The Hotel del Coronado has all the ingredients for a vacation to remember. From perfect weather and rich history to luxury accommodations enhanced by recent renovations, this resort exceeds expectations. Last month, Annie and I travelled west to stay three nights at the hotel, which is located on Coronado Island near San Diego.
Historically, we’ve tended to opt for less relaxing vacations in big cities, but this time, we just wanted to unwind. As an added bonus, our good friends from Orange County came down to hang out for a few days. While the entire island is cute with lots of great restaurants, shopping, beaches and multi-million dollar homes to admire, you could just as easily spend all your time at the resort.
For all that, what really makes the hotel special, is the outstanding customer service. The staff is friendly and attentive, and they go out of their way to make sure guests have a memorable stay. The hotel is also pet-friendly, which is a plus for those traveling with furry friends.
Booking
When I booked the hotel earlier this year, the cheapest rooms were going for $500 per night. Now when I search for rooms for the summer or fall, I see them going for a minimum of $800 or $900! So I was extremely excited to book the hotel for free and get $250 to spend on food and drinks. My Hilton Honors Aspire® Card is what made all of that possible. I booked the room using three free night certificates earned from the card, which saved me almost $2,000. In addition, another perk of the Hilton Aspire card is $250 in annual statement credits for incidentals charged to the card at participating Hilton resorts. During our stay, we charged everything bought at the resort to the room and just a few days after returning home, the $250 credit had already been applied.
Even if you don’t have free night certificates to use, I’d still recommend experiencing this place even for just a few nights. With the financials out of the way, let’s dive into the resort specifics.
History
When it opened in 1888, the Hotel del Coronado was the single largest resort hotel in the world. It’s hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities and has been featured in numerous movies and books. The 1958 classic “Some Like It Hot” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, was shot there.
They have a complimentary museum to discover the behind-the-scenes history of the hotel and also offer several historic tours of the grounds, which can be booked for a small fee. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, this beach resort is a San Diego area icon.
Even though the hotel has so much history, the vast majority is either brand new or newly renovated. The $400M Master Plan renovation is a multi-year, multi-phase plan that when complete, will have touched every aspect of the property. That project started only three short years ago, so as you walk around the resort grounds, everything looks new and clean.
Location
Coronado Island is located just over the bridge from San Diego. This small, tree-lined beach haven is really a peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land named the Silver Strand. The hotel sits on the southeast part of Coronado right on the Pacific Ocean. It’s also walking distance to everything that Coronado Island has to offer, so having a car is not necessary.
The hotel itself is a true resort spread out across immaculate grounds. There are four different guestroom buildings (with a fifth on the way), multiple restaurants and bars, a pool and easy access to the beach. The guestrooms are located in one of the following buildings:
- The Victorian – the site of the original guest rooms and connected to the Lobby, Front Porch and Ballroom
- The Beach Village – an exclusive, gated beach community offering private check-in, pools, and VIP amenities
- The Cabanas – spacious contemporary guestrooms with luxurious bathrooms with walk-in showers, and balconies or ground-floor covered terraces with lounge seating and fire features
- The Views – upscale, contemporary rooms and suites located just steps from the sand; ground-level rooms feature luxurious outdoor terraces with fire pits while higher floors have stunning, nearly invisible glass balconies
- Shore House at The Del® – scheduled to open in the fall of 2022, this new resort experience will feature 1-, 2- and 3-bedrooom seaside residences located within the storied resort
Map of the Resort
Lobby
The renovation of the Del’s Victorian lobby was completed in 2019. The original woodwork was carefully hand-stripped and stained its original color and the Victorian elements were returned. The lobby is really stunning and the painstaking work that went into bringing it back to its naturally beauty is very apparent.
The lobby is also home to several shops including The Signature Shop and Est. 1888. where you can shop for traditional hotel souvenirs and travel necessities, all the way to luxury apparel and accessories.
Check-in
After waiting in line for 5 to 10 minutes, we approached the desk to check in. Our reservation was in The Victorian building, where the original guestrooms are located. Those rooms are fairly small and aren’t scheduled for renovation until 2023. As a Hilton Diamond member, I made sure to ask if there was any available room upgrades. I was hoping to score a room with a balcony and just maybe get an ocean view. However, the hotel did even better!
Instead they moved us to newly renovated The Cabanas building, located by The Del’s brand new glistening pool. The only room available in The Cabanas had two queens instead of a king, but we liked the idea of being in a bigger, newly renovated room. Rooms in this building can go for hundreds of dollars more than a standard room in the main building.
The Room
The Cabanas has spacious contemporary rooms with a beachy, coastal vibe. The building has its own little lobby and sitting area but I never saw anyone hanging out there. The hallway carpet transports you to the ocean and the interior of the building is full of ocean blues, sunshine gold, and warm sand tones.
The room was large and the calming, beachy vibe from the hallway continued inside.
Since the building was newly renovated, there were no signs of wear and tear and the room was clean and pleasant. It also contained your standard comforts of a desk, smart TV and plenty of outlets and USB ports.
Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool, but the sound proofing was very good. When inside the room, we weren’t bothered by noise even when the pool area was busy.
The view from our balcony looked down over the pool area. The pictures below, from top to bottom, are of the Sun Deck restaurant and bar, The Cabanas pool and the view of the Ballroom in the main building.
Some ground floor rooms in The Cabanas have covered terraces with lounge seating and fire pits.
The Bathroom
The luxurious bathroom felt new and clean with a walk-in shower and separate toilet area. The color scheme of ocean blues continued in here, as did the calming vibe.
My only gripe with the bathroom is that it would’ve been nice to have a larger vanity with double sinks. It can be tricky if two people want to use the mirror or sink at the same time. Otherwise, the bathroom is still very functional and the hotel did a good job utilizing the available space.
Hotel Amenities
The Pool
As one of the recently renovated areas of the resort, the pool is gorgeous and inviting. It features new lounge furniture, a hot tub, and a “stadium seating” lounge deck with direct access to the Sun Deck for easy food and beverage access. If you’d rather not leave the pool area, friendly wait staff will gladly take and deliver food and drink orders.
There’s just one pool, which is used by guests staying in The Victorian, The Cabanas and The Views. When we first arrived I thought the pool area might be too small to accommodate all those people. But unlike at some resorts, we had no trouble finding seats no matter the time of day. For an additional fee, you can reserve one of twelve luxury cabanas for the day.
Note: Guest staying in The Beach Village have their own private main pool as well as other more secluded plunge pools and jacuzzis scattered through that section of the property.
Dining
There’s no shortage of wonderful dining options at the resort so you really never have to leave to get a great meal or snack. As with most resorts, however, prices are pretty steep. Luckily the food was very high quality and the convenience is hard to beat. Here are all the dining options available:
- Sheerwater – popular eatery, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner; will get a refreshed interior design and new concept in 2023
- Serẽa – high end restaurant offering sustainable coastal cuisine for the ultimate sea-to-table experience
- Sun Deck – bar and grill offering craft cocktails, tasty bites, a brand new 360-degree bar, cozy fire pits and gorgeous front-row views of the setting sun
- Beach + Taco Shack – located right on the beach, this “shack” serves tropical cocktails, beer, wine and Coronado Island’s best fish tacos
- ENO Market & Pizzeria – the indoor market offers grab-and-go items plus coffees, fresh pastries, and sandwiches made to order; outside, the pizzeria offers a beautiful patio gazebo with casual tables perfect for sharing rustic pizzas and an Italian cocktail or glass of wine
- Sundaes – gourmet gelato and hand-crafted paleta popsicles that you can dip, drizzle and sprinkle with endless topping and flavor combinations
- Babcock & Story Bar – named for The Del’s visionary founders, the indoor/outdoor bar features the hotel’s original mahogany bar
Each night, we decided to leave the resort for dinner elsewhere on the island, so we didn’t experience all of these restaurants. Here’s my take on the ones we did try:
Sundaes
Vacations and ice cream (or gelato in this case) seem to go hand in hand. We had gelato after dinner one night and tried paleta popsicles as an afternoon snack the next day. Paletas are a Mexican frozen treat made from fresh natural fruits or from rich creamy ingredients such as chocolate. Neither my wife nor I had ever had paletas before, so we were really interested to try them. She got a peanut butter chocolate paleta that had a Reese’s peanut butter cup frozen in the middle. I got a key lime pie paleta that had a fresh slice of lime frozen inside. Now that I’m home, I wish I had tried at least one more flavor as they were really quite good. The best way I can describe them are as a great combination of rich creaminess and refreshment.
Beach + Taco Shack
Soon after dropping our stuff off in the hotel room, we headed straight to The Beach + Taco Shack for a late lunch. We met our visiting friends there and ordered several tacos and tropical cocktails. Before I get to the food and drinks, let me set the scene. The “shack” is located right on the beach and on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, there’s live music from 2pm to 5pm. We were there on a Saturday afternoon, so the band was playing, the weather was gorgeous and the crowds of people were totally enjoying themselves.
While they have a carne asada taco and a vegan option, we all chose the shrimp and “catch of the day” tacos. Each taco was $8 or $8.50 but they were huge and quite tasty. I thought the shrimp taco was outstanding!
We each ordered a tropical drink as well plus a huge drink to share called the “Party Wave”. This massive cocktail had two different rums, Blue Curaçao, Melon Liqueur, blended pineapple purée blended and was served in a fresh pineapple. It’s not really worth the high price tag but it certainly gets you in the right mood!
Sun Deck
The draw of the Sun Deck is its proximity to the pool area and its views of the ocean. Annie and I had drinks here one evening to enjoy the sunset before heading to dinner. The cool thing about the Sun Deck is the different experiences you can have there. There are big communal tables for having food, a 360-degree bar for drinking and watching a game and couches with cozy fire pits overlooking the ocean.
The setting makes for great people watching in addition to the spectacular scenery.
The Grounds
The grounds of the resort are immaculate and beautiful. Between the hotel restaurants and the beach is a big open area called The Windsor Lawn. During the first day of our stay, this area was filled with kids playing and people lounging. The other two days, it was used to host elaborate corporate functions.
On the northeast end of the property along Orange Avenue you’ll find one of the resort’s charming entrances. Everything at the resort is pretty including the flowers surrounding the hotel sign and the bubbling fountain. Past the Crown Fountain, is an “instagrammable” lighted pathway to the main grounds.
Miscellaneous
Although we didn’t utilize either, the hotel does have a newly renovated spa and fitness center.
The Spa & Salon at The Del received an interior design refresh with new lounge areas for men and women, a Marilyn Monroe inspired Beauty Bar and fresh modern touches throughout the space.
The new state-of-the-art Fitness Center makes up a larger footprint with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Beach Village pool and a central reception area with lockers. Guests have access to dedicated areas for cardio, stretching/yoga, and strength training.
Bottom Line
This is definitely one of the best resorts I’ve ever stayed at. Yes, it’s pricey, but I would come here again even without any free night certificates. The resort grounds, the staff, the history, everything about it makes you feel good. The renovation so far as been top notch, making what’s old new again, while keeping the historic charm in tact. I highly recommend the Hotel del Coronado.
Trip Report Index
- Free Flights and Hotel in Coronado (San Diego)
- Hotel del Coronado, Curio Collection by Hilton
