I grew up in San Diego, California, and when I lived in the Bankers Hill neighborhood near downtown, I used to drive the short ten minutes over to Coronado Island and the Hotel Del Coronado about twice a week. Sometimes I would bring my laptop and work, sometimes I would stroll around the gorgeous grounds and sometimes I would just nap or read on the beach. In August, my sister and I stayed in one of the Del’s supposedly haunted rooms – the Kate Morgan room. It was a fun (and spooky!) way to have some sister bonding time.

The Hotel Del Coronado (or “The Del,” as locals refer to it) is one of the world’s most beautiful hotels, and it sits on one of the country’s most beautiful beaches. I adore Victorian-period architecture, and The Del captures every romantic aspect of the time.

The lobby feels dark, plush and well, old – but in a good way. It’s one of those hotels which, although it is kept up extremely well, every so often a creaky board or an extremely narrow hallway will remind you that the hotel is aging, though gracefully. When you step outside though, you are greeted by bright San Diego sunshine being reflected off the ocean and the hotel’s whitewashed exterior. It almost feels as though you are on a ship – I can’t help imagining I’m on the Titanic when I stroll around!

The rooms feature dark woods, small bathrooms with stand alone sinks and plush, comfortable beds. Seriously, the bed was amazing, I never wanted to leave! And of course, the service is second to none. About ten minutes after we had arrived at our room, before we had even begun to unpack our bags, there was a knock at our door. We both jumped, as we were already getting into the haunting mood. But, I opened up the door and found a man standing there with a wine bottle and two glasses. “Um, I don’t think I ordered any wine…” I began. “Oh no, this is a complimentary gift to all guests who check in.” Score!

My sister and I only stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado for one night, so we weren’t able to try out any of the three restaurants or the wine bar, but we still had a great time. We explored The Shops, this cute little shopping area beneath the hotel. At night we walked down the street for a great meal of pizza and pasta at one of Coronado’s dozens of eateries within a five minute walk from the hotel. During summer, the hotel has live bands playing until late in the evening so we enjoyed a bit of that as well.

But mainly, we just hung out at the beach and relaxed. Coronado beach is a wide, lovely beach. You can find sand dollars in the mornings if you’re lucky! And as for the haunted room? Yes, we did hear some strange things…but that’s a story for another blog!

Thank you to Jlantzy for the photo from Flickr.