I'm sure I've mentioned on here before, but in March I will be in LA for The Sweet 16/Elite 8 games at Staples. Inexplicably, this will be the 12th straight year I will be attending either a 1st or 2nd weekend of the NCAA tournament. What started as an excuse to get together with a couple of HS and college buddies in my new city of StL in 2001 has turned into an annual tradition that doesn't seem like it will end anytime soon. Another cat from the JO was added somewhere along the way to make 5 total.

What I'm looking for is advice on where to stay. We usually get a couple of hotel rooms in a hotel close to both nightlife and the arena itself. But we also usually go to towns where the options are limited or the answer is obvious: i.e. Miami-South Beach, or Tampa- Ybor, etc. LA is a bit more complex because its so spread out, and none of us have much of a background there.

We are also debating renting a house, this site seems to have some pretty good options that seem reasonable (although they are asking for full week, vs the 4 nights we need Wednesday-Sunday) Thoughts on going this route? Hotels seem more hassle free, but this would be pretty cool if the right place. Note I didn't pick these, one of the cats FF these as examples

http://www.vrbo.com/284358
http://www.vrbo.com/399245
http://www.vrbo.com/276403
http://www.vrbo.com/360735
http://www.vrbo.com/303173


A bit more background on the group to get an idea of what areas might make sense:

- 5 total: mid 30s
- Demo: 2 black, 2 white, 1 asian (lol, this is a typical NBA post %) | 60% married/shacked up
- No longer bout the night life but all about getting some good scenery, also at least 1-2 strip club trips are a must for the married set
- Games are Thursday night and Saturday during day, but proximity to Staples not a must, but a nice to have. I hear downtown LA has been upgraded a lot in recent years
- Some beach time would be good

Any thoughts would be appreciated, this is late March, if that matters. Feel free to ask me questions if that helps pin-down recs.