For us, this is what it's all about.
We live on the west coast and have done plenty of traveling. Like some, however, we have never properly explored LA (not that seeing all of LA is entirely possible - turns out it's the size and population of a whole country). But Tommy's backyard cottage was an ideal, highly affordable yet highly comfortable home-base for strategizing and resting up while conquering our Venice Beach and LA adventure bucket list items.
We arrived on a Friday night ($14 uber from LAX), and were able to immediately begin experiencing the neighborhood-vibes of LA. This night and most nights we traversed the Venice Beach neighborhoods and famous canals, often finding ourselves on Rose Blvd for food and drink, and when we were lucky, witnessing a bizarre protest at a vegan restaurant. There's a Ralph's for groceries close by, a city-sized Whole Foods, and probably the most fun (and most expensive) was a local/organic grocery store called Erewhon No shortage of kale chips, goji berries and neighbor personality here.
We planned our 4 days in LA around two things: museums and tacos. We ended up eating tacos at 10 different places (google search venice beach tacos for some great recommendations) our absolute favorites being Guerrilla Tacos, La Playita and the offerings of Grand Central Market (GO TO GRAND CENTRAL MARKET).
We saw the Getty, the Griffith Observatory, the downtown sites such as the famous Bradbury building, the John Ferraro building. We never rented a car and Ubered/Lyfted everywhere, probably for a comparable price to a cheap car but without the stress of parking, etc. Quizzing Uber drivers on their LA experiences became a way to learn about the city --- you have plenty of time to talk with the traffic.
As for Tommy's place, it has everything you'd possibly need (including HBO if you must get your Game of Thrones in), including a genuine and helpful host who wants to make sure you are well taken care of and having a great time.
Thanks Tommy for providing a great place. We had a great time. 5 Stars!