Spring-2023

S an Diego’s Hotel del Coronado sits on a swath of sun-kissed Pacific coastline famous for white sand and spectacular sunset views. That landscape, punctuated by the property’s red rooftops and towering turrets, has attracted filmmakers since the early 1900s. One of the most well-known movies shot here was “Some Like It Hot,” a 1959 Oscar and Golden Globe winner starring Marilyn Monroe,Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. In one scene, Monroe sweeps up the resort’s main stair- way as men watch from a line of rocking chairs on the front porch. Now, following a five-year, $400 million renovation, Hotel Del Coronado guests can ascend the rebuilt stairs, cross the refurbished porch, and relax in rockers inspired by those in the film. “When you look at that scene and view the chairs today, they’re almost identical. And it's amazing to see how architects transformed the porch, bringing it back to its original Victorian-era configuration,” says Keriann Martin, the hotel’s assistant director of marketing. Opened in 1888 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, the Hotel del Coronado is both seaside time capsule and contemporary luxury resort.While outlining recent updates at the “Del,” as it’s commonly known, owners consulted late-1800s blueprints, purchase orders and photographs to ensure that new elements reflected the property’s rich history. Many of those photos hang in hotel hallways and at the Ice House Museum, an exhi- bition gallery tucked in the property’s former ice-production building. Crews also revived the Del’s Victorian grandeur in the lobby, where natu- ral light filters through meticulously restored stained-glass panes like the 135-year-old, 6-foot-tall Coronation Window. Overhead, a chandelier made of hand-blown glass and cut crystal takes cues from an original hotel fixture. HOTEL DEL CORONADO Coronado, Ca l i for n i a B Y R ENE E B R I NCK S D E S T I N AT I O N S C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 143 Photos: Courtesy of Hotel del Coronado