Just wanted to report back that I ended up flying with Group 3.
I had a very positive experience, aircraft in good nick, friendly and professional operation.
I highly recommend flying in the area, it was quite interesting and surprisingly user friendly despite the multiple airspace's we flew through.
FWIW, the route was VNY, through the Valley to Malibu Canyon, Point Dune, back along the coast via Malibu to Santa Monica, at the boundary of LAX a climbing turn over the center of Santa Monica to Beverly Hills, over UCLA to downtown, then Glendale / Pasedena via Dodger Stadium, the observatory and Hollywood sign, and back to Van Nuys via Burbank. (or something like that).
I must say I have never seen so many Helipads on buildings in my life, it seemed every building had one.
Seeing all the helicopters at Van Nuys was great. LA appeared to be a very heli friendly town.