Hotel del Coronado

From the moment you cross the soaring, red-roofed rotunda of the main entryway, you have left the modern world behind. The Hotel del Coronado is not a building; it is a sprawling Victorian masterpiece, a living, breathing monument to a bygone era of Gilded Age grandeur. Built in 1888, its entire being is crafted from wood, and you can feel that history in its bones. The air smells of saltwater and a century of polished oak.

This is the icon. The grand dame of the Pacific. You walk through hallways that have hosted presidents, foreign royalty, and Hollywood’s brightest stars. This is where Marilyn Monroe famously filmed Some Like It Hot, and that kinetic, glamorous energy seems permanently infused into the property. The original Victorian building, with its famous crown-shaped chandelier in the Crown Room, is a labyrinth of charming imperfections: corridors that slant, turrets that offer hidden nooks, and the ever-present, gentle creak of history underfoot.

But this is not a museum. The “Del” is a massive, self-contained universe. The original building is now the anchor for a sprawling resort that includes the contemporary Ocean Towers and the exclusive, cottage-style Beach Village. The property’s main pool is a vibrant, sun-drenched scene, but the true centerpiece is the Pacific. The hotel commands a spectacular, private stretch of Coronado Beach, a wide, glittering expanse of sand famous for its golden flecks.

The experience here is about surrendering to the location. It’s about having cocktails on the massive veranda, watching the sunset melt into the ocean. It’s about a high-end dinner at Serea, where the seafood is as fresh as the breeze, or grabbing a casual bite from the beachside Taco Shack. Every moment feels cinematic because it is. This resort is not a base for exploring San Diego; it is the destination itself, a timeless piece of California that still, after more than 130 years, knows exactly how to be the star of the show.