Loved our stay at the Del. We had read that they had an amazing Sunday Brunch and so we booked the most reasonably priced room for Saturday night.
When we arrived we didn't know which parking lot to park in. At first we parked on the right side of the Del or the side entrance. We took a ticket when we came in and the parking attendants told us we needed to move to go to the main entrance. Because we didn't know where our room was so we needed to find that out first.
Of course you have to check in to find out about your room and if you park in the circle in the front the valet will badger you to valet the car which is at a much higher rate than self park. Just go ahead and self park after you drop off your bags.
We had opted to get an oceanfront upgrade if available for $100 so when we arrived Gabby told me there was an oceanfront available and proceeded to charge my card $399 instead of $299 for our room. What she failed to tell me until the end of the transaction was that my room wasn't going to be in the main hotel that is historic, but would be in a building built in 1973. When I realized this I told her I wasn't sure my husband wanted oceanfront if it wasn't in the main building. She told me to go ahead and look at our room and if I didn't like it we could go back to our original reservation. We trekked all the way over to the other room, which didn't look like anything special, other than that it was oceanfront. My hubby and I quickly took some shots of us on the balcony with the ocean behind us and went BACK TO THE FRONT DESK.
We requested our original room. Now by this time almost an hour had elapsed since our arrival and I was getting pretty annoyed that they forced this room change on us without full disclosure of its location and basically sold us something we didn't want. On top of that we wasted time parking in the wrong area and then wasted time looking at a room that was no great shakes.
I told the front desk that I was pretty upset that we were wasting precious daylight and I wanted to see the sunset. At that point I think the front desk knew that I was losing grace and gave us a very nice room in the courtyard with an outdoor area that we could sit in and have a cup of coffee. She also gave us a complimentary bottle of Hotel Del Coronado Champagne which we was delivered later in the evening.
We got to our room and quickly went outdoors to the beach to look around and catch the sunset. Because we had booked a brunch the next day we had some snacks and the champagne. We then took a walk in the Coronado village and were very surprised at how quaint and exclusive it is. You can easily get a reasonable dinner outside the hotel and save your $$ for the brunch the next day. We chose to eat light because we had heard the brunch is a lot of food.
The beds were very comfortable and we slept soundly until the first phone call at 5:55am. We got another call on the hotel phone at 6:05am, 6:09am and 7:10am. We called the front desk to ask why this was happening and got the run around. One person was supposed to get back to us but never did and another person blamed it on a ghost that "lives in the hotel" but she thought it was puzzling because she said, "this usually only happens on the third floor!" Really?
We had booked our brunch at 10:30am and we needed to check out beforehand so we could enjoy the brunch uninterrupted. We went to the front desk and they asked us how our stay was? We calmly told them about the phone calls and that we called to find out why they were happening and that no one could explain it and the front desk took another $50 off our bill.
Because we stayed in the hotel we got 20% off our brunch cost of $79/per person for an all you can eat brunch which included open bar of bloody mary's, mimosa's and any other bar drinks.
The buffet is amazing and we figured out we really got our money's worth. There are probably over 200 items on the buffet. They have a seafood area, with shrimp, dungeness crab, oysters, scallops and mussels. They have prime rib, bar-b-que, steaks, chicken. They have a salad area with the most exquisite salads. They have breakfast items. They have a chocolate bar. They have a dessert bar. They have a fruit bar. They have an area where you can have mexican or omelets made. There is a candy bar. A juice bar with watermelon shots and delicious other juices. So much, I can't even remember it anymore.
When we arrived at the buffet a hostess was trying to seat us in the back of the Crown room towards the interior of the hotel. I asked here immediately to seat us on the other side. Then we walked along the wall of windows (prime seating) and I saw a lot of reserved signs on the best tables in the room. I saw one table for two at the window that didn't have a reserve sign on it and asked her if we could have that table. We got it because I asked.
Overal we had an amazing visit to the Hotel Del as the San Deigo residents call it.
Here are some tips to make sure your visit is a great one:
1. Come early-the grounds are beautiful and you don't want to miss walking around in the gardens or enjoying the pools.
2. Park in self park after you drop your bags off. Valet isn't worth it.
3. Stay in the main hotel. It is so beautiful and so historic.
4. Book your Brunch a couple of days before you arrive so you can get a good reservation. Too late in the morning and the room could be full and then you will be seated in a smaller ballroom. The crown room that we ate in is absolutely magnificent and looks just the way it did in 1888.
5. Ask for a better table close to the large windows so you can have views of the harbor.
6. Be prepared to sit and eat for at least 2 hours. They won't shoo you away and you can stay until it closes if you like. I doubt your stomach could take it though.
7. Eat light the day before and wear comfortable clothing to the brunch. We tried small tastes of everything we had never tried before and then went back for things we really liked after our first taste.
8. Bring your swimsuit and even if you stay in the winter as we did, enjoy the hot tubs at night.
9. Have your waiter or waitress take a picture of you at the brunch.
10. Enjoy the shops on the lower level and read about the history of the Del, it is really interesting.
11. Have fun and make a memory that you will never forget, this place is magical.
