THE HERALD OUTLOOK 8Unrday May Los Angeles is the endless city By VINCENT EGAN Travel Ttwmsoa News Service Los Angeles has been described in endless ways The fourth largest Canadian city because of its high concentration of former Canadians the worlds largest ci ty because it extends over more than square miles Nowhere City because it has no centre Many of those who have not walked its streets are familiar with Los Angeles If you watch TV at all you have vicariously driven its freeways and strolled its beach boardwalks But TV isnt reality The little screen can never prepare you for the immensity of its urban sprawl nor for the difficulty of orienting yourself Its a difficulty thats shared even by longterm residents most of whom seem to be comfortably familiar only with the neighborhood in which they live and the district where they work Its so big that it must be seen for the most part as a city of very long streets or freeways or rides and the places of interest as events along the way writes architect Charles Moore in his The City Observed Los Angeles The only overall concept of Los Angeles that the visitor is likely to get the one that might be gained from a window seat on an airplane approaching the international air- port a huge but smoothly function ing complex that was renovated for the Summei Olympics PICK A PLACE If you are visiting Los Angeles take your cue from the Angelenos Abandon any thought of doing the city get behind the wheel of a car public transit is frustrating if not Impossible and select a part of this vast area that you can come to grips with The choice is broad but your decision shouldnt be a hasty one Hollywood is famous but sleazy in some highprofile areas Beverly is beautiful but pricey and cool to strangers Downtown strikes many people as sterile One area that will almost surely fulfil any- visitors dream of Southern California is an enclave called Marina del Rey on an inlet of Santa Monica Bay a quiet smiling retreat with the feel of a beach resort but located less than minutes drive from the busy in ternational airport Until 1900 it was a wasteland of swamps and scrub bordering the bay Then it was imaginatively transformed into a pleasant wateroriented community with slips for thousands of boats ringed by a parklike crescent of beaches lowrise hotels and apartments and a string of interesting restaurants There are several harbor and deepsea fishing tours available a Fishermans shopping and fastfood village and undersea gardens MARINA HOTELS One of the first buildings to be constructed was the twostorey Marina del Hotel with 160 guest rooms and boat slips of its own Ttus hotel is more like a resort than the typical hotel says manager Pierre A businessman at six oclock can take his tie off and smell the breeze from the sea Regular room rates at the Marina del Rey Hotel range bet ween and US with 25- percent discounts on Friday and Saturday nights Seniors pay single and double while families of up to four people in one room are offered a threenight package for 279 which includes A Located at Carols 65 Main St S Phone for an appt or please drop by 8772981 Gilt Certificates Available BRAND REALTY INC By Hughes Sales Rep 8730300 What a wonderful relief to see the sun again and bask in the warm weather It does all sorts of nice things for everybody including people in real estate When the weather is nice it brings most people out of the woodwork and they start browsing through houses again The itch to move becomes like poison ivy and with the downturn in interest rates to boot I think we will see a fairly active market again It is good news for everyone buyers and sellers alike for a nice steady market Is everyones best market to work in There are lots of open houses around at present so on these nice sun ny weekend afternoons why not drop into some of them and see what your money can buy now The market has changed somewhat since January and February and I think you will be pleased to see the dif ference You now have lots of choice in your given price range and dont forget with the lower interest rates you can juggle your figures a bit now I have heard through some pretty reliable sources that the rates will continue to slide downwards gradually over the next six months so that should make you very happy In case you did not know you can lock into funds for a mortgage 60 days in advance of your closing and if the interest rates go down before your closing you will get the lower interest rate It doesnt work the other way fortunately for when you lock in your funds you also lock into the current rate and if it goesaup before you dose you will have the rate that you locked into when you applied A nice little bit of information to have We ourselves locked into such a deal and managed to get lower rate by the time we signed our final papers It adds up over the years and on the monthly basis it can pro vide you with an evening out depending upon how much mortgage you have So there is no need to wait to see if the interest rates are going to move down any more you can make a purchase and still take ad vantage of what happens over the next several months Treat yourself to the pleasure of owning a new home and start looking while the is just right Have a great long weekend the weather is looking pretty nice on the long term forecast Just perfect for house hunting Homes Creatively breakfast a marina cruise and dis count on a Hertz rental car Set farther back from the water the 17yearold Marina Interna tional Hotel with a total of 136 rooms suites and villas has lower regular rates beginning at But from early June to Labor Day its room be cut to for either single or double occupancy with free parking A weekly highlight is a magicians ap pearance at Sunday brunch Newest and largest hotel in Marina del Rey is the 300room ninestorey Marina Beach a Mobil Guide fourstar hotel where rates start at 160 single 180 double Less than three years old the Marina Beach is a thoroughly modern hotel Every room has a computerized safe builtin refrigerator three telephones and a balcony overlooking a white- sand beach An even more sweep ing view of Los Angeles and the ocean can be had from the Skyfan a rooftop restaurant with an open- air section The main dining room Stones was recently rated as one of the top 10 restaurants in Los Angeles by Business Traveler magazine Of specialized interest Is the Marina Beachs topfloor Signature Club a concierge lounge where the walls are hung with framed signatures of the famous George Washington Alexander Graham Bell Henry Ford and the like MAPLE LEAF DAYS All three of the hotels At Marina del offer guests complimen tary transportation to and from the international airport and all offer discounts of per cent or more to Canadians during Maple Leaf Days a promotion sponsored each winter usually Nov 1 to Feb 28 by Air Canada and Californias state Office of Tourism In the winter just ended the airline offered discounts of from to per cent off its regular CanadaCalifornia full economy fares to stimulate more offseason tourism This summer however Air Canada is holding another seat sale on its CanadaCalifornia routes with savings as high as percent On TorontoLos Angeles flights the full economy return fare bet ween June and Sept a will be cut by per cent to 439 when passengers use westbound flight 793 leaving Toronto at pm and flight 794 leaving Los Angeles at 11 pm and arriv ing in Toronto the following morn ing at 630 To qualify purchasers must book and pay for their flights at least 30 days in advance Minimum stay is the first Sunday and max imum is 30 days Air Canada this summer will have a total of three daily flights in each direction between Toronto and Los Angeles as well as three on most days to San Francisco RENTACAR In conjunction with the summer seat sale and with Maple Leaf Days Air Canada passengers have access to special low rates on ren tal cars from Avis A car is in dispensable in Los Angeles as is a largescale detailed map of the ci ty and of neighboring Orange County for good measure The freeways and surface streets as Angelenos call them are so well designed and so clearly marked that driving is almost a pleasure except of course in the morning and afternoon rush hours Take a good guidebook since Los Angeles is not the kind of city that reveals itself spontaneously to the wandering stranger One of the most useful guidebooks is the Movie Lovers Guide to Hollywood by Richard travel editor of Vogue published by Harper and Row Not nearly as specialized as its ti tle suggests the book is a goldmine of tips on interesting areas and structures throughout Los Angeles that could easily be miss ed otherwise For a more general guide to the state consider Crown Insiders Guide to California by Jane E Crown Publishing Inc Another good statewide guide that nevertheless provides much useful detail on Los Angeles is California A Guidebook by Ran dolph Delahanty published in 1984 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