Hotel: The Hotel Del Coronado, South of San San Diego.
Reviewed: December 31, 2007, by Texas Travelers.
My wife and I try to take at least two romantic getaway trips each year. During our ten year marriage, we have been to some awesome locations and have created numerous treasured memories. Unfortunately, our recent stay at The Del was anything but awesome or treasured. This overly hyped hotel
is a pathetic value. $450/night for this? Are you kidding me?
The facility is "okay" -- nothing special -- but the food, service
and employees are all miserably disappointing. We witnessed many, many guests complaining about everything from A to Z. Bottom line: there are several nice properties very close to The Del. Check those out and save yourself a lot of cash, frustration and embarrasment. You can always walk over to The Del and visit the public beach ..... but I would never stay there!!!!!

Positives:
Good location. Coronado Island is nice stretch of beach in harbor across from downtown San Diego. Del sits on a public beach. Hotel Del is an easy walk to main boulevard of Coronado.
Victorian architecture of main building is distinctive.

Negatives:
Facilities underwhelming. Beach tower is Holiday Inn quality.
Driveway: valet is a zoo.
Hotel dining: lots of day trippers come to eat at the hotel. Service is erratic. Lunch menu seemed heavy Victorian, not light California cuisine. Many hotel guests hit the boulevard and dine in Coronado restaurants.

Recommendation: for same money, stay farther along the beach at nicer resort (Loew's or perhaps Marriott), or for half the price stay at small inn/motel/hotels across Orange Avenue, and walk across the street to the beach by the Del.

Friends suggested next time stay at Loew's, which is farther down Coronado, or in La Jolla at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.

It was really like a dream. I'd read about this historic and beautiful hotel, so when I got an opportunity to visit San Diego, my first trip to the West Coast, I chose the del. I was NOT disappointed. I stayed in a Victorian, no view, a small room in the old but beautiful section of the hotel. Perfect for one person, a bit snug for two. Traditional, 1930's style furnishings. Updated for the 21st century. Linens were fabulous. Bed very comfortable. The no view was actually a view of the court year, quite lovely and quiet. Immaculately clean.

The beach? WOW! I'm a New Englander. I never thought I could see beaches as beautiful as those on the coast of Maine or Cape Cod. Was I mistaken. The beach was spectacular.

One complaint...a room amenity includes coffee maker with coffee and 1 bottle of spring water. Housekeeping will leave coffee and sugar daily but no water. Tap water is terrible tasting and water from the takeout restaurant is $3.70 for 16 oz. It's a minor inconvenience and expense, but a real room annoyance.


Regardless, if I get back to San Diego, it only the del for me!

We booked 5 rooms for our family vacation between Christmas and New Year's at this famous resort. My husband and I were assigned to a very small room right next to a stairwell, and overlooking the courtyard. All day and evening we were subjected to hordes of kids stampeding up and down the open stairs, right behind the headboard wall of our bed! It turns out that we were right across the hall from the famous "haunted room", so that exacerbated the situation. When I asked to be switched to a quieter room closer to my kids and parents' rooms, I was told nothing was available. We had specifically asked for the 5 rooms to be close together when we made the booking. Finally, a sympathetic front desk clerk told me we could move the next day. The second room was better, but the lighting is so poor that I really can't see anything in the closet at night. Only one low-wattage energy-saving bulb in the ceiling. The bathroom has a pedestal sink with no storage. For a 5-star hotel, the service is spotty. There is no nightly turn-down or room freshening. It took my parents 1 hour and 40 minutes to get a room service dinner delivered. There is an outdoor ice-rink at the hotel just for the holidays, and because of this, the hotel is SWAMPED with outside visitors in addition to its 100% guest occupancy. It's like Disneyland...we had to line up for 30 minutes just to check in, and the lobby and arcades are jammed at all hours. The staff is very friendly and helpful, but they are overwhelmed. I would caution anyone from spending Christmas week here - I know I won't do this again! Food is astronomically expensive. There is a take-away snack bar next to the restaurant, and a tuna wrap sandwich was close to $20. In-room continental breakfast was $22 without coffee. The spa is lovely but very expensive as well, and the hotel gym has no shower facilities, so you're forced to traipse a long way outdoors between the gym and your room unless you've booked a service at the spa, in which case you can use the showers there. All in all, the Hotel Del is a lovely hotel in a great town, but it charges 5-star prices for what is essentially 3-star amenities.