Saturday Morning in Coronado

Now that I'm back in rainy, cold, dreary, lonely Texas after a blast of California sun, I'm able to go through all my pictures and reminisce about the good old days (a few days ago) and how much fun they were. We flew into San Diego really late Friday night and slept in Saturday. We then decided to explore the hotel.

I've been here two or three times in my life and have enjoyed the experience everytime. This hotel is made entirely of wood, very rare for the United States, and was established in 1888. It is victorian in design and absolutely stunning with wonderful ocean views, bright white and red shingles, and holds an air of refined luxury and relaxation.

They've expanded the hotel... a lot. It's becoming a bit too much if I'm being honest with msyelf. They've added these private villas (pictured above) that are around 2.5 million dollars. The set up is obviously nice-- they have beach views and have access to all hotel amenities. It's not the villas that bother me, it's the entire overhaul which is slowly taking away from the classic aspects of the hotel. When you entered the lobby it used to be that past the concierge there was this old, dark wooden lounge with a fireplace and bar area, where people would read the newspaper or meet in the evenings for a drink. I remember zipping through there with my friends on spring break when I was 13 and getting virgin strawberry dacqueri's (the best in all the land).
They've taken out almost that entire lounge and used it to expand the signature shop. The gift shop is absolutely huge, and has a lot of really cool sweatshirts and blankets, and I'm happy they've realized the market in hotel-wear, but the whole thing is starting to feel too commercialized. The pina colada my dad and I split was made out of a mix, not from scratch, and tasted so disgusting I only took a few sips before giving up. It was like some kind of creamsicle pina colada flavor ice cream that they'd melted. I couldn't bear trying the strawberry dacqueri for fear they'd changed that, too. I know the Del will get their act together. It's just a phase... right?

 They've also added a few restaurants and turned Marilyn Monroe's famous ocean villa into a "members only lounge area." I believe you used to be able to rent the villa for a pretty penny, but now it's been renovated as well, gutted, had a mini-bar and clear deck installed, and been closed to the public. I was really disappointed. I was also sad to see so many restaurant additions. I understand marrying modernity with the old when it comes to hotels, but I think they are going a little overboard and kind of losing their identity.
The rooms in the Victorian section of the hotel were newly renovated last year, just in time for this years 125th anniversary celebration.

 There are these bendable reading lights installed on each side of the beds.

The rooms are now very modern, particularly in color scheme. The bedding is all white, while the carpet, walls, backboards, and accent pieces are varying shades of grey and neutrals. But look at the picture above. What did they do to that doorway? 125 years old and you just slice right through the doorway in order to complete renovations in time? Who on EARTH did they hire to do this, and why did they get away with it? And how much did they freaking get paid because what the heck.
I'm not mad about everything. They windows are still beautiful and old, and you're still allowed to open them and feel the ocean breeze. The elevators are still the same beautiful old iron designs, the lobby just as exquisite and grand. I just wish they had though through this renovation better and not sold the hotels soul, so to speak.
After the initial shock of the hotel changes we ate at one of my favorite restaurants in Coronado, Miguel's.

No complaints here. It was as delicious as ever.
I'm going to end this post here because it became longer than I'd anticipated. I'll finish off Saturday on the next post! How was everyone's weekend?