I live in Taiwan and am traveling to LA in October with my parents-in-law who are Taiwanese and don%26#39;t speak English. I want to find a hotel that is affordable and safe, as well as in a Chinese/Taiwanese-immigrant area so that my parents-in-law would feel comfortable in case they need to be on their own. Any suggestions? And THANKS!
Visiting LA from Taiwan
Hi Calinite17,
I%26#39;m not sure if you%26#39;ll be in LA for business or for pleasure, what your budget and transporation options will be, I%26#39;ll just throw out a few suggestions. I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll get other ideas from those who are there ';on the ground'; so to speak.
Chinatown, in downtown LA, still has Chinese people; however, I don%26#39;t know how many are from Taiwan, as I%26#39;ve never had a reason to ask. I%26#39;ve stayed at the Best Western Dragon Gate Inn, which, to me is a perfectly okay hotel, but you may have a bigger budget and can choose a fancier place. If you read the reviews for the hotel on Trip Advisor, some (ignorant) people complain about ';all these old Chinese people hanging around the hotel foyer, gambling';. Well, yeah. In fact, there is some kind of cultural center downstairs where I%26#39;ve seen older, Chinese people practicing some kind of martial art using fans (don%26#39;t know what it%26#39;s called). There%26#39;s also a public library across the street that caters to the local community. If the read the FAQ for LA, it%26#39;ll tell you about the different neighborhoods and what you can do there.
Also, the City of Monterey Park www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us/home/index.asp, which is about 7 miles from LA used to be the ';real Chinatown'; (and where I had my first taste of what seemed to be more authentic Chinese food) could be another option, depending on what you want to do/see. I%26#39;m not too sure about accomodation, though.
Good luck!
Visiting LA from Taiwan
San Gabriel Valley has a pretty large Taiwanese population. Monterey Park, Arcadia, Cupertino...I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll have much of a problem. LA has a large Chinese/Taiwanese population.
I%26#39;d actually suggest going to any place that has a Ranch 99 Market. The one is Arcadia is sort of an anchor for the community.
www.99ranch.com/StoreLocator.asp?Store=All
You can also check out Chinatown in Downtown LA. It%26#39;s not very big or modern, but it has a rich cultural history. www.discoverlosangeles.com provides a guide: discoverlosangeles.com/los-angeles-page.php鈥?/a>
Do your parents speak Mandarin? If so, then any of the above areas will suffice. Chinatown in downtown L.A. is more centrally-located than the others (which are north/east of downtown). There is also good public transit (buses, trains and metro rail) in downtown L.A.
Please tell us what you mean by affordable.
San Gabriel Valley!! It%26#39;s the mecca of Asian people, restaurants, shops, etc. There are also TONS of visitors from Taiwan and China (Mandarin-speaking) there, as well as TONS of people from Taiwan and China that live in the area. What is your budget as far as hotel, or does it matter?? There is a really nice Hilton right there in San Gabriel and it%26#39;s right within walking distance of a TON of Chinese things. And there%26#39;s a 99 Ranch Market right across the street! There are also a number of smaller motel-type places in the area, so it just depends where you want to stay.
Chinatown would be good too, but there aren%26#39;t very many hotels right in Chinatown.
So it all depends which ara you want to stay in.
Totally agree with you Jcena! Chinatown isn%26#39;t bad, but the bad thing about it is everything shuts down at night, with the exception of a few restaurants that are open late. I don%26#39;t know if your parents-in-law want to go out for a stroll at night, but they can%26#39;t really do that in Chinatown, but they definitely CAN in the San Gabriel Valley.
Definitely the San Gabriel Valley for a Chinese area. Arcadia, San Gabriel, El Monte, Monterey Park, and Alhambra are almost all chinese or at least have 50 percent Chinese. You will be finding authentic Chinese food in the SGV (not fake unlike some cities). Lots of people rave about the San Gabriel Valley food- you will see many food blogs talking about asian restaurants.
As for hotels most of them are unfortunately near the more American part of each city. Such as in Arcadia there are many hotels on Huntington Drive. However, the Chinese area is about 5 blocks below it.
You will definitely need a car. Do your in-laws drive? If they do they will always easily get to parts of town easily.
Just thought of something. There is a Hilton in San Gabriel in which is next to two big malls in which are all Chinese operated. Few blocks away are markets, more Chinese restuarants, and many other things. It%26#39;s a busy area but your in-laws will easily find their way as it is a extremely busy area in which many Chinese go to during weekends.
Have a good trip!
Most of the people in Chinatown do not speak Mandarin. You need to do some more research as to the best place...Monterey Park may be better but it is not as convenient to the sites.
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