I was shooting a television series that wanted me to drive back and forth to my house and the valley at weird hours consistently for 4 days. There was no money or budget so that my lazy ass, not wanting to spend 2 to 5 hours in daily car-hell, could bunk down in a hotel. So I found a hotel on my own (and with it came sanity….worth every penny.)
There are a lot of hotels in the San Fernando Valley. Most are old and yucky and not really near a highway, and the hotels near a highway are also near huge tourist attractions and the cost to stay there reflects the gouging they do to take advantage of peoples’ willingness to splurge while on vacation. I was not on vacation and I was not willing to splurge (I never splurge. The word almost sounds painful. I remain confident there is always a deal and as expected I will hunt one down and kill it.)
The Courtyard by Marriott in Sherman Oaks is right near a highway, close to restaurants and was literally 8 blocks from where we were shooting. Bingo! And it’s a really nice hotel! With Marriott one already has the built-in confidence that their beds are A+ and the rest of the hotel is just gravy from there: Large rooftop pool & jacuzzi, a hotel size gym, small refrigerator in the room. The other nice perk? Coffee. No, no, no, it’s not your basic coffee, they had flavored coffee too…and the yummy flavored creams that make having a coffee worth the effort. I take my morning joe with lots of cream and a splash of coffee.