L.A. for a month

[HeheOkok]

Going to the LA Poker Classic in February and since I'm not from the US, I don't really know much about the city.
Does anyone have any recommendations on places to live during this 1 month period? Looking för a house or apartment in LA, preferably in a place with some cool restaurants, bars, etc... will be renting a car, so it doesn't have to be very close to Commerce. Actually, I absolutely DON'T want to live close to commerce. The area around the casino sucks real bad.
Anyway, been looking at Venice Beach and Santa Monica. What do you guys think?