Hotel del Coronado
Photo: Ctorbann · CC BY-SA 3.0
About
The hotel opened on February 19, 1888, financed by investors Elisha Babcock and Hampton Story, and was designed by brothers James and Merritt Reid in a Victorian beach-resort style with distinctive red-topped turrets. It remains one of the largest wooden buildings in the country, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Its ballroom and beachfront setting have drawn numerous US presidents over the decades, and the hotel is widely known for its role as the fictional Seminole Ritz in the 1959 film Some Like It Hot. A persistent legend surrounds Kate Morgan, a guest who died there under unexplained circumstances in 1892, and the room associated with her story remains one of the most requested in the hotel.
While staying overnight is not free, the hotel's grounds and the public beach beside it can be walked at no cost, which lets a family experience the building's Victorian architecture and oceanfront setting without booking a room.
Visitor information
Admission The hotel grounds and the beach beside it are open to the public at no charge; only overnight stays and dining require payment.
Getting there MTS bus route 901 connects from the Coronado ferry landing, and the Coronado Ferry itself crosses from downtown San Diego's Broadway Pier.
