West Hollywood on a budget? Yes! The myth that WeHo is too expensive for mere mortals is as easy to burst as a soap bubble. You can have more fun than you might imagine. You just have to know where to poke. And then, with the savings that’ll pile up in your pockets, you can stretch those dollars into a three- or four-day stay. Get the low down for WeHo on the down-low. (No, not that kind of down-low…) Experience the SoCal and L.A. fabulousness that WeHo is known for without busting your budget. Starting living in WeHo’s FOMO-free zone.
There are more free and inexpensive things to see and do in West Hollywood than you can shake a swizzle stick at.
Verve Coffee Roasters, Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA, USA
West Hollywood Park, North San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Mel's Drive-in, Lincoln Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Astro Burger, Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Book Soup, Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
kitchen 24, Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Fresh Corn Grill - West Hollywood, Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House, North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Bikes And Hikes LA Tours - Los Angeles Tours, Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, USA
WeHo Bistro, North La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Surly Goat, Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Best Western Plus Sunset Plaza Hotel, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Ramada Plaza, Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Mother Lode, Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
The Comedy Store, Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, USA
V Wine Room, Westbourne Drive, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Hollywood City Tours, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Pacific Design Center, Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA, USA
Before Breakfast in West Hollywood
Walk & Hang
WeHo, a 1.9-square-mile jewel box of a town, is consistently rated one of California’s most walkable cities because of its wide sidewalks and tree-lined streets. Take a cool walk along the three main West Hollywood Streets people know by heart even if they’ve never been here: Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Melrose Avenue. Check out the city’s seven outdoor murals in the Design District (anchored by the Pacific Design Center), a dense and vibrant area of studios filled with art, design, food, and fashion. Check out this helpful map. While you’re at it, grab takeout, or a cup o’ joe from Verve Coffee Roasters, and hang in West Hollywood Park, a shady oasis on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Best Places for Breakfast in West Hollywood
Mel's Drive-In
Mel’s Drive-In, open 24/7, is solid throughout the day, but weekend brunch is super sweet. Mel’s began in 1947 in San Francisco as a drive-in for burgers, cranking out 180 burgers a minute. The classic WeHo location (formerly an iconic hangout for the ‘60s and ‘70s rockers like Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan after their shows) has outdoor tables on the Sunset Strip, a Formica counter with bar stools, lots of chrome, comfy booths, and tabletop jukebox players. Everything you’d expect from a ’50s-style diner. Look for burgers, a hangover omelet, and renowned curly fries.
Astro Burger
Astro Burger, a super local option since 1974, is great for bacon avocado cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, onion rings, shakes, and zucchini (and regular) fries. The diner’s burgers are better than you can imagine. The Greek owners offer up plenty of authentic Hellenic specialties, too, but those burgers… Drive through, hang inside, or dawdle on the patio. Vegans are hella happy here, and the OJ is freshly squeezed, too.
Best Things To Do in the Morning in West Hollywood
City Tour
An easy, breezy way to be connected to Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Los Angeles is the Hollywood City Tours. Board the open-air van that stops at all the iconic places in guidebooks, magazines, and millions of selfies — Walk of Fame, La Brea Tar Pits, Sunset Strip, and views of the Hollywood sign. Consider it a ride and a tour, all while soaking up the sun. There’s a two-hour and a seven-hour tour.
Book Soup
Or, stick around town and hang out at Book Soup, a hip space crammed with more than 60,000 titles, that specializes in art, film, music, and literary fiction. Long live the indies, tactile browsing, and staff recommendations! Check out their lineup of (free) author readings and book signings. Tons of celebrity authors come through; pose for a snap as they personalize your purchase.
Best Places for Lunch in West Hollywood
kitchen24
kitchen24 is all about the happy hour and patio people-watching. Open 24/7, it’s uber-relaxing, bustling but not crazy-bustling, and hip, as good for studly people-watching as for the sushi-inspired burger. Order fried chicken or a Garden Benny (with ham, avo, and poached eggs), or an over-the-top cupcake. You’ll also find plenty of veggie and gluten-free options, salads, and sandwiches. Spend some time hanging on the front patio with a Hollyhood Martini, or a signature cocktail with caffeine-infused vodka.
Fresh Corn Grill
Fresh Corn Grill is loved by pretty much everyone for good reason. Let us count the ways: it’s easy on the wallet, appeals to the health-conscious with tasty California cuisine, counter service is quick, it doesn’t skimp on the serving sizes, it lacks pretension, it specializes in tacos (salmon, shrimp, tofu, and whitefish) and chicken enchiladas, but also offers killer pasta, pizza, and a grilled signature salad. Inside is airy and mod; the patio is verdant. What’s not to love?
Best Things To Do in the Afternoon in West Hollywood
MAK Center
MAK Center for Art & Architecture, a global collection of applied arts, design, architecture, and contemporary art, is housed at architect Rudolph Schindler’s House and Studio. Designed and built in 1922 by the Austrian-American architect, it features indoor and outdoor environments completely integrated into what Schlinder called “a real California scheme.”
Bike
Sightseeing with pedal power? Rent wheels at Bikes and Hikes LA, which comes with a DIY GPS tour. L.A. is mostly flat and things are closer than you might think when you’re not stuck on the 405. These folks get people out for exercising and sightseeing. Their Santa Monica Boulevard store is the starting point for many tours including their signature tour, “LA in a Day” which takes bikers across 32 miles of Los Angeles in seven hours, from the Sunset Strip to Santa Monica Pier, and the Venice Canals to homes of the rich and famous.
Best Places for Dinner in West Hollywood
WeHo Bistro
WeHo Bistro, a French casual resto, has a really solid lunch and dinner menu (try the crepes and Croque Madame sandwich), an easy-fitting weekend brunch scene, and a friendly staff. It’s also pretty darn romantic (especially for the price) in the evening, lit by candlelight. Forgo the patio and sit inside.
Surly Goat
There are so many great reasons to hang at the Surly Goat, a WeHo-style beer garden, which is to say, it’s not your typical garden-variety beer garden. Come for a diverse (overwhelming?) selection of beers on tap, early evening happy hour, crowds, a back patio with picnic benches where you can bring your own food, play some games, and check out the taxidermied goat heads, who all looking fairly sullen and sulky, truth be told.
Best Places to Stay in West Hollywood
Best Western Plus Sunset Plaza
The best assets at 100-room Best Western Plus Sunset Plaza, near the Comedy Store, are its gorgeous pool setting and complimentary hot breakfast. It offers a big value for relatively small bucks. Some guest rooms open onto the heated pool, a villa-like garden oasis, and a great place to wind down at the end of the day. An American buffet breakfast, which you can eat poolside or in your room, is offered until the very reasonable 11 am. Additional amenities include a fitness center and a laundry room.
The Ramada Plaza
The Ramada Plaza is a one-time refuge for Jim Morrison. The art-deco-inspired, 176-room Ramada Plaza – with a fitness center and a requisite pool – offers great value and a stellar location. (kitchen24 is on-site and provides 24/7 room service.) The two-level spiral loft suites (some with balconies overlooking Santa Monica Boulevard) are particularly popular. The hotel sits on a hallowed piece of land near the end of Route 66: The Tropicana once stood here, a rock-and-roll refuge for Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Blondie, Zeppelin, Springsteen, and more.
After Dark in West Hollywood
For good divey gay bars on Santa Monica, check out the Motherlode, the latter with generous (read: deadly) pours from genuinely friendly bartenders for a diverse clientele. This being WeHo, don’t expect a Charles Bukowski-style watering hole, though; it’s more along the lines of light pretention with a side of grit and billiards.
The Comedy Store
There are few places like The Comedy Store, where you can see nationally-known comedians from Netflix and TV. The two small stages guarantee a sense of intimacy for the ensuing laugh riots. Want your shot at comedy fame? Sign up for the Tuesday open mic when newcomers get their three minutes of fame.
V Wine Room
At the V Wine Room, if you are already knowledgeable about small-batch California wine, you can take it to the next level under their passionate tutelage. If you don’t know the difference between a Sav Blanc and a White Bordeaux, you will before you leave. Order a flight of something, and pair it with a meat and cheese plate. Upscale but casual, perfect for a relatively quiet evening, this hideaway served as West Hollywood’s first library, hence the bookshelves lined with bottles, and was once Charlie Chaplin’s studio.
Bonus Pro Tips
Free Shuttle: When the party is over, there’s a free shuttle to get you back to your place: WeHo PickUp. This is a party-goer’s dream date who is always there as your designated driver and never complains. The PickUp line runs from 8 pm to 3 am on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sundays from 2 pm to 10 pm. Its route spans from Almont Dr. to La Brea Ave. along Santa Monica Blvd. Shuttles arrive roughly every 15 minutes and stop every two to three blocks. Look for the commanding yellow trolley that tells riders to get on.
WeHo Annual Events: Partaay and people-watch at two big (free) annual events in West Hollywood: Halloween Carnival on October 31, and L.A. Pride in June.
West Hollywood: Walk this Way, a Day of Gay