Holiday Inn Express Van Nuys

Happy Belated Thanksgiving.  I hope you and yours enjoyed the quality family time that this holiday brings.

As for the Mrs and I, we headed to Los Angeles for the family get together.  Due to logistics, we found ourself in need of hotel arrangements.   We weren't in need of any luxury accommodations since we expected to sleep there only one night.  After a little looking around, I decided to redeem 15,000 Priority Club (PC) points at the Holiday Inn Express Van Nuys.  The available points were a mix of leftover PC points from my accumulation during a previous job (where we stayed exclusively at PC properties) and some points accumulated this year during emergency stays at PC properties.  I found 15,000 for what we needed to be much more reasonable than any Hilton reward redemption or Amex Reward possibility.  We were warned that the neighborhood may not be the best, but again, we weren't in for the surrounding areas; we just needed a "crash pad".  

After filling our bellies at the family dinner in Studio City, we arrived at the hotel under dark around 10pm.  The immediate surrounding area was fine; there was what seemed to be an exotic car dealership right across from the hotel.  The hotel is right off the 405 freeway at Roscoe (it can't be missed).  It would be a good location right after going through the heart of Los Angeles if heading north out of the city.

We were quickly checked in by reception and asked if we preferred a room near or far from the elevators.  We requested far and were given such a room.  The room was what we expected from a Holiday Inn Express and very clean.

I found the room spacious, but the bathroom was very small.  The internet was provided free of charge and worked well, at least at the late time that I was using it.

We awoke too late for the free breakfast so I can't comment on it.  We checked out at noon and we were on our way to another family get together and then a drive up to Santa Barbara for the rest of the holiday weekend (stay tuned).

Overall, I do not see a problem with the Holiday Inn Express Van Nuys.  I wouldn't consider it a multiple stay if you were visiting Los Angeles unless you had business in Van Nuys.  But if you are planning to drive through Los Angeles and need a place after all the density of the city, this is a good stop for the night.