Anyone stayed at the Hotel del Coronado?

[AnninIowa]

Wow, the Hotel del Coronado looks fabulous! Has anyone ever stayed here who can give some insight? I love that it has beach access; is the water there warm enough to swim in? Also, how far is the San Diego Zoo from the hotel?

 

[KCmike]

When are you planning on going? We will be there Sunday as we had to rearrange our California vacation. We are staying at the Del for 4days 3nights and then heading up to Disneyland with a final stop over in Yosemite. I will be happy to give you as much info as I can when I get back. We used tripadvisor to get alot of info. We also loved it being on the beach. We asked for a cabana room instead of the victorian building which is even that more closer to the pacific ocean. This will be our first time in San Diego but not California. They are also having a buy two night get the third night free deal right now. Check their website.

Nice to see another Midwestern having the same ideas!!

 

[Joy2theWorld]

We've been there twice... both were summer and I didn't think the water was that warm. It was a little rough. However, the sand on that beach is so beautiful. I'm not sure what it is, but there are little gold flecks in the sand and when you watch the water come up on the sand, you can see it really clearly. It has been a few years since we were there, so, things might have changed. I do recommed the Irish Pub across the street for lunch!

 

[KCmike]

What other restaurants are near the hotel? I checked the menu online and the prices are steep. We are staying in the cabana rooms.

 

[Joy2theWorld]

There were quite a few restaurants around that area. They are an easy walk. We only ate at the Irish Pub for lunch a few times. It is owned (at least it used to be) by a former Navy Seal. Most of our dinners were in Old Town San Diego.

 

[AnninIowa]

We would be looking at a late summer trip, but probably not until next year. I wanted to avoid the "June Gloom" I hear so much about, plus I thought the weather might make the water warmer around that time. I just want to bob in the ocean for a bit, LOL!

KCMike - I hope you'll report back when you get home! Have a great trip!!

 

[darby888]

I live in CA & have stayed @ the Del probably a half a dozen times. It's a wonderful hotel, has what I'd call very classy beach charm & lots of history. Try to stay in the main Victorian bldg. And be sure to wander around. There a quite a few small public rooms that you'll miss if you don't.

 

[hockey_chauffeur]

We stayed at the Del two years ago when it first became available via DVC exchanges. It was a terrible waste of DVC points. We were booked into the modern tower next to the main building - no services, no charm, air conditioning leaking all over the place and not providing much cooling. They sent workmen who each made things worse that the one before and they refused to move us during our 6 day stay. The food was overpriced and the staff generally uninterested. Every time I made the journey to the main desk there was a major line with people being told the room type they had booked was not available. It was such a bad experience that DVC actually reimbursed some of my points.

If you are considering doing this as a DVC exchange don't. If you are paying cash make sure you get a room in the historic building and keep your fingers crossed that you get what you ask for. The beach is great although again everything is pretty overpriced. We have stayed in many wonderful hotels all over the country, I would never waste my time or money going back to the Del.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Late summer is a GREAT time to visit San Diego and the Hotel Del. You are right about avoiding June gloom, but the water in the pacific is never really 'warm' even though it's entirely swimmable. The currents run north to south on the west coast, so the water is always cooler than the atlantic coast where the currents run south to north.

It's a charming old hotel, and one of the finest walking/running beaches in the world. If you like to rise early, you can head south on the beach and pick up dozens of sand dollars in a short period of time. Great souvenir, but make sure you clean them before packing and use ziplock bags lol.

We would be looking at a late summer trip, but probably not until next year. I wanted to avoid the "June Gloom" I hear so much about, plus I thought the weather might make the water warmer around that time. I just want to bob in the ocean for a bit, LOL!

KCMike - I hope you'll report back when you get home! Have a great trip!!

 

[MTCruiser]

Wow, the Hotel del Coronado looks fabulous! Has anyone ever stayed here who can give some insight? I love that it has beach access; is the water there warm enough to swim in? Also, how far is the San Diego Zoo from the hotel?

We're not staying there but hopefully we'll have time to check it out.

 

[minnieme68]

Ok, now Iam panicking! We are staying at the del using DVC points. After reading the post about how awful the room was, I think I might email DVC and let them know my concerns. We are going in mid July. We will be staying at the Grand California as well.

 

[KCmike]

Okay the hotel was built back in the 1800's. So for all the people saying how run down it is please understand it is a National Landmark. Our family of five absolutely loved it!!! We stayed for 4days and 3 nights last week. We did the buy two get one night free. Everything is absolutely beautiful!!! Everything is absolutely expensive too!

We stayed in the Cabana rooms that overlook the pool. In my opinion the only place to stay. We would watch our kids play in the main pool and sit on our own private balcony looking at the ocean, watching the kids splash and run into the oversized hot tub, and look at the main building.

I am uploading pictures onto my computer tonight and will share with you tomorrow. I will also try to gather up all my favorite things we did including restaurants etc for everyone that would like it.

See you tomorrow!!

 

[RudemanRB]

Ok, now Iam panicking! We are staying at the del using DVC points. After reading the post about how awful the room was, I think I might email DVC and let them know my concerns. We are going in mid July. We will be staying at the Grand California as well.

Don't be afraid, you'll love the hotel.

the weather is great in SD.
as for the water yeah it's not the east coast so the currents run from the north. it will seem a little cold.

Grand Californian is nice,

I don't like it to much I'd rather stay at the disneyland hotel. but that's because the grand californian doesn't strike me as a Disney hotel, whereas the Disneyland hotel has mickey wallpaper and other stuff in the rooms that makes you feel like your at disney.

However the Grand californian has great access to The California adventure park, as well as a nice pool and jacuzzi area.

the rooms have LCD TV's and DVD players so if you have little ones bring their Disney DVD's

You'll like the Grand Californian, they are suppose to be building 50 DVC condos that are suppose to open 2009 I think.



Rudy

 

[KCmike]

Here is the balcony view from the cabana room....can't believe how lucky we got here.

hot tub

Ocean in the background...location location location!!!!

Will upload other pics of the hotel later with some different views of the ocean.

 

[AnninIowa]

Awesome pictures, KCMike!!!

 

[KCmike]

Our kids loved the Village Pizzeria and Beach N Diner that are just a block away from the resort. Breakfast at the hotel was around $25 a person for a buffet. The restaurants there were just so expensive. They do have a bar and grill up above the main pool area that served burgers, chicken sandwiches, and drinks. I think a Pepsi was $4 but that got you free refills all day. We would order a large pizza for the kids ($19) and have it delivered to the hotel and eat out on the deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Best way to eat a pizza in my opinion! They had several things to rent (surrey bikes, surf boards, boogie boards) as well. The navy seals were having there "hell week" while we were there one night. There were about 50 of them around 9pm training on going out onto the ocean and then coming back onto a patch of rocks. We were told that about 70% of them fail that week. We were also told that they only get five hours of sleep all week long.

The weather never hit above 75 degrees while we were there. It would be overcast until about 10am (I'm guessing the June gloom everyone talks about) and then it would turn into the most marvelous day. Complete sunshine with no clouds to speak of. The pool chairs were so comfortable and they had a flag that you could pull down (sort of like your mailbox) to tell the pool boy/girl that you would like to order something.

My son found a sand dollar on his first day and thought that was the coolest souvenir he got on the whole trip. One could go out early in the morning and just collect them till their heart's content.

 

[KCmike]

 

[KCmike]

attached wrong things.

 

[KCmike]

Hope this helps if your planning to visit. It truely is lovely there.

 

[KCmike]

oversized hot tub - loved it!

They were having some sort of banquet one night.

Love the blue color in this pic

Right outside the pool at the spa area of the hotel.

More to come.