cruise up the coast and take in the sights. We'll spend the last night at a hotel somewhere in the OC so that we're close for a meeting in Irvine Friday morning prior to heading out of town. Is traffic bad enough in the morning that we should just stay in Irvine in advance of our meeting there, or is there a neighboring city that would be better?

I think its all the same if you're staying in the Irvine area. As long as you aren't driving into LA you should be fine.

when i use to be in oc all the time and visiting suppliers from huntingdon beach, newport beach, santa ana to irvine i'd stay on pch in hb. love the area and the drive down taking pch was doable in the mornings.

My vendor recommended we stay in Dana Point the night before we have to be in Irvine in the morning. Will traffic be bearable, or should we find something a bit closer?

Dana Point is nice, right on the beach. I've done Irvine to DP in the morning a few times and it was fine. Can't remember what it's like going the other way. Not too far anyway.