Hotel Del Coronado

Like most people, we paid a premium to stay here because we wanted a premium experience. Sadly there simply is no premium experience to be had at the Del. I like to say we had a good time despite the hotel. The Del has a monopoly on the beach. And, it is a nice beach. Issues: 1. Worst pina colada ever. EVER! For $16 (which I'm prepared to pay for a premium experience) that pina colada should be the best I've ever had. 2. The room - no better than a run down Holiday Inn. No, we didn't get the cheapest room they offer. 3. The food - Nothing premium about it except the price. Much better to walk across the street to the many other restaurants. 4. The staff - Bottomline, they just don't care. It's really a sad statement when I say (with no exaggeration) that you'll get better service at a Chick-fil-A. Of course, there were one or two notable exceptions. The Del needs to understand that we aren't whining. People pay a lot of money to create memories there. The Del is letting them down. 5. When we stayed there we found out that valet parking was required. $50/day! They used to let you self park which was way better anyway because you didn't have to wait on the valet peeps. The parking lot is literally on the side of the hotel. It's a 60 second walk to your car. But instead I had to wait on some valet to go get my car. Dumb! It's like from the moment you get there you feel you're being gouged. It really sours the experience. 6. No microwave. When you have kids, sometimes they want simple microwaveable kid food like mac n' cheese. They're just not going to eat your restaurant food. In this case I can't blame them because the food isn't even that desirable for adults. Honestly, I wonder if Hilton paid too much for this property and now this historic hotel and the experience there is diminished because of it. I don't write many reviews. I wrote this because, as I said, the Del has a monopoly on this beach. It's a wonderful beach and I hope that one day the hotel will provide the experience that families deserve. Read less

We had always admired the Hotel Del and love the location right on the beach but hadn't previously stayed, so we decided to spend six nights there on our recent trip (Feb 14-20) to Coronado. As iconic as the hotel is, it was a huge disappointment. The hotel is massively under construction, and in the wing where we were staying they even put up a temporary construction wall warning us not to pass through to our room, ripped all the carpet out of the hallway, and never said a word to us to warn us. (In their defense, when we pointed it out to them they were apologetic about the miscommunication with their construction staff and moved us to new rooms half way through the week). The rooms, while old, were spacious and comfortable but in need of a refresh. Bathroom shower drains didn't drain properly. Additionally, we had paid for breakfast to be included in our stay but the restaurant was closed....so our free "breakfast" was at their coffee shop (equivalent to an overpriced Starbucks) where we could get coffee and a breakfast sandwich or yogurt. The restaurant was only open on Sat/Sun, so we were out of luck during the week for breakfast other than that coffee shop. The fitness center was also closed...they offered spin classes on the lawn on the weekends, but no other fitness amenities at all. Aside from Cassidy at the front desk who helped accommodate moving us to different rooms, there was not a single person working at The Del who provided noteworthy service that was indicative of a nice hotel. The weather was perfect and location on the beach is hard to beat....but in all other ways our stay was a disappointment. Not sure we would ever stay at the Del again, sadly. Read less

My husband is a Hilton Diamond member. We were told by hotel staff to book one class below our desired room for the free one class upgrade, so we booked 2 nights for our babymoon this weekend (’m having the baby in 17 days!) and I was super eager for the beach room with fire pit. Called multiple times over the last few weeks in advance of our arrival yesterday and of course arrive and they offer no upgrade. So now I’ve paid several hundred dollars extra for no reason and could have booked a class below this one and gotten the free upgrade. The jacuzzi closes at 8 pm and our room has no bathtub (wtf??? The whole point of staying at a hotel when you’re 9 months pregnant is to soak after dinner... every other hotel leaves hot tubs open until 10-11 pm.) I asked to change to a room with a bath tub and they said all of those options would be a significant downgrade. The worst was that we woke up today at 7 am because the blackout curtains don’t properly close!!! When I went out onto our balcony this morning in my nightgown there was a full on spin class full of people just a few feet away so I had to go right back inside due to the total lack of privacy. 🙄 When you’re paying $500+ per night you certainly expect to be able to sleep in. This is the first time we’ve been away from our toddler after 24/7 for the last year of the pandemic and I’m so livid. The front desk said they could maybe give me some clips to help them close?! 🤦🏼‍♀️ this is table stakes people. The room doesn’t even have bath robes!?!? This is a luxury hotel??? The kicker is that when I went back and asked why we didn’t receive our welcome amenity as diamond members they said it’s because we booked on points. At this point I’ve received conflicting information about our resort credit and I’m terrified they’re going to bait and switch me at checkout tomorrow. I was told we got $15pp/day so $60 for this weekend plus we booked a sweet escape for another $50 credit. After the pool bar charged me the same price for a virgin pina colada as my husbands with rum (shouldn’t it have been $8 vs $16?), I’m just feeling so angry. For this much money we could have bought a round trip to Europe in business class and no one seems at all interested in ensuring that valued Diamond members have a great experience. One extra star because even while under construction the view and site is beautiful, but the promises of great service are a lie. Maybe someone will see this before we check out and make things right. Read less

We stayed once at the world famous "Hotel Del" perhaps three decades ago. It was a very underwhelming, deflating experience after hearing about this legendary place for so long. The room we got was one of the darkest rooms ever, with a very odd, long hallway leading from the bedroom to the bathroom. I can't recall precisely but we presumably were using some kind of deal so we figured they just gave us one of the worst rooms in the place. That was a long time ago and we figured they must have refurbished and even gotten rid of these weird old room configurations. Still, since we were using a voucher, we kept our expectations low. At check in (about 2 pm), they told us our room was not ready but we would receive a text when it was. We asked about a possible upgrade due to my wife's Hilton Diamond status but, as we feared, we were told that those Hilton Honors benefits were only available when booking at Hilton, and not a third party site. We walked around the village and then returned to the hotel. By this time, 3:40 pm, there was a line of about a dozen people waiting to check in. They obviously needed more than 2-3 representatives to check folks in. While in line, we finally got notice at about 3:50 pm that our room was ready. We got our keys, went to get or luggage from the ample parking garage, then went up to our room, with anticipation. We were given a room in the Victorian structure, fifth floor. Since that was the top floor, that was a good sign. Then we entered the room and was greeted with a spectacular ocean view! The room we reserved was a standard King, but this was what the hotel website calls a "Partial Ocean View." As you can see from the photos attached, that is a more than fair description. Indeed, most "partial" ocean view rooms we have been in require one to see the ocean only from certain angles or somewhat through trees or buildings. This one was full on shoreline view. In some ways, this was a better view than an ocean front room, which might be unobstructed but which also might not enable one to see the beautiful crescent shape of the shoreline in the distance. And, as the pictures show, we got a gorgeous sunset from our room. The room itself was a decent size, neither small nor especially large. And, it would have been nice to have a balcony, which this room lacked. Still, the view was spectacular and well worth springing for, if you can afford it. I believe the rooms on the fifth floor with odd numbers would have this view or a comparable one, especially if on a higher floor. The other rooms at the Del that are open right now are called Cabana Rooms. They are in a separate, newer building. Some of those rooms look spectacular, with ocean front views. But some of them currently look directly into ongoing construction of a couple of new buildings that will double the capacity of the hotel. In fact, there is a whole lot of construction going on at the Del right now, including the main building lobby area, as well as the pool area or the area between the Victorian structure and the beach. It really undercuts the resort experience to see this--but then again, that is likely why room rates were affordable using a voucher. Additional drawbacks: our room was the second one from the elevator and ice machine. So, it was pretty noisy outside our door. The walls are not well sound-insulated so we could hear the popcorn-like sound of ice being made and falling into container (or perhaps going into ice buckets?). Bonus challenge: starting at about 7:30 am the next morning, we were awakened by an ear-splitting sound that seemed to come from directly below us. It was a worker cutting bricks with a circular saw virtually below our room on the ground floor. We had to laugh. Despite these quirks, the Del still sits on a gorgeous beach with super soft white sand. It has two restaurants that would have amazing ocean views--but for the construction right there that blocks such views. There are also resort-like amenities such as a bar/pizza place with live entertainment at night and a taco stand at the beach. There were lots of families with kids running around, as well as quite a few dogs. The hotel's location is also super convenient to Coronado village. One can walk to many restaurants, shops and, when the pandemic finally goes away, to theaters and entertainment venues. We likely will give the Del another try once all the construction is completed and the pandemic is over. Read less

My family has stayed at the Del for over 30 years, each visit was a amazing memory, beautiful hotel, lively shops and restaurants, great service, loads of charm, an international hotel on the beach. This year they are renovating the Victorian hotel, the high rise and building new structures. By itself that would be significant, add Covid and you have a uniquely surreal experience. If this is your first visit, I recommend waiting until the renovations are largely complete, the front desk said that would be mid-May. The biggest problem is there is no single point of communication to be informed what is available, and our room in the Victorian was in bad need of renovation and I suspect the others as well. So do not come for the Del experience or you will be disappointed. But bring people you love and enjoy being with, there is a lot to do on the island, great restaurants, shops, beach, cycling, walking and relaxing. One day the Del will return to its charm. Read less