We enjoyed out stay at the Beverly Garland.

Location:

The location of the Beverly Garland is good–just off the freeway with easy access to Disney (took us about an hour but the traffic is crazy). There are a number of Hollywood/LA tours you can book right at the hotel. The bus stops at the hotel to pick you up and you really don’t have to travel far. The shuttle to Universal is great BUT when you’re returning home at night remember that a ton of other guests will be returning as well and there may not be room for you (which means you wait for the next shuttle). FYI: spend the extra $$$ and take the VIP Tour at Universal. Great value for money and if you don’t book it you will probably spend your day hating those (and yourself) with the VIP cards who go right past you in line and who get to get off their trams and explore the sets while you sit on your tram and simply drive by. While at the Beverly we spent a day at Universal, a day touring Hollywood and a day at Santa Monica Beach (not a bad drive at all considering it is LA).

Rooms: No fridge but otherwise fine. Nice, simple accommodation. You probably don’t want a room on the ground floor since these rooms are actually ‘downstairs’ and really only have a view of the hill they’re built into. We started out on the second floor and had sewage back up in the tub (gross, but they moved us immediately, no problem) and ended up on the first floor right near the pool. Very convenient. There is laundry in one of the buildings.

Pool: Small but nice. Always loads of loungers. Snack bar and towels. There’s a hot tub and sauna too but we didn’t use these.

Food: I liked Tula’s. The menu had loads of variety and the prices were reasonable.

Concerns: My concerns are not so much about the hotel but have more to do with the fact that I booked this hotel because of its review in Frommer’s. Frommer’s stated that kids under 12 eat free. That didn’t happen for us and I’m not sure why–I was just told that we didn’t have that package. Maybe Frommer’s should indicate you have to buy a special package to get this. Also, Frommer’s indicated Free Parking. That also did not happen–we paid $13 a day I believe. Minor things, I know, but these were two reasons I booked here so I was annoyed.

This is a very pleasant family hotel and a good location from which to sightsee. There’s really not much around the hotel itself (very residential) but I would recommend it as a base from which to do Universal and see LA.

We chose this hotel because it was close to universal studios,it was the cheapest in the area and it provided free shuttle service to universal studios. The staff was nice and friendly. No problem with the sevice at all. The food was good little pricey but okay. The rooms appeared to be clean. The first morning I got up went to my aunt's room . She and her granddaughter were still in bed. I noticed a red stain on the sheet of the bed the 9 year old was sleeping in. I approached the bed and then observed little bugs. I smashed the bug with a piece of paper and it stained the sheet, looked like a blood stain. Would you know it BED BUGS. We called immediately to the front desk, we were told the manager was not on site. They sent up the engineer he checked behind the headboard with a flashlight. An hour later someone else came to the room and he tried to tell us that these bugs came in sliding door because it was open and that they were not bed bugs. Not knowing that we had caught them in a plastic bag and showed him the evidence that these were in fact BED BUGS. He finally agreed to not charge us for that night. Moved them to another room. After that our stay was good.

We booked this hotel through AA Vacations with tickets to Universal (buy the Front of Line Pass - definitely worth the extra money). The main reason we chose it was location and then price.

We really didn't have any expectations about the place and I'm not sure how others feel, but I don't rate Holiday Inn as a super hotel. We were arriving from another hotel stay in the area (see my other reviews) and arrived around noon. They seemed to be busy and we checked with the Front Desk to see if a room was available - the clerk that happened to serve us was clearly frustrated and overwhelmed and unfortunately a bit curt to us. He found a room, but advised it was on the first floor - what we didn't know was that we enter on the 2nd floor and take the elevator down. Our room was ground level and faced the parking lot - my companion was totally uncomfortable with this and we went back to see if a room on a higher floor was available. A different clerk helped us and found a room much more suitable (which surprised the other clerk).

Rooms are like most HI hotels - average size, average amenities, but with coffee maker - no micro or fridge. "Balcony" was tiny, but usable. Things were clean and mostly comfortable.

Restaurant was decent - we had buffet breakfast, and no awards would be given, but it was edible. Dinner was a surprise in that the food was interesting and good. Prices were reasonable as well. (I saw another review that panned the food, so I'm unsure if things changed since then).

Location to Universal Studios was excellent for the price. Hotel offered shuttle service, but only on the hour for most hours and it would get you there an hour after opening (except on weekends). you can, however walk a few blocks to Universal Drive and from there you can either hike up a small hill to the entrance gate, or wait for the complementary USH shuttle. We never used the hotel shuttle, but it was nice to know they had it.

As for the area, very residential Studio City. Two blocks away was a shopping center and some other restaurants, but nothing really worthwhile. Better to go to US City Walk.

Overall, average stay but we were pretty much expecting it.

My partner and I stayed here a few weeks ago for 3 nights and found it really nice. The staff were very friendly and the room we had was big and spacious. It is only about a 20 min walk to Universal Studios which was great and the subway/metro is right near Universal. We had the buffet breakfast each morning which was quite nice although I wished they had more continental stuff to choose from! Our room was cleaned every day we were there - I have no complaints at all - it was actually the quietest hotel we stayed in throughout our 3 week holiday - which involved going onto Hawaii and San Francisco!!