When my friend suggested we stay at the 130 plus year old hotel, the Hotel Del Coronado, called The Del by the locals, I thought. “How fun. It’s on a beach and probably has a lot of history.” I love places like that.
We were headed to Rancho La Puerta, just over the border from San Diego where The Del is located.
Little did I know how much history resides in this grand old structure.
…..It was built in eleven months by Chinese workers who had never done construction work. They were in California for the gold rush.
…..It is totally wooden and never caught on fire like many other historic grand old hotels.
….Forty one movies were filmed at The Del.
….Eleven presidents stayed there.
…..and a famous writer wrote a well known story there. More about him later.
The Del, once the play ground of rich and famous, is no longer that kind of destination. Instead it’s a happy place for flip-flop wearing folks in cargo pants and tops with cut outs in the shoulders who check in when they are attending a corporate meeting.
Boxed type wine on the terrace is $20 a pop, but my guess is most of them are paid for by expense accounts. Private parties occur all over the grounds.
My favorite space was the Crown Room with it’s soaring wooden ceiling. We only saw it in transition, but I could only imagine what it was like in its hey day when more than 1,000 people, dressed in their finery, gathered for dinner every night. Where did the name come from? Coronado means crown and the room has several kitchy crown chandeliers.
The suggestion for the chandeliers came from L Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz. He stayed at the Hotel Del for ten seasons and later rented a small cottage on the island.
After taking inside shots of the Crown Room , I amused myself with making pictures from outdoors looking into the grand old ball room finding the reflections in the glass in combination with the crowns to be rather intriguing.
What are some other interesting tidbits about this hotel and the island it sits on? Here are some visuals to take you there.
Many movies used this tree as a backdrop. Most notable is Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe.
This cottage belonged to Wallis Simpson, the wife of the king who gave up his throne for love. She lived in this cottage with her first husband on another part of Coronado Island. Later the small home was moved to the Hotel Del Coronado grounds and is now used as a private club within the hotel.
These unusually large chairs were added for President Taft’s visit. He was very heavy.
The beach at the Hotel Del is particularly nice. Here are a few scenes from our time there. Unfortunately May is known as a gray month so we didn’t get a lot of sunshine. Live and learn.
My guess is that this bench was installed long before Instagram but it is now the perfect spot for those selfie shots. Most of the times I walked by this funny spot I saw folks capturing their personal memories. My friend and I managed to restrain ourselves from this silly but fun behavior.
I had a particularly clear flying day getting to the Hotel Del Coronado. Here’s a couple of shots out of the airplane window.
Come back to DesignDestinations. I’ll have more about my three days on Coronado Island near San Diego to share.
