Los Angeles is a city whose reputation precedes it. Everyone knows of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Everyone knows there are beaches and a lot of huge houses (and remarkable Plum homes too). But there’s still so much more to it. It's genuinely enormous and hard to sum up in just one guide. But, of course, a challenge never stopped us here at Plum Guide...so we're here to tell you all about the best places to stay in Los Angeles for tourists.

Hollywood’s neighbor Burbank is the star-studded retro-locale of some of Los Angeles’s biggest studios. To enter the neighbourhood is, in a way, to take a walk back through time into the Golden Age of Hollywood. Today, Burbank maintains all of its smalltown studio-era vibes, and if you want glitz, it’s only a few miles from Hollywood. Tour old school studios of your own accord: pretent to be a movie star for the day, or just absorb the tours as you walk through them. Remember who stood in those places before you. Hepburn? Grant? Bette Davis? Because of its location, if you stay in a home here like Beagle & Bichon, it’s simple to get to Griffith Park and the exciting pathways around Los Angeles that will give you brand new views of the city the whole way along.

Time to break out that vintage The Cure t-shirt you’ve had in your drawer a couple of decades, you’re in Silver Lake now. Silver Lake is a trendy mecca for Angelenos (and hipsters) of all ages and one of the best places to stay in Los Angeles for tourists who fancy themselves as trendy. It can’t help its legacy as being one of the coolest areas in the city, and it can thank more than the iconic Sunset Boulevard which runs through it, for that. Locals joke that it’s the spot aging hipsters go to retire and have a family, and you'll find a lot of cooler young Hollywood types live around here. Silver Lake also boasts a large LGBTQ community.

Sunset Junction – where Sunset Boulevard meets Santa Monica Boulevard - is a great place to explore. Hip indie stores meet high-end fashion boutiques and in Silver Lake, it’s the indie stores that win out. (You'll just have to save the high-end splurge for your next trip to Paris.) If you’re an audiophile, the independent Amoeba Music store can be found on Sunset. Amoeba has an unrivaled collection of records, old and new. One of its stand-out features is that - like that of Rough Trade in London - it hosts live performances.

Venice is everything you picture it to be: skaters, surfers, street performers, counter-culture and beach. It's a beach town with a personality of its own, so no wonder it's got some of the best vacation homes and LA Airbnbs around. Laid back, fun-loving and a little offbeat, Venice and the Boardwalk are where Angelenos are free to go to to let loose. If you don’t fancy trying your hand at surfing or you’re wary of staying on the beach for too long, you can take a walk around Venice’s thriving streets and indulge in some thrifting. After all, Venice is one of the best spots to thrift in the world, and you never know what you’re going to end up with when you decide on going. Afterwards, you’ll be able to reward yourself with a few drinks at the Hotel Erwin’s High Rooftop Lounge. (Or forget the thrift shopping altogether and just perch yourself there all day...) Lastly, since it was based on Venice in Italy, the neighbourhood has plenty of canals you can take in and the surrounding residences have their own special vibe.

Like the Village in New York, Soho in London and the Marais in Paris, Los Angeles’s gay district, West Hollywood might as well be the rainbow capital of the world. In its 1.9-square-miles, West Hollywood (WeHo) has seven entirely different residential neighbourhoods full of remarkable homes like The Orange Grove. Norma Triangle is the best known of this WeHo seven. Legend has it silent movie star Norma Talmadge had a film studio there. WeHo’s other diverse neighbourhoods include Tri-West, WeHo Heights, WeHo North, WeHo West, Center City, and Eastside. West Hollywood is the best place for nightlife in Los Angeles. If New York is the city that never sleeps, WeHo is the city that naps throughout the day to party more every night (which seems a lot more logical). The illustrious Chateau Marmont is on the Sunset Strip, as well as Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Los Angeles’s quintessential Cali beachtown, Santa Monica is a spot with white sand, blue sea, bright sun, and beautiful, easy-going people. This is one of our favourites when it comes to where to stay in Los Angeles. Santa Monica Pier has been on more postcards and in more movies than the Statue of Liberty. It's a blissful coastal idyll, and perfect if you're a beach bunny who'd like to be out of the downtown smog. Whether by yourself and travelling alone, with a family, or with your other half, you’ll find dozens of things to do. Venture onto the Promenade and to Pacific Park amusement park. With its carousel, legions of coasters, and the world’s oldest solar-powered Ferris Wheel, it's one of the best place to stay in Los Angeles for tourists travelling with kids, and you're likely to turn into a big kid too. After that adrenaline rush, make sure you take time to indulge in the delicious food on offer in this area of town – an unmissable part of any Los Angeles food tour.

Neighbour to the equally hip Silver Lake, Los Feliz is the curated Bohemian mecca on the outskirts of Griffith Park. Definitely a spot for the cool kids, the average age here runs a little younger, and has a independent hipster vibe to the area. If it had a soundtrack, Los Feliz would have one like Garden State; its small, concept boutiques and kitschy-chic book shops make it difficult to go home empty handed. When night comes around, dress up handsomely and take in one of the many cocktail bars that line the streets, then go to bed and sleep it all off. Griffith Park and its sunshine will be waiting for you the next day to spend time in the sunshine. Fancy staying in the area? Our homes like Faodail are ready and waiting for you.

And there we have it, our guide to the best places to stay in Los Angeles for tourists. After you've decided on which neighbourhood you prefer, all that's left to do know is choose your cherry-picked LA Plum apartment. Each home listed on our site undergoes a meticulous testing process to make sure we're only showing you the cream of the vacation home crop. You're very welcome.