Orange/Thousand Oaks/Whittier CA - where to stay?

[InBetweenDays]

DD's lacrosse team will be playing down in Southern California next March. 3 days in a row - one game against Whittier, one against California Lutheran, and one against Chapman.

We're planning to fly down to see all the games. Recommendations on where to stay? Either a general area or specific hotels? Preference for areas where we could walk from the hotel for coffee/breakfast and dinner.

[sdlaura]

I’m in the San Diego area so more familiar with Orange County than north of LA, but (edited)-Thousand Oaks is pretty far from the other two, especially in traffic. It would depend on the game schedule, but I might stay one night in Thousand Oaks and then the other two in Orange County. It could be 3 hours between there and Thousand Oaks at rush hour.

[InBetweenDays]

Oh man, thanks. I looked at the location of Whittier relative to Chapman but didn't realize how far Thousand Oaks was. Of course the game schedule goes Whittier, California Lutheran, Chapman.

[hbomdiggity]

Downtown Whittier has walkable restaurants and coffee. I’ve stayed at the Doubletree a bunch for work. It’s not the newest or most modern, but convenient location.

[formerlyak]

Sept 16, 2024 20:10:44 GMT -5 sdlaura said:

I’m in the San Diego area so more familiar with Orange County than north of LA, but Whittier is pretty far from the other two, especially in traffic. It would depend on the game schedule, but I might stay one night in Thousand Oaks and then the other two in Orange County. California Lutheran is sort of in the middle, but it could be 3 hours between there and Thousand Oaks at rush hour.

Cal Lutheran is in Thousand Oaks.

If you only want one hotel, I’d look between Long Beach and Culver City to put you between all three as best as possible.

[sdlaura]

Oops Google maps fail formerlyak. The one in Thousand Oaks is still really far from the one in Orange!

A group I’m affiliated with throws a holiday party at The Shay every year in Culver City and it’s a really nice hotel with a rooftop pool. But to stay there and then go to Orange could take you a REALLY long time - going past LAX is always a mess.

What are the game times like? All afternoons?

[formerlyak]

I agree with sdlaura what times are the games? That would affect a recommendation. I live just south of LAX and we are technically about the middle but time of day matters.

[InBetweenDays]

The Whittier and Cal Lutheran games are at 6pm. Chapman is at 11am.

So if we stayed closer to Orange we could drive up to Thousand Oaks and spend the day up there before the game. Then maybe the drive back wouldn't be bad around 8:30pm? And these are all midweek.

[formerlyak]

InBetweenDays , if the Cal Lutheran game is at 6:00 pm, I'd stay closer to Orange and then leave to go up to Thousand Oaks around 10 after most of the traffic is done. I've had to do work events in Thousand Oaks and when I drive home at night and there is no traffic to just south of LAX, it takes about an hour max. So you should be good after the game.

ETA: tried to make that more coherent. I am so congested my eyes feel congested so I may have typos there!