Beverly Hilton Hotel

I travelled with Virgin Atlantic - the best Airline I’ve ever had the pleasure to travel with. All the information they forward is fantastic prior to travel, and onboard the food, drink and entertainment available couldn’t be improved upon - even the wonderful travel kits they provide you with.
However, the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel is another story. One imagines plush surroundings (-what more would you expect of a hotel which hosts the Golden Globe awards and the Oscar nominees luncheon) and you’re not disappointed. You’re met with a spectacular water fountain as you drive up to the entrance and masses of marble and glass everywhere. Even the hotel foyer has a large waterfall cascading down one wall. However, this is where the luxury ends. Our room had a wonderful view overlooking a car park(!!!) The room itself was distinctly unimpressive, and to top it all off the bathroom flooded every time you took a shower - not very good when you have two young children and a very wet and slippery tiled floor. Breakfast consisted of Danish pastries, croissants and hot and cold drinks - not the most healthily of starts! There was a problem with our door lock one night (after returning very late from a long but very enjoyable day at Disneyland). They insisted on replacing it immediately (- bear in mind this was around 11.30pm and we had 2 young children who needed to get to sleep). Therefore 40 minutes later, after using a normal drill to take out the faulty lock and replace it, we could get the children into their beds.
I would thoroughly recommend saving money and staying at a Best Western or Holiday Inn. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in San Diego - it was fantastic and half the price of the Beverly Hills Hilton. The room easily accommodated our family of four, and came complete with microwave, fridge, TV, coffee machine and iron and also gave a 2nd days free admission to Sea world whenever you purchased the 1 day ticket - far cheaper than buying in advance with the tour operator.
We also stayed at the Best Western in Anaheim - you couldn’t get any closer to Disneyland, its straight at the entrance. Complete with pool, and extremely clean, it’s the perfect place to take a rest midday, when the sun is hot, and the queues are at their longest, and once again is amazing value.
I’d thoroughly recommend California as a holiday destination.
Originally we where concerned with the 11 hr flight - but after a little dizziness on the 1st day we where all great - no jet lag at all. However I would recommend taking a few extra days rest after your return journey. We were back a full week before any of us were back into a normal sleep routine - it isn't much fun putting children to bed at 8pm only to have them waking up again around midnight and not being able to get back to sleep until 4am!!