Perfect beach experience. We'll be back!
We checked into the Venice on the Beach hotel on Aug. 18, 2012 and checked out on Aug. 21, 2012. We had a wonderful stay!
I put the owner, Greg, through his paces -- with requests for extra towels for the beach, and a request that my L.A.-based brother be allowed to use our parking spot when he visited us, since we didn't bring a car -- and he granted all of these requests with a smile. Such a friendly person!
Our 1-bed bedroom was about the size of a thimble, which was fine with me. We didn't really need much, and needed to save $$ for our weeklong California trip. The room was extremely clean, and comfortable, if a little cozy. (We could probably have easily upgraded to one of the larger rooms -- I noticed the room across from ours was more of an apartment, with a full service kitchen -- but there was no need for this, we just needed a place to rest our heads and change our clothes.)
This hotel describes itself as a "boutique hotel", which means it is more like a B&B, and that you don't get the full service you would get in a chain hotel. And that was fine with us, too. Greg told us that the maids would be happy to come in and clean our rooms if we wanted ... which gave me the option to tidy the room myself, and save even more money. I did ask the maids to do a "towel exchange" with me -- I traded our used towels for fresh towels -- and they were happy to oblige. I made sure to give them a tip, of course!
The proximity to the beach was just ... amazing. The ocean is gorgeous, with great big beautiful waves; perfect for bodysurfing and surfboarding. I could have stayed on the beach for our entire trip. 
Our room was located right by the entrance, with our windows facing the little parking lot. I was worried this was going to result in street noise and a lack of privacy, but, fortunately, this was not the case. There isn't a lot going on outside those windows after 9pm, and we were able to have a good night's sleep.
Also, there is no air conditioning in the rooms, which had us worried we'd be uncomfortably hot in the dog days of August, but with our windows cracked open, and the overhead fan on, we were able to sleep comfortably.
It's hard to find an affordable hotel in Los Angeles ... I think this place is a real gem, and I can't wait to go back. Big thank yous to Greg for fielding all of my requests, and being such a super host!