Best place to stay in Los Angeles?

hmmm Stay in Inglewood, it's quite good. I've stayed there a lot

EVERYTHING in LA is expensive. It's LA. If you think LA has expensive hotels, try Monterey. They're selling cheap, Motel 6-style rooms, for over $250 per night. Sheesh. Since LA is so spread out, there is no single place that is close to EVERYTHING. Most people who come here tend to stay in Hollywood, Santa Monica, or Anaheim. In Hollywood, I recommend the Renaissance Hotel at Hollywood and Highland, the Best Western Sunset Plaza, or the Holiday Inn Walk of Fame. In Santa Monica, the Holiday Inn Santa Monica is close to the pier and reasonably priced. In Anaheim, I recommend the Howard Johnson (HoJo) Anaheim, and the Candy Cane Inn. I would be really surprised if you found a cheap hotel in Westwood. It's an expensive area. Check tripadvisor before booking. Some of those places are real roach traps. Westwood would be nice if it's a decent hotel.

For friends coming to LA and traveling on a budget, I suggest the Vagabond Inn on Figueroa near the USC campus. The area isn't very good-- so you shouldn't walk around a lot at night but you're not going to be in your hotel anyway. It's very central, so it's a short cab ride to Universal Studios, west LA beaches, southbay, downtown LA and Hollywood. The hotel itself is fairly nice and during the day, it is walking distance to the California Science Center, and a few other attractions. Plus, since it's next to a college campus, it's near food courts, restaurants and Starbucks. Staying there will save you money on the hotel itself and on cab fares.

westwood is very expensive too redondo beach and manhattan beach is cheaper, but close to LAX, noisy. want to cheap place and close to night life, then hollywood blvd near 101, many motels for $59