Coronado Visit

By: Wesley Somoza Posted: 01/19/09 Category: Hotels Coronado is a San Diego Island Treat -- Local Expert Itinerary

Whenever you think of Coronado you think of the Hotel Del. This 100 plus year old hotel is an awesome experience wether you visit it for the day or stay as a guest of the hotel. It offers multiple restaurants (some as new as 2006), but the real treat besides the white sand beaches, winding boardwalk and gentle surf is the Sunday brunch at the Shearwater Restaurant overlooking the green grassy patio of the Del and the beach. The food is excellent and the atmosphere really makes you relaxed as you enjoy a morning at the Del. This spot is popular with locals in San Diego, so even though it can be crowded on a given Sunday, the management does a great job of giving all its guests plenty of space to spread out and enjoy themselves. Highly recommended for large parties. Reservations are a must and lately they have been asking for a credit card to hold the reservation. This is a new thing the Del started doing and we are not sure why. Prices per person for the all you can eat buffet are about $22.00 and kids eat for $12.00.

We book rooms for this property here on the website and they have been a long time client of our marketing services for years so to say this is an objective look is a bit of an exaggeration, but if the Glorietta Bay Inn was anything less then exceptional I would never bring it up. The Glorietta Bay Inn centers around the historic again 100 year old mansion owned by John D. Spreckels. The mansion itself has been entirely renovated and has kept almost all its original structure down to the lamps and piano room. The mansion rooms are a great place to stay for the weekend and will run you a bit more than their contemporary inn rooms located around the mansion. However if you are lucky enough to book the penthouse suite overlooking the Glorietta Bay it will be a vacation experience you will never forget. Customer service is first class at the hotel and if you remember, ask for milk and cookies at night delivered to your room. They are the best cookies we have ever had!


If you rent bikes on the island (not really an island) journey over to the east end where the ferry landing is located. Peohe's Restaurant is an island treat with fresh seafood and steak right on the water. In all of San Diego you will not find a better place to dine right on the water front.
To access both sides of the island you can use Old Town Trolley Tours 48 hour hop on hop off service which runs throughout the day. They have two different pick up and drop off locations on the island. If you are driving in be aware of that the speed limit goes from 55 miles per hour crossing the bridge and drops immediately to 25 miles per hour as soon as you pass the old toll station. This driving speed is aggressively enforced by SDPD. It runs both ways when exiting the island.