Where to stay for the LA Auto Show with a small group

Short answer: for four to eight people inside a few miles of 1201 S Figueroa Street, the realistic choice is an apartment-style home in Koreatown, Little Tokyo or the blocks just above downtown, and the two that handle a group of six or eight best are Light-Filled K-town 3BD 3BTH W/Pool, Gym & Parking and 2BD Haven in Little Tokyo. Three nights across November 19 to 22 lands inside a four-figure budget in most of this inventory, but a total under $2,500 including taxes, fees and your exact guest count has to come back from a live quote. Send us the dates and the head count and we'll run it.

Below is how the choice actually breaks down, because the deciding factor for an auto show crowd is almost never the bedroom count.

Parking is the thing that decides it

Most of our downtown-adjacent homes include a free gated or assigned space, and when you are doing a show at the Convention Center with a car, that one line in the listing is worth more than any other amenity on the page. Show days run long: Friday and Saturday the floor is open from nine in the morning until ten at night, Sunday until nine. You will come back late, twice, and you will not want to negotiate for a space either time.

Chic K-Town 2BD Hideaway includes a free tandem space that fits two cars, which matters if your group arrives in two vehicles or you've picked up something from a rental counter at the airport and nobody wants to leave it on the street overnight. Skyline Luxe comes with free reserved parking as well, which is genuinely unusual this close to downtown.

The one home in this group that doesn't include a space is the K-town 3BD's Little Tokyo cousin, Light-Filled Artsy Stay in Little Tokyo, which works off paid public parking across the street at about ten dollars a day, metered street parking that goes free overnight, and free street parking on the rear side of the building, first come first served. That's a perfectly workable arrangement if one of you is happy to be the person who deals with it. It is not the home to book if nobody is.

Six or eight people, three nights, and a kitchen worth using

If your group is six to eight, the homes that take you without anyone sleeping badly are the three-bedroom K-Town apartments. Light-Filled K-town 3BD 3BTH is listed for eight across three bedrooms and three full bathrooms: a king in the primary, a queen in the second, a full in the third, and a queen air mattress in the living room if you need the eighth bed. Three bathrooms for eight people on a morning when everybody has to be at South Hall by nine is not a small thing. Its sibling, Lux Living 3BD 3BTH, is laid out the same way, and both include an assigned space in the garage.

K-Town 2BD +Loft also sleeps eight, using a loft rather than a third walled bedroom: king, queen, two twins and an air mattress. For colleagues who don't want to share a wall, the three-bedroom is the better arrangement. For a group that already knows each other well, the loft layout is roomier in the living areas.

All of these have a fully equipped kitchen, and on a show weekend that earns its keep at breakfast rather than dinner. You are not cooking after a ten o'clock close in Koreatown, where the food is the entire point of the neighbourhood. You are making coffee at seven thirty for six people who have badge appointments.

Four people, and the case for the smaller places

A group of four has more options than it thinks, and the smallest homes in this part of the portfolio are studios and one-bedrooms built around a king plus an air mattress. The Haven 1BD Suite is listed for four with a king and an airbed in the living area, gated underground parking, gigabit wifi, a 24-hour gym in the building and a rooftop deck with grills and fire pits. It's a mile from Dodger Stadium and steps from Japanese restaurants and the Arts District.

Be honest with yourself about the air mattress, though. Two colleagues sharing a studio for three nights is fine. Four adults who work together, one of them on an airbed in the room everyone walks through at midnight, is a different trip. If that's your group, the two-bedrooms are worth the step up: Light-Filled Modern 2BD in K-Town gives you a king, a queen and a pull-out sofa bed across two bathrooms, which puts everyone behind a door.

Koreatown or Little Tokyo

Both put you in reach of the Convention Center without a freeway commitment, and they feel nothing like each other.

• Koreatown is where the late nights are. Korean barbecue, karaoke bars, Art Deco buildings along Wilshire, and a Walk Score of 96 around the Haven Suites block. The Metro B and D lines run from Wilshire/Vermont, and the 101 and 10 are close when you'd rather drive.
• Little Tokyo is quieter and more walkable toward the show. 2BD Haven in Little Tokyo and Chic & Cozy Home both sleep six and both include free parking, with the Japanese Village Plaza, the Arts District and Grand Central Market on your doorstep. From the Little Tokyo buildings, the Convention Center sits at the far side of downtown, and the Regional Connector station is right there if you'd rather not move the car at all on show days.

The Little Tokyo location is also the one that puts cultural things inside a short walk: the Japanese American National Museum is a few blocks away, Grand Park and City Hall not much further, Mumford Brewing closer still. If the group plans to spend Thursday evening doing something other than looking at cars, that's the base.

The 19th is a different day from the 20th

Worth knowing when you set your check-in: the public show opens Friday the 20th and runs through the end of the month. The 19th is AutoMobility LA, the industry and media day. If you're attending on press credentials you'll be at the Convention Center a full day before the crowds arrive, and a Thursday check-in means you're settled before the city fills up. If you're going as visitors, your first real day is Friday and the Thursday night is yours.

Either way, three nights spanning the 19th to the 22nd covers both halves of the show weekend, and the Sunday close at nine gives you an evening before you fly out.

Working from the apartment

Every one of these homes has a dedicated workspace, and most of the buildings add a co-working lounge and a gym to the deal. The Haven suites run wifi at a gigabit, which is enough for four people on video calls at once. In-unit laundry across the board means a three-day trip with carry-on only works, which is the quiet reason business groups keep rebooking these over hotel rooms.

Rooftop decks with grills and fire pits come with several of the Koreatown and downtown buildings, and they're where groups end up at the end of a show day, more often than the pool or the hot tub in November. K-Town 2BD Modern Escape has building hot tub access, which a few people will use after eight hours on a concrete convention floor.

What to send us

We hold 86 homes in Los Angeles, and the ones above are the slice that makes sense for a small group near the Convention Center. Every home is walked and hosted by our own team, check-in is keyless, and support runs around the clock, which matters when your flight lands at eleven at night.

To get you a real number rather than a range, tell us three things: your exact head count, whether you need separate bedrooms or can take an air mattress, and how many cars you're bringing. We'll come back with live availability for the 19th to the 22nd and a total with taxes and fees included, so you can hold it against the $2,500 line before you book anything.