4th of July L.A. trip - Portofino Inn

My boyfriend and I are spontaneous travelers. We tend to make our decision to take a trip, whether it is big or small, on the last minute; the most amount of planning we, er... I mean, I have done for us was when we went vacationing in Beijing earlier this year. So last weekend was no different; we have already decided that since we did a fair amount of traveling this year, we were going to do a staycation. However, on Thursday afternoon when I was able to get us a reservation at Gordon Ramsey at the London in Los Angeles, the decision was made for us, we're going to L.A.!

A quick packing during lunch break, a snap decision on a place to stay, and when the clock hit 4:30pm, Beep! Beep! We were on the road. Traffic was expected, but it was not too bad and we arrived in Burbank, CA in 6 hours.

Let's talk lodging first. I booked the Portofino Inn because of all the great reviews that I read on hotels.com. The price was right for $129.00/night and it is centrally located in Burbank. When we arrived at the place I got worried for a moment cause it looks like a regular motel.

However, the saying of "You can't judge a book by its cover" definitely describes this place. It has a Motel 6 outside and a Marriot inside. The room was spacious with a firm but comfy King size bed. A granite sink top and bathroom, or at least it looks like granite. Instead of a regular TV that you would expect in a motel/inn, you get an LCD flat screen TV that is mounted onto the wall with premium channels; and of course the microwave and mini fridge makes it easy for us to bring back leftovers to satisfy our midnight munchie craving.

As much as I enjoyed my stay there, there were a few drawbacks though. The toilet seems to be leaking a little bit in our room, or my boyfriend just had really bad aim, but he also stepped in some mystery fluids and I don't have the aim issue. :)

The remote for the TV stopped working on the second day, so we had to call the front desk and get someone to switch it out for us. And by the third day I had to bring our room keys to the front desk cause we couldn't get into our rooms and somehow the battery for the smoke detector was missing.

Overall, the pros still outweigh the cons and I would definitely recommend Portofino Inn to anyone who would like a place to stay that is centrally located, clean and comfy, with a good price.

Next up...... my favorite Italian restaurant, Vivoli Cafe, one of L.A.'s best hidden secret, and I mean hidden!