San Diego's Coronado Island / The Del Coronado Hotel

Coronado Island, California

Coronado Island is a gem of San Diego. A place not to miss visiting while the San Diego, California area. Coronado Island is really on a peninsula between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The island is a resort community and is the location of a major naval base.

Hotel del Coronado

According to the Coronado Historical Assocation and Museum of History and Art.....Many of Coronado's treasured traditions began in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The founding of the Horse Show, Flower Show, the arrival of Edward, Prince of Wales, and the early experiments in aviation on North Island, including the departure of Charles Lindbergh in 1927, have established Coronado as a premier city.



Receiving about 2 million visitors per years, Coronado offers fifteen hotels with three of them being world class resorts along with dozens of great dining establishments.Coronado Island is unique and offers great oceanside scenery, pristine beaches, numerous recreational opportunities including a dedicated bike paths.

Looking out at the Pacific from the Hotel del Coronado

Coronado Island boasts six beaches, one of those being the Glorietta Bay Beach located just south of the famed Hotel del Coronado. The City of Coronado says that the Glorietta Bay Beach offers a unique view of the Glorietta Bay and the San Diego- Coronado Bridge. With a large grass-filled park, restrooms, playground equipment, and a small beach area, the Glorietta Bay Beach can provide hours of fun, and a relaxing time for all individuals.

Hotel del Coronado

The legendary Hotel del Coronado is located on 28 along the ocean on Coronado Island. The hotel was built in 1888 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.  The Del,as it is often referred to, is a real treasure with over 125 years of stories to tell.

The Hotel del Coronado founders, Elisha Babcock and H.L. Story, had the dream to build a resort along the ocean that, as they said, would be the "talk of the town". One tale says that both men had been hunting rabbits on the island and came to the conclusion that it would make a great spot for a resort. Prior to that time Coronado Island had changed ownership several times. The two gentleman went ahead and purchased Coronado Island in 1885 for $110,000. After the purchase, Elisha Babcock brought in two more investors including his brother-in-law and established the Coronado Beach Company.

One of the outdoor restaurants at the hotel

Babcock and Story saw the resort potential for the island. They built the island infrastructure... irrigation systems, dams and transportation that allowed Coronado to become a great tourist destination. The foresight was spot on.

Since then, the resort has become a living legend, visited by celebrities, dignitaries and U.S. presidents. It was even the film location for the 1959 comedy classic "Some Like It Hot" starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Rated one of the top 10 hotels in the world by USA Today, The Del continues to maintain its rich history while also offering contemporary conveniences such as unique beachfront dining experiences, an award-winning spa, upscale shopping, a variety of recreational activities and the luxurious cottages and villas at Beach Village. The hotel's spectacular setting, impeccable service and award-winning cuisine also makes it the perfect setting for a fairy tale wedding or group event.

Some of the attributes of the world famous Hotel del Coronado include... 

Consistently named among the world's best.

Southern California's only beachfront resort, located on Coronado Beach.

Several ocean view restaurants.

Beautiful Victorian architecture with it's signature red turrets.

Additional Western Trips articles on sites to see in the San Diego area are found on the links below...

Cosmopolitan Hotel / Oldest Hotel in San Diego

The San Diego Automobile Museum in Balboa Park

See the Helicopters of the USS Midway 

Visit San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter

Excellent reading material regarding the Hotel del Coronado history includes...Hotel del Coronado History. Another book regarding the history of Coronado Island is...Coronado (Images of America) by author Leslie Hubbard Crawford.


In addition to the unique beach side Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, California also still has the oldest structure in the city still operating as a restaurant and B & B. The Cosmopolitan Hotel is found in Old Town San Diego and was opened not long after the Civil War. 

(Article and photos copyright Western Trips)