I cannot get enough of the LA area. There is so much to do, see and take part in. There are also plenty of areas of LA to spend your bachelorette weekend. I went to LA this past week from Thursday to Sunday to spend some time there with friends who live there as well as a friend in from NYC. I am actually in the process of seeing what city I want to move to next and LA is on the short list so far. So exciting because I really want to have a branch of Fetes in the LA area. Only seems, well, super fitting for us to have a presence there.

I stayed in Santa Monica at the Fairmont Hotel and also at the Viceroy Hotel. They are both lovely but will try and give you some good ideas from my trip and what I learned about the area on where you should stay if you decide to go to the LA area for your bachelorette party weekend.

When I am researching cities that I am going to for a visit I do a few different things to map out where I want to stay, what I want to do while there as well as where I want to eat. A great start of course is asking any friends you know that live or there or go to that city alot. Also, blogs, Pinterest, and Instagram (hashtags) are a lovely and easy way to get some ideas on where you might want to go and what you want to do. I always use Eater Heat Maps for the food ideas. Those tend to be SPOT on when figuring out the restaurants that you want to book ressies at before you get there.

There are a few KEY areas of LA that you should think about when preparing for an LA bachelorette Party Weekend.

• Santa Monica: I think Santa Monica is probably one of the top places I would recommend you staying if you are doing an LA bachelorette weekend. I like that Santa Monica is manageable, at the beach, has hotels with pools, great restaurants and things to do right there too. You are also super close to Venice and Marina del Rey so you can go to those areas of LA too for shopping, sight seeing, brunches and dinners too.
• Malibu: I spent one day driving around Malibu and I can say this area is a DREAM BOAT. I think renting a house in Malibu for part of your stay or even your whole stay would be pretty amazing. I didn't look into hotels here since I was only there for one day but I loved the area. You can easily get to Malibu from Santa Monica or other areas in LA for a day trip. I rented a car but you could also take an uber or some kind of car service.
• West Hollywood: Seems like the newish IT place to be in LA. If you want to go to more restaurants, clubs and bars for your bachelorette trip and don't care about being out at the beach the whole time then this area could be perfect for you.

To get around I highly recommend riding the Bird scooters, Lime scooters or the bikes on the beach board walk in Santa Monica. The scooters in LA are super normal and everyone is using them. They make getting around CHEAP and FUN and EASY. I rode Bird from Santa Monica one day to Venice, all over Venice and the Canals. Another morning before the day got going I rode a Bird all over the streets of Santa Monica and the Pacific Palisades to see the beautiful houses and the beach of course.

I flew in on a Thursday and stayed until Sunday. I think a Thursday to Sunday bachelorette party weekend or a girls weekend away is the perfect amount of time. If you can take off Friday or even Thursday and Friday - ALWAYS DO IT! This gives you the perfect amount of time to really explore a new city.

Thursday night when we got in to Santa Monica:

• Checked into the Fairmont and spent some time out at the pool there. We also went to Bungalow that night for drinks and some fun with some cute Australllliiiannn boys too.
• Great spot to go probably any time of year but it seems like around the holidays Bungalow does a fab job of decorating for the holidays. Since we were traveling there in October we got to see some really fun Halloween decorations. So overall highly recommend Bungalow at the Fairmont Hotel. You can pop over to the beach too to take some photos and take in the sunset too. Literally every night in Santa Monica has an amazing sunset so you will have the best photos and memories.
• The cool thing about the Bungalow bar is that it is pretty much all outside, lots of tables, a cute outside bar and also little rooms that you can walk into to spend time in.

Here is me trying to be an INSTABLOGGER of course. My friend Carolyn who I used to work with in our Boston office moved to LA about 6 months ago - so we spent some time taking of course a million photos of each other to capture the fun decorations for the holidays at Bungalow. LOL. 

We went to Hillstone for dinner when my friend Mary got in. She used to live in Santa Monica and that is one of her favorite restaurants. We also had a Hillstone in College where we went so kind of fun for us to do that one night. I recommend Hillstone in general because it is always good but it is a chain so if you are looking for COOLER experiences you might want to pick somewhere else. BUT, that being said - Hillstone is always a good option if you want something great to eat, and a stable choice where you know it will be good and great service.

We then stayed at the Viceroy Hotel down the street a bit for the rest of our time there. Both are AWESOME. So I would recommend checking out Hoteltonight app always when booking your trips because I usually have really good luck on there. You are always able to find better deals as well as cool hotels in great areas. I would also recommend in general when planning your girls weekends or bachelorette weekends using Airbnb if you want a house or an apartment where you can all stay and don't want to do hotels.

Some of the hotels that looked fun in Santa Monica would be:

• Viceroy Hotel

• Shore Hotel

• Shutters

• Fairmont

There are tons of hotels in the area but those were a couple that I walked past and looked fun and cute. We also stayed at Viceroy and at Fairmont so I can vouch for both of those. Viceroy Hotel is more trendy than the Fairmont. Fairmont is more old school charm. Oh and both have pools.

There are some cute brunch and coffee places that I would recommend if you are staying in Santa Monica. For this trip I stuck around Santa Monica (Mostly), Venice and Malibu. So a lot of my brunch and coffee recommendations will be for this area but keep in mind LA is BIG so once again check Eater maps (brunch, coffee maps) and Yelp for other recommendations. 

Cute Brunches and Coffee Shops in Santa Monica, Venice and Malibu: 

This was the LA brunch heatmap when I went.  

Santa Monica Brunches that are dope and have cute vibes. 

The Gables:

I think this might be newish. I found this while searching for coffee/breakfast close to the Fairmont and this place looked like something I would like. It was so cute, blue tiles, cuet plants hanging from the walls and adorable plates and food. I would definitely suggest going here if you like pretty things and cute menus. I took that photo up there. You can also find them on INSTA here @thegablesla. We liked you a lot the Gables. I would definitely go here for a brunch or a coffee stop on your trip to Santa Monica. 

Esters Wine Shop and Bar: 

I didn't get to go here but it was high up on my list and from their website and photos from this location on Instagram it looks dreamy and right up a ladies weekend or bachelorette weekend lane.  Let's be real- anything with wine in the name has me running to it. They also have "boozy brunch" on Saturdays and Sundays from 1030-230. PERFECT- we will see you there ladies. You def don't have to twist my arm. 

I highly recommend taking a bike from a bike stand down on the beach and riding on the sidewalk path to Venice. Once you get to Venice ditch your bike and jump on a scooter by downloading the Bird app and/or Lime app. Get on that scooter and start scoot scooting your way over to Abbott Kinney area. 

There are tons of good restaurants on Abbott Kinney and in the Venice area. I would scooter over to the Venice canals and just explore that area on foot and then jump back on a scooter over to Abbott Kinney (a street with shops and restaurants). 

Some places in Venice that I thought were cute and worth checking out:

Essential Venice restaurants on Eater Map in case you want to check it out- yes, you should. 

• Venice Canals - scooter or bike over to them following a map then get off the scooter of the bike and WALK the canals. Check out all the cute houses and the beautiful flowers and plants around the houses. 
• Abbott Kinney street for boutiques and restaurants 
• Rose Cafe - BRUNCH. 
• Gjelina - highly recommend going here. I went here by myself one day for lunch and had a rose and one plate. I would definitely go here again as the food was amazing. I would not miss this place if you had to really pick where to go in Venice I would try for here. Get a reservation ahead of time. 
• Gjusta-  I didn't go here but my sister and my friends all told me to go here. Comes up high on literally everyone's list of where to go. I would recommend going just from how many people told me to go here. 

Now on to MALIBU Ladies....because oh MALIBU, you are one dreamy place to spend some of your time while in LA. 

Malibu is just a short drive from Santa Monica. So either grab a rental car, an uber or have a friend drive you over for a day trip. 

Here is what I would do if you spend a day or some time in Malibu. 

• Start by driving down the PCH so you can take in the ocean and all the houses on the water on the way out. 
• You must go to Malibu Farm on the Malibu pier for lunch and drinks. You should park somewhere near the pier or once again just take an uber and have them drop you off right there. When you get there you will wait in a line to get your seat. It doesn't take that long so just chillax and wait. Enjoy the nice weather and grab some rose or margs while you wait. Take some photos and stop in to the Miansai store on the pier too. :) 
• Head to Malibu Wines and Malibu Safari Tours next. This is a great place to go (see photo below) to just hang out at a table and drink wine with your friends. You can also go on a tour (safari tours) through the vineyards if that is your THANG. 

Make sure that you take some time to take in the beach in Malibu while at the pier. Walk down from the Pier to the beach and just sit on the beach and relax. When you are driving up or down the mountains in Malibu to Malibu Wines stop off at look out points and take in the view. It is a truly magical place that you can experience the sea and the mountains in one area. 

LA is wonderful because of just that. You have city. Beach. Mountains. All in one magical place. Have the best girls weekend in LA or best LA bachelorette party! We will update this last as we continue to figure out our favorite places for you. Oh and if you want to book a flower crown party as part of your bachelorette party in LA or girls weekend in LA we will come to you with our signature flower crown bar and help you and your girls make the prettiest flower crowns to wear out!