The Hotel del Coronado, affectionately known simply as ‘The Del’, is one of America’s most luxurious and historic hotels. This legendary beach resort was founded over 130 years ago, built in 1888 by businessmen Elisha Babcock Jr. and Hampton L. Story, who were inspired by the natural beauty of Coronado and set about building a hotel that would be the ‘talk of the Western World’. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, this Californian icon has played host to celebrities, British royalty and many US Presidents.
It is alleged that King Edward VIII was first introduced to Wallis Simpson (at that stage Wallis Winfield Spencer) in the ballroom of the Hotel del Coronado during a 1920 visit made by the then Prince of Wales to San Diego and its surrounds, an encounter that would change the course of British history. The hotel has been the backdrop to many films and has also been proposed as the inspiration for the Emerald City in L. Frank Baum’s ‘Wizard of Oz’, the author known to have spent many winters at the magnificent oceanfront hotel.
With its history and legendary status, there were high expectations set for a short family stay at the hotel on the final stop of a tour down California’s rugged coastline.
Hotel del Coronoda is situated on Coronado Island, a short trip across the bay from downtown San Diego, the hotel and its famous red turrets becoming visible as your drive over the Coronado Bridge. The beach at Coronado, which is just steps from the restaurants and bars of the hotel, is often considered one of the best beaches in the USA. It has gentle surf and sparkling white sand. Coronado itself and its main street is filled with sophisticated restaurants, shops, galleries and theatres.
Hotel
The Hotel del Coronado is the ultimate luxury experience. The original grand hotel building is in the American Queen Anne architectural style and one of the most well known examples of the Victorian beach resort in the United States. Built in America’s ‘Gilded Age’, it has a storied past, hosting guests including the stars of stage and screen from a bygone era, including Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Cary Grant, Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe. It has remained popular with those in the film industry, with more recent guests including Steven Spielberg, Whoopie Goldberg and Brad Pitt.
It has also been a favourite of US Presidents – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and both the Bushes have enjoyed stays at the hotel. Its status and renown meant it was deemed suitable for the first State Dinner ever to be held outside of The White House, with President Nixon hosting in The Del’s Crown Room in honour of Mexico’s President back in 1970.
Today, the expansive red roof and pure white façade of this famous landmark continues to represent the epitome of a luxury beach resort, the hotel and its grounds featuring an array of restaurants, bars and beautiful swimming pools. The hotel has been extensively extended over the years, with a number of new buildings constructed separately to ‘The Victorian’, the name now given to the original hotel. The Victorian is now supported by four other ‘neighbourhoods’ – Beach Village, The Cabanas, The Views and Shore House. Shore House is more reflective of the original architectural style, The Views and The Cabanas are more contemporary in design.
The whole vibe of the hotel is relaxing, there is a great ambience to the entire resort. To check-in, we entered the main lobby of the hotel, filled with ornate dark mahogany wood and a grand chandelier. Jazz music played lightly in the background, adding to this sense of old world splendour, like stepping back in time to the luxury and excitement of the roaring twenties.
The Del and music have a connection – it was at the hotel that one of the greatest pianists would secure his career. Ready to play in The Del one evening in 1950, the audience was so small that the hotel suggested the pianist cancel his performance. He declined, playing with such style and vigour that he was noticed by a representative from a Hollywood management agency and his fame would accelerate from there. The pianist was Liberace.
We were staying in the original part of the hotel. Our room was on the fourth floor, so we took the historic birdcage elevator up to our floor. There are lovely touches at The Del, the elevator now known as ‘Andrew’s Elevator’, named in honour of Andrew Graham Lounsbury, who hand-operated the lift for 41 years. Exiting the elevator and making our way to our room, the hallways can’t help but make you smile with pink parasols decorating the walls adding fun and vibrancy. It delivers a summer and light-hearted vibe before you have even reached your room.
Room
We had a Victorian suite, perfect for the family, which was spacious, light and bright. The room opened up into a dining area within a small bay window and then a living area with a sofa bed for the children. Double doors led through to the main bedroom and into the dressing room area and bathroom. We had a small balcony off the living area which looked back over the Coronado Bridge and Glorietta Bay in one direction and provided some views out to the Pacific in the other.
The rooms are simply and tastefully decorated, if some elements are now a touch dated in style. Staying in the original hotel means that you have to embrace the quirks of a Victorian property, which includes some sloping floorboards and the creaks associated with a hotel constructed back in 1888, but there is something special about staying in the original building.
Contemporary alternatives to rooms in The Victorian include ‘The Cabanas’, providing rooms steps from the main pool and the Sun Deck restaurant. There are beachside rooms offering a terrace and fire pit or a poolside room. Rooms in Shore House have a beachside setting and their own oceanfront pool. The Beach Village is a gated community of beachfront cottages and villas. The Views offer just that – views out to the beach and balconies to watch the sunsets.
Food and drink
Hotel Del Coronado has a wide array of magnificent dining options to suit the time of day, your mood and the occasion.
Serẽa restaurant, headed by renowned chef Jo Jo Ruiz, is just steps from the white sand beach and has a focus on the ‘bounty of the sea’. The menu is based around sustainable seafood, sourced from the California coast, designed to pay homage to the sea. Despite this, there are also exquisite dishes created using meat from the best regional ranchers. The food is complemented by hand-crafted cocktails, local beers and a broad selection of fine wines as you would expect of such a high-end restaurant.
The first night, we ate at ENO Market and Pizzeria, a very relaxed and informal patio experience. Great tasting pizzas, followed by fabulous and moreish desserts of oven baked s’mores and tiramisu. Perfect for the family.
We dined at the Sun Deck on another night, a great experience again, with fire pits and sofas enabling you to relax whilst watching the sunset. My wife and I kicked off the evening with a ‘Hurrinado’, a delicious cocktail combining a selection of rums, lime, orange and pineapple juice, passion fruit and grenadine. To eat, we enjoyed soy marinated flat iron and a San Diego fish sandwich, followed by a molten Mexican chocolate cake, beautifully accompanied by a pomegranate sorbet. Tasty classic cheeseburgers satisfied our eight and ten year old.
Sheerwater restaurant offers daily breakfast and dinner. We had breakfast here each morning, an absolute delight. It is a buffet breakfast of wonderful indulgence. Mounds of fresh fruit and yoghurts, red velvet pancakes which can be smothered in lashings of maple syrup, melt-in-the-mouth warm cinnamon buns, as well as bacon and eggs and many other indulgences. To leave breakfast hungry is impossible.
Named after The Del’s visionary founders, the Babcock and Story Bar offers craft cocktails, great beers and some stunning wines. Sit at the mahogany bar or grab a table on the patio looking out towards the beach. If you are down at the beach for the day, there’s the super relaxed Beach and Taco Shack offering lunches, cocktails and beers.
Finally, there’s the glorious ‘Sundaes’ ice cream parlour, providing gourmet gelato and hand-crafted paleta popsicles that you can dip, drizzle and sprinkle with endless toppings and flavour combinations. This was a popular place to visit for the family!
To do
You can make your stay at the Hotel del Coronado as laid back or as energetic as you wish. Days can be spent relaxing by the pools (where they even ensure music is piped under the water as you swim), spending time on the beach, visiting the spa, or exploring the hotel’s retail stores where you can find seaside treasures, home goods, sports apparel and other fashion.
We spent a lot of time in the main pool, I was decked out along with my two boys in Tom & Teddy swim shorts and T-shirts, the perfect summer kit for a Californian holiday. Their vibrant, stylish and comfortable designs provided the perfect attire for the pool and for hanging out around the resort.
There are activities aplenty if you want to be more adventurous. The hotel offers everything from surf lessons to beach spin and paddleboard yoga. You can hire bikes and cycle the boardwalk. You can hit the gym or run along the beach.
There’s no need to leave the resort, but if you decide you want to venture further afield, San Diego has an array of great attractions from the world famous San Diego Zoo to the popular Sea World. Or head to Petco Park to catch a baseball game and watch the San Diego Padres.
In a nutshell
Such a legendary hotel sets high expectations ahead of a visit. This historic resort has been on my wish list for many a year. The Del not only matched, but exceeded my expectations. Visiting the Hotel del Coronado is a real treat, it’s perfect for a couple’s getaway or a family holiday. My only disappointment was that we weren’t there for longer, we could easily have spent much more time at this stunning resort.
Factbox
Double rooms at the Hotel del Coronado start in The Victorian from $616 per night.
Address: 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, California 92118
Phone: (+1) 619 435 6611
Website: hoteldel.com
Photography courtesy of Hotel del Coronado
