Stayed here during the 1st weekend of January 2013. The location is perfect, right off the main road and across the street from the Hotel Del and ocean. Stayed in a larger room (suite) on 2nd floor facing west that had great views of ocean and Hotel Del. The decor is slightly outdated, but the huge flat screen TV and comfy bed offset any negatives. Great place to serve as a home base while you go explore. Not a resort like experience, don't plan to spend a lot of time on the property. Service was decent and parking was challenging but reasonable. If you want full service and high-end, stay at the Del. If you want a good place to stay in a great spot, choose the El Cordova.

If you love the feel of a nice, comfortable, clean yet affordable location, stay here at the El Cordova. Previously, this hotel was home to the architect and help who built the beautiful Hotel Coronado, the Grand hotel across the street. As far as proximity to the beach, this has it all. We stayed in one of the efficiency apartments here with our children and we were pleasantly surprised!

You can't bet the location, close to everything (food, the beach, shopping and the Del). But don't except a 4-5 star room. Nice, comfortable and clean but nothing fancy.

Great with a family because the rooms have separate bedroom and small kitchen.

Would stay again.

The couple of recent reviews have had a similar experience to me. We stayed in a suite, room 59, and yes, the plumbing leaves something to be desired, namely good pressure and good hot cold mixture. The shower was alternating between scalding hot or "refreshingly cool" which is not what I was going for at the end of December. The electrical outlet in the bathroom didn't work and yes, I tried resetting the GFI. I spent our first night in the room fully dressed and I wore my coat to bed over all my clothes. It was very cold in the bedroom even though we set the heater in the room to 80 degrees. The temperature in the room never made it past 65. In the morning my husband went to the front desk and requested a space heater, which helped a lot. The hotel is picturesque, has nice amenities and the location is hard to beat. There are many restaurants and shops nearby and the beach a short walk way. It's worth staying here so long as you have realistic expectations. The breakfast place has amazing crapes and they are open for lunch too.