Cheap Beverly Hills

If you're looking to splurge just a little, a bunch of posh Beverly Hills hotels are offering a special buy-two-nights-get-one-free from March through June. The best looking deal appears to be the Thompson on Wilshire, which gives you a buy two nights at $192 and get a free third night, which averages out to $128 plus tax. And, you get free breakfast for two during your stay.

Cheap Beverly Hills

Actually, this should be titled Cheap Beverly Hills Adjacent, but whatever. If you want to go just outside of the venerable 90210 area code you can find great hotel deals. Checking on October 22-23, you could get the quaint Hotel Beverly Terrace for $139/night on hotels.com; the Crown Plaza Beverly Hills on Wilshire for $153; or the Courtyard by Marriott Beverly Hills for $169.

Cheap Hotels

If you want cheap on your L.A. visit but you don't think you can stomach a motel, there's always the Century Blvd. Strip. This is the collection of solid, but nothing fancy airport hotels within walking distance of LAX. These hotels are generally used by businesspeople looking to get in and out of town quickly during the week, and they have some good deals on weekends. Looking at Labor Day weekend, a family of four checking in for two nights would only pay $95/night at the Westin LAX and just $75 at the LAX Hilton. The Hilton at Universal City is charging $144 for that weekend and the Westin Bonaventure downtown wants $149. If you're driving or renting a car, you'll find these hotels in a good range within most attractions.

Cheap Silver Lake

It's hard to stay hip in L.A., but not if you're in the near-downtown neighborhood of Silver Lake. Once a rundown area, it's become the hot place to find new restaurants and it's centrally located so you're not too far from Hollywood, the Westside or parts beyond. Checking on a couple of hotels, we found for the weekend of August 13-15, two could stay at the Comfort Inn on Sunset (free wireless, microwave and fridge) for $114/night. Or, go with the Silver Lake Hotel & Suites and its Hollywood views for $120/night. Plan on spending an evening at the El Cid, a classic Silver Lake Spanish restaurant built by D.W. Griffith which features flamenco dancing.

Cheap Stays at the Beach

With summer being hot and disagreeable, you don't have to settle for 100-degree temps just because you're cheap. There are some good deals on cheap beach or near-beach hotels/motels left this year. We took a look at reservations on Hotels.com and Priceline for a family of four who want to stay Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30:

Redondo Inn & Suites--$99/night. Hard to beat that price for proximity to the ocean, just three blocks away. Nothing fancy, just the basics, plus free Internet. (Not even the Ritz-Carlton gives you that.)

Pacific Inn--$160/night. Located next to Seal Beach, which is a little north and a little more laid back than its southern neighbor, Huntington.

Pacific Edge Hotel--$189/night. When they say it's the Pacific Edge hotel, they mean it. Some rooms are within 30 feet of the water line on the beach in Laguna. It's the priciest hotel here, but to pay less on right on the sand you'll have to be camping.

Holiday Inn Express Dana Point--$161/night. A quick walk to family-safe Doheny Beach, the water there tends to be warmer since it's farther south than the L.A./Northern O.C. beaches.

"Cheap" Disneyland

The Disneyland Resort has periodical "specials" on their Website promoting their vacation packages. We've reported on their value before but I was alerted to what appeared to be a pretty good deal. Book a 3-night package through them and you get an extra two nights and five-day passes.

Using a typical family: two adults and two kids, 7 and 10, we checked out the rate for the Ramada Maingate, a cheap but convenient motel to Dizzyland from August 26 to checkout on August 30. The rate for our family was $1,340, not bad and it included the Ramada's deluxe room, which is a little bigger. But looking into it further, we could book the same hotel through Hotels.com for $550 and get the four passes for $666, a $124 difference. Now, the Disney package does include a "Magic Morning" admission on one day to get into the parks a couple hours early, but is it really worth the $124?

Hotel Discount

When you book through Ares Travel, you can get 25% off your stay at the Comfort Inn near Universal Studios through June 30. Using our hypothetical four-person family, we spent $82.50/night for a two-queen room over the end-of-the-school-year weekend of June 12-14.

Hotel Deals in L.A.

With the economy tanking, there's fear that this will be a devastating year in the hospitality industry. So, enter Expedia's Spring Break. Select a participating hotel from their package and you'll get a 3rd, 4th or 5th night free. The L.A. hotels range from the Burbank Ramada Inn at $66/night (3rd night free) to the swanky Avalon in Beverly Hills for $259 (4th night free). Around Disneyland, there's the Carousel Inn for $111 (3rd night free) to the old Jolly Roger for $88 (3rd night free). You have to book it by April 9 and start travel by May 15. The site promises more deals on April 9.

Free Queen Mary!

Well, not free her from the dock in Long Beach where she's been sitting for 40-something years, but free admission to the HMS Queen Mary. California residents can hop on board and take the self-guided tour for free from March 1 through the 15th. (Tickets are normally $25 for adults; $22 for seniors and military and $13 for kids 5-11.) There's also a special rate of $109 to spend the night on the ship for Californians, good from now until March 31. You have to call the ship (800-437-2934) to find out about availability. This is a good hotel deal if you can get it. The Queen Mary is often overlooked by visitors but it's a good location, you're relatively between L.A. and O.C. The other best deal we could find for the Queen is on their website: for two adults with a AAA card, Friday March 27, checking out Sunday the 29th is $129. If you stay at the hotel the self-guided tour is complimentary. Self-parking for hotel guests is $15.

Cheap Hotels - The Coast

Of course, you can come to L.A. and find a cheap hotel far from everything and spend your vacation driving everywhere, or you can get a great room close to most of the things you want to see. That's not always easy, which is why we've listed three of our favorite coastal L.A. hotels for $99 or less:

Marina International Hotel & Bungalows--Located in Marina del Rey, staying here puts you close to Santa Monica, Venice and the Westside. It's got a pool, free internet access and parking, and fresh cookies in the lobby each afternoon. Their "Stimulus Package" includes breakfast.

Holiday Inn Express Manhattan Beach--Not far from the Manhattan Beach Pier and the restaurants and shops that surround it, this $99 spot (for two queens, non-smoking, advance purchase) also gives you a free continental breakfast and free wireless internet in public areas.

Travelodge Santa Monica on Pico--This one is in a quiet area, Trader Joe's market is a short walk, lots of little cafes are nearby. The parking is free, as is the internet access and most rooms have a microwave and a fridge. They'll even say OK to bringing your pet (20 pounds or less) if you call ahead.