Verified answer

Stay in a reliable, clean and decent hotel in a busy area. It would probably be best for you to stay in the Hollywood/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area. This is the center of tourism and there are excellent hotels. Here is a list of hotels in the area.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g32655-Los_Angel...

The Hollywood Roosevelt, Loew's Hollywood Hotel, the Hollywood Holiday Inn, the Beverly Hilton, are all good choices.

The downtown district has some fantastic attractions, but becomes dodgy after dark. Don't even think about staying there. Go there during business hours when there are lots of (non-homeless) people about.

Avoid going to East LA, the south, central and south-central areas of the city. There really isn't any reason for the average visitor to LA to go into those areas anyway.

The Westside of LA is the safest area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westside_%28Los_Angel...

This webpage lists the safe and dangerous areas of the city for a visitor.

http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/09/09/safe-and-dan...

You should be fine providing you follow common sense.

Tips for safety when traveling anywhere.

http://golosangeles.about.com/od/latravelplanning/...

Just behave normally. Don't act like a tourist and don't act like a victim. Never do anything on vacation you wouldn't do in your home town.

You can get a lot of information about traveling to LA from this visitor's guide website.

http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/

How old are you? What are your likes/ dislikes?

How long will you be there?

Any budget constraints???