Hotel del Coronado

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Aerial view of the hotel complex

The Hotel del Coronado , also known as The Del by the locals for short , is a famous old luxury hotel on the western beach of the Coronado Peninsula in the US state of California , which is located on the Bay of San Diego . It is one of the few surviving examples of a wooden Victorian beach hotel. It is the oldest and largest wooden building in California. On May 5, 1977, the previously listed hotel was recognized as a National Historic Landmark . It was named one of the world's top 10 vacation hotels by USA Today .

history

Hotel del Coronado around 1900
Historical Landmark No. 844

The Hotel del Coronado was built by James Reid in 1888 and was the largest holiday hotel in the world at the time. As the first hotel ever, it was equipped with electric light when it was built. As a precaution, however, the electric cables were laid in gas pipes so that if the new type of electricity did not work, gas could be used immediately. After completion, the installation was checked personally by Thomas Edison . In 1904 he came back to the del Coronado to inspect the first electrically lit Christmas tree in front of the hotel. During the Second World War , the house was used by pilots from the nearby Navy Base . On October 14, 1971, the hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a monument .

Famous visitors

In the course of its history the hotel has welcomed countless prominent personalities as guests.

On April 7, 1920, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales , stayed in the del Coronado. Rumors later arose that it was there that he first met Wallis Simpson , who was living in the house at the time.

Several Hollywood greats from the silent film era lived in the del Coronado for a time. B. Tom Mix , Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin . It was a popular retreat, especially during the prohibition period.

Numerous US presidents were also guests at the hotel: Benjamin Harrison , William McKinley , William Howard Taft , Woodrow Wilson , Franklin D. Roosevelt , Dwight D. Eisenhower , John F. Kennedy , Lyndon B. Johnson , Richard Nixon , Gerald Ford , Jimmy Carter , Ronald Reagan , George Bush , Bill Clinton , George W. Bush and Barack Obama .

Haunted room 304

A woman named Kate Morgan also achieved a certain fame, who checked in under a false name on Thanksgiving 1892 and was found dead with a gunshot wound five days later. According to the official findings, it should have been suicide. Since then her ghost is said to haunt the house. Later guests in room 304 (now room no .: 3312) in which they stayed, reported flickering light, inexplicable voices and gusts of wind as well as ghostly appearances.

The del Coronado in the film

The hotel has been used repeatedly as a backdrop for Hollywood productions. Best known is the appearance in Billy Wilder's classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), which was filmed in the summer of 1958 with Marilyn Monroe , Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in the leading roles. The hotel is referred to in the movie as the fictional Seminole Ritz Hotel in Miami , Florida , which is where much of the action takes place. In fact, it's the del Coronado.

Much of the film " The Long Death of Stuntman Cameron " (1980), starring Peter O'Toole and Steve Railsback , was shot in and around the hotel. Among other things, it can be seen in My partner with the cold snout (1989) with James Belushi having a drink on the hotel terrace.

The hotel today

Over the years, the hotel changed hands several times and underwent several renovations and extensions. The classic wooden facade was always preserved. In 2005 a number of beach villas in the same historical architectural style were added. Today the house has around 900 rooms, a large ball and conference hall and the two seven-story Ocean Towers to the south.

Web links

Commons : Hotel del Coronado  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  • Starr, Kevin (2002): The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s . US: Oxford University Press. p. 496. ISBN 0195157974
  • National Register Information System . National Register of Historic Places, Hotel del Coronado; Coronado, California. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  • Hotel del Coronado: An American Treasure with a Storybook Past (Hardcover) ISBN 0916251721

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: California. National Park Service , accessed July 30, 2019.
  2. ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed May 21, 2016
  3. ^ Seth Mallios, David M. Caterino: Cemeteries of San Diego . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston (SC) 2007, ISBN 0-7385-4714-X , p. 70

Coordinates: 32 ° 40 ′ 51.4 "  N , 117 ° 10 ′ 42.3"  W.