I feel bad giving a mixed review for Gold Diggers. They were so nice and accomodating and pushed our reservation out a couple days when our flight was canceled. The room is thoughtfully decorated and well appointed, and we loved having the record player and fun vinyl collection. Loved the shower.
The problem was location, location, location. I didn't realize when I booked the room that it was on a pretty rough part of Santa Monica Boulevard complete with homeless folks, graffiti, super-fast traffic, and a dirty, rundown neighborhood. The worst part was when the band in the bar downstairs started up. They provide ear plugs, but it's impossible to ignore the pounding bass and drums until 2am. If you're planning on being downstairs in the bar partying until early morning (they provide two free drink tokens and entry to the bar for hotel guests), this could be the perfect place for you to sleep. We decided we weren't young and hip or old and deaf enough for this place to be a good fit for us.
The parking lot is a block away. After dark, they use a heavy padlock to ensure the safety of guests' cars. If you go out for dinner and need to park afterward, you'll need to diagonally pull in quickly from the 40-mph traffic to the short entry to the lot while you enter the combination into the padlock and pull back the fence. When you see the tagged wall on one side of the lot, you'll be grateful for the padlock.
If you like to sleep at night, this is probably not the place for you.
