Highlights: Hotel del Coronado – Curio Collection by Hilton
I used my Free nights from my Hilton Aspire card trying to maximize the value and pair it with a Southwest companion pass for a quick weekend getaway. While the resort was nice, it was historical (read: old) and thus not my forte. Issues with the room and property being stuffy and overpriced made for a “meh” experience. It’s nice to look at, but with everything super expensive it’s a hard pass. The local area was quite nice – we did find some great eats outside the property that were good quality and reasonable in price.
My standard hotel reviews include a breakdown by the following topics. Feel free to skip to whichever section you find most interesting.
- Highlights
- Lobby
- Room
- Hotel Space / Ambiance
- Food & Drink
- Fitness
- Miscellaneous
LOBBY & CHECK-IN
Your car will drop you off right at the main entrance, up a small set of very long stairs. The lobby is dark, with check in in front of huge monitors on the left, and an old chain-link elevator manned by an employee further in. No upgrades available, so basic room, and they notified us about what was included in our free stay. Note that we didn’t pay a resort fee due to using our free night certificates, but that is usually $35 per day plus tax. See below for the hotel’s information on it and what is included:
A $35 daily resort charge will be added to your room rate and includes: Guest internet access; unlimited indoor fitness classes & beach yoga; live streaming of Netflix, Pandora, Hulu, YouTube & Crackle; discount tickets to top San Diego attractions; local and toll-free calls. Contact the Concierge for tickets at 1-619-522-8196.
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- Stairs to Lobby!
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- Checkin Desk
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- Elevator in Lobby
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- Lobby from Above
ROOM
I was perplexed to find a CRIB in my room, with no explanation. I told the front desk and they had it removed immediately, but I made it very clear this was weird, and they apologized. No problems – was just confusing to me to see that in this room, usually you have to request such a device.
The room was otherwise okay, albeit a bit dated and stuffy. Perhaps that harkens back to the hotel’s lineage and history, but I’m not a fan.
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- Desk
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- TV
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- Terrible Joke
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- Seating
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- Bed
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- Bath
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- Room View through a screen
HOTEL SPACE / AMBIANCE
As it’s right on the water and full of touristy people in Coronado, I saw plenty of couples and families enjoying the resort. It’s a pretty property as well, full of stories.
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- Towers
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- Night
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- Entrance
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- Parking & car Pickup
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- History in the Hotel
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- Merchandise Store – historical museum as well
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- Exterior
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- Hotel from Water side
FOOD & DRINK
We had the complimentary continental breakfast at Sheerwater, since full breakfast would have been an additional $20 per person. Service was slow and lacking, and they had the audacity to flag me down to sign a tip on a breakfast that they certainly did not deserve. Not a pleasant memory. They also have a variety of other dining options and venues, but expect to pay a pretty penny. We opted to save the Hilton resort credit and decided to eat off-property.
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- Diamond Continental Breakfast @ Sheerwater
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- It was acceptable, barely
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- Eno Pizza – from hotel site
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- Buffet in Crown Room – from hotel site
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- Food @ Serea – from hotel site
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- Beach Shack – from hotel site
FITNESS
We only walked around a ton, but they do host complimentary fitness classes and yoga for guests, as well as paid offerings as well.
Cycle Class from Hotel Site
MISCELLANEOUS
Having never been to Coronado, I wanted to surprise my lady with something familiar (San Diego) and something new (Coronado) and think I succeeded somewhat. It was a pleasure to explore a new area and walk around. If I had unlimited money I’d be sure to try out their restaurants and offerings, but I enjoyed walking through Coronado and eating there. I’d make a special trip to go back to Clayton’s Coffee Shop in Coronado as the shake was amazing (photos below) and prices reasonable!
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- Shake @ Clayton’s Coffee Shop – amazing!
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- Chicken Fried Steak @ Clayton’s Coffee Shop
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- Burger @ Clayton’s Coffee Shop
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- Oreo Milk Tea @ Tapioca Express Bonita
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- Regent’s Pizza!
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- Regent’s Pizza!
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Don’t forget Marilyn Monroe filmed a movie there in 1959 and 12 US Presidents have stayed there.
I stayed at this hotel last year using a cert. I thought this hotel was sub par for many of the same reasons you expressed. People give this hotel way too much credit based on it’s location – which is great and the history. But it doesn’t make up for lack luster service, mediocre rooms and the Sheerwater experience.
Completely agree. No argument here!
Did you ask/receive any compensation for this stay…due to crib or anything else you complained about?
Were you going to leave $0 tip? Seems like unless there was huge service letdown this seems a bit of a stretch.
I did ask but they provided nothing. I was going to leave some tip upon checkout but the way they ran me down was just so off-putting, and I regret tipping at all, especially as there was a service let down – they took a while to seat us, greet us, inform us of how it worked (we didn’t have plates and wasn’t sure about protocol), took forever to get drink orders and provide them, etc.