My hubby and I stayed here in 2010 after having a lot of trouble deciding on LA accommodation, being backpackers we didn't want to spend much.
We booked the Rodeway Inn as the reviews generally were quite positive and we thought it looked to be close to the airport.
Soooo, it was kinda close to the airport (but still took ages to get there so cost a fair but), but not the city, or public transport!
We worked out that the nearest train station was around 3.1 miles (around 5kms) from here so we walked rather than catching a cab (there were supposed to be busses but we didnt see one at all - apparently the busses in Gardena are useless) as we were heading for Disneyland. we caught the train as far as we could and then a bus to Anaheim - around 1.5 hours on the bus! After a great day at Disneyland, a bus and train later we arrived back at the train station and decided to walk back to the hotel. it was dark - so this was a terrible decision, I was sure that we weren't going to make it back alive!! We did though.
The next day we caught the train into Hollywood Boulevard and then to Dodgers stadium - great experience, don't miss the baseball! This time we just caught a taxi the whole way back to the Rodeway.
We'd hoped to head to Santa Monica or Venice Beach on our last day but it was gonna take much too long to to get there via public transport (2 hours +) and cost too much in a cab, so we just waled around the Gardena area for the morning (not much to see really!).
I should also mention that the location wasn't particularly safe, Gardena is next door to Compton ('Boys in the Hood' territory) therefore I really didn't feel safe walking around day or night. I did feel relatively safe at the Hotel though.
In summary,the rooms were quite okay, the staff friendly and the breakfast great (waffle maker!!). However I would not possibly stay here again unless I had a car to get around. We were glad to be flying out to Vancouver after 3 nights and 2.5 days in LA.
- Gardena Rodeway Inn
