When the owner of the Hotel del Coronado embarked on an ambitious renovation — and expansion — of the storied resort in late 2018, the anticipated cost was $200 million, with completion of the long-planned project expected by 2021.
In the more than three years since then, the timeline doubled, and the budget nearly tripled, to $550 million, as the Del’s owner, Blackstone Real Estate, doubled down on what turned out to be the global firm’s single-largest renovation of a hotel project ever.
Capping the mammoth project is the just completed renovation of the resort’s most iconic element — the 137-year-old Victorian building, which required shutting down every one of the 367 guest rooms for over a year. At a cost of $160 million, it was the biggest element fueling the higher cost of the overall renovation and its longer duration.
The now fully completed Victorian restoration, which partially reopened a few months ago, makes its public debut this week, with a grand opening Wednesday to commemorate the more than six-year-long resort makeover.
From a new grand entry to the resort and a re-creation of the hotel’s original front porch to the addition of 75 high-end residences and three new dining destinations, there is no piece of the 28-acre resort that has not been touched, stresses Rob Harper, Blackstone’s head of real estate asset management for the Americas.
Despite the considerably higher investment, it ultimately made sense for Blackstone — and future hotel guests — to take on a much more comprehensive overhaul than originally envisioned, Harper said.
“It’s really about the impact of what a full renovation of the property has, where you reintroduce the whole resort as done versus doing a piecemeal effort,” he explained. “It’s a mistake we see frequently in real estate renovations, and it’s a mistake we’ve made over time, so live and learn.
“In a lot of cases, it happens because the ownership doesn’t have the capital to do the full business plan so they do what they can and then they sell it to the next person. Here we had the opportunity to do the whole thing and do it right. As we spent more time analyzing it, we came to the conclusion that it was the right path for the investment.”
And it’s so far paid dividends and will continue to do so, Harper said. There have been no recent valuations of the property since it was last appraised two years ago, but from an operating revenue perspective, the resort is doing well, he says.
“The results have been great, and the consumer has really responded in a positive way, which is great to see,” Harper said. “The investment we have made has driven improved financial performance from the asset.”
More specifically, the renovation of the Victorian rooms, which now number 404, has generated a bonanza of new bookings, exceeding the hotel’s expectations, said JP Oliver, area managing director for the resort. Among all the different “neighborhoods” within the resort, rooms in the Victorian building are the most booked, he said.
And since the reopening of the Victorian guest rooms, they’re commanding about $300 more a night than rates pre-renovation, Oliver said.
“The reality is it was old and needed a restoration. It also has a cult following so you didn’t know what to expect,” Oliver added. “People are just blown away by it. It used to be a building I think that housekeepers didn’t want to go into, and now they’re queuing up. It exceeds everyone’s expectations, and I’ve never really experienced that.”
Given the breadth of the project, there are no plans on the horizon for more changes to the Hotel del Coronado, Harper says. And there certainly is no vacant acreage for any major expansion.
With the $550 million project now officially finished, here’s a look back at the multiple new elements of the yearslong restoration, easily the resort’s most costly upgrade since the hotel opened in 1888.
New life for the Victorian building
Building a new hotel from the ground up is hard enough, but retrofitting and upgrading a more than century-old structure while preserving its historic integrity is a whole different and far more arduous challenge, says the hotel’s owner. While the building’s lobby had been restored a few years earlier, as part of the master plan project, the renewal of all the guest rooms and meeting spaces had not originally been contemplated.
Guided by a San Diego architectural firm specializing in historic restoration, with the help of the hotel’s original blueprints and an in-house historian, the renovation sought to physically recapture the look of the 1880s building and its original charm without sacrificing modern hotel amenities.
“I can tell you that building a new building from the ground up is less complicated than going into an older, intricate structure like that and renovating it,” Harper said. “You have that element of charm and history when you’re done with it but it’s a very detail-oriented task to get there, so we’re super happy to get to the end of this and fully reintroduce it.”
In the course of revitalizing the building’s interior, a number of treasures were uncovered, including a fresco hidden by decades of paint, wall coverings and plywood veneers, as well as original 1888 oak and pine doors in the Crown and Coronet ballrooms. Those two cavernous meeting spaces also got a refresh, including refinished woodwork, new lighting and carpeting, and a thorough polishing of the 1929 chandeliers.
The guest rooms themselves, while adorned with vintage-inspired textiles such as traditional Victorian florals, curved headboards and bright floral wall coverings, also received some contemporary upgrades, including the installation of new electrical and plumbing systems and all new bathrooms with marble flooring and more spacious showers.
Many of the refurbished rooms in the Victorian building have views of a large grassy courtyard and landscaped gardens that were upgraded and returned to there original design. Up until the early 1900s, there had been a central fountain featuring a statue of a scantily clad Venus “Rising from the Sea.” As part of the restoration efforts, the hotel took great pains to bring back the fountain and statue, known as the Naiad Queen.
Yet another bonus of the project was the addition of 37 rooms, made possible by downsizing some of the original, larger suites.
Back to the future with new entryway, front porch
Many of the new elements at the renovated hotel were part of the resort’s master plan, first approved by the city of Coronado in 2003 and later amended and approved by the California Coastal Commission in 2010.
An earlier slowdown in the tourism economy was in part responsible for delays in moving forward with the project. Changes in the ownership structure over the years also affected the timing of the project.
One of the goals of that master plan was to restore some of the resort’s key features that had disappeared long ago. Most notable is the revival of the resort’s grand entrance, reached by a long, landscaped driveway composed of decorative pavers. The relocation of the entry marked a return to its original location, where guests during the hotel’s early years would arrive by train. But for at least six decades, the previous entrance, described by one hotel executive as “very underwhelming,” had remained in place.
The master plan changed that, as well as the entrance into the hotel lobby. The original porch — which had a cameo in the 1959 film “Some Like It Hot” starring Marilyn Monroe — was built over in 1961, but the hotel master plan revived it as yet another step in returning the Del to its 19th-century roots. The hotel relied on historical photos to make sure the new addition accurately replicated the original front entry, down to the rocking chairs.
Also restored, early on, was the lobby, which had been showing its old age for some time. The stained-glass windows gradually disappeared, the white oak columns and beams were painted over with layers of stain, and generations of visitors had taken their toll on the carpeting.
All of the woodwork from the late 1800s was stripped down to its original state and stained to match the color of what the lobby looked like when first built. Original light fixtures were reproduced, including the original crystal chandelier; the wall-to-wall carpeting was replaced with new parquet flooring; and craftsmen re-created nearly two dozen of the stained-glass windows that had originally adorned the lobby.
The 18-month-long restoration was so intensive it required shutting down the lobby for many months.
A glassed-in pool deck and guest room makeovers
With the resort’s panoramic views of the ocean, beach and pool, it made sense to undertake a makeover of the aging sun deck area.
Unlike the previous configuration of the pool deck where there was no direct connection between it and the pool below, there are two sets of stairs for hotel guests, as well as waitstaff to provide poolside food service. The sun deck was transformed into a glass-enclosed, 240-seat rooftop bar and restaurant overlooking the hotel pool and beachfront, and the pool area got an update too, with tiered seating and a second level of day beds that guests can rent for personal use throughout the day.
While completed in 2020, the sun deck had to be closed for a few months last year to weatherproof the flooring.
Also getting a refresh were the nearby cabanas, a complex of 97 rooms dating to the 1970s. All the guest rooms were completely gutted and remodeled with a California beach vibe, and the oceanfront rooms have patios with firepits.
The cabanas are one of several so-called neighborhoods in the resort that were all updated. Just south of the cabanas building is the former Ocean Towers, which was renamed The Views after all 217 rooms and suites were refurbished. Beach Village, a gated community of 34 cottages and villas, also got a top-to-bottom makeover, although the individual owners covered the cost of the interior renovations.
First new guest rooms in years
Not since 2007, when it opened 78 cottages and villas in its Beach Village community, had the Hotel Del added any new guest rooms.
That changed in 2022, when the Shore House at the Del, a sort of hotel within a hotel, opened. When the collection of 75 high-end residences initially went up for sale in 2021, they commanded prices as high as $5.2 million and within months had sold out.
The individual one-, two- and three-bedroom units, which account for 142 rooms, are situated steps from the ocean and can be booked for overnight stays throughout the year. Owners can stay in the units for no more than 90 days a year, with up to 25 consecutive nights at a time. The resort shares in a portion of the revenue from the bookings.
Exclusive to the Shore House is a bistro and zero-edge pool that is just beyond the restaurant’s outdoor dining area and has a direct view of Coronado Beach.
Dining makeover
What began in 2019 with the opening of Serea, a Mediterranean-inspired replacement for the resort’s long-standing 1500 Ocean restaurant, culminated last month with the debut of acclaimed Japanese restaurant Nobu. Founded by chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor Robert De Niro, a Nobu restaurant first opened in downtown San Diego years ago and continues to operate out of the Hard Rock Hotel.
The newest Nobu hadn’t originally been planned, but when the hotel shut down its former all-day restaurant, Sheerwater, for a major makeover, the project morphed into two restaurant concepts — Veranda and Nobu.
Veranda, notable for its al fresco dining experience, opened in April and draws inspiration from the hotel’s original wraparound veranda that allowed for a continuous walk of 1,800 feet around the hotel.
An ice house and historic laundry
The resort is rich with history, including three lesser-known 19th-century buildings, known as the Ice House, Laundry and Power Plant.
Each has undergone restoration work, and some have been repurposed over the years for various functions, like event space, offices and even a restaurant.
The Laundry was originally built in 1919 to serve the laundry needs of both the Hotel del Coronado and local Coronado residents, and it continued to do so until 1973. Its restoration, which includes exposed brickwork and the original conveyor system tracks, was completed in 2021. It now functions as an event space.
The Ice House, now a museum, was built in 1889 and was a working ice house for some time. It too was restored in 2021 and as a museum, showcases the hotel’s history. It’s also the starting place for the hotel’s history tours and can be used for private events as well.
The Power Plant, built two years before the Ice House, initially supplied power to the hotel and the island — until 1922. It later was converted to offices and then was reinvented in 2021 as a coworking and meeting space. It currently houses one of the last remaining original crown chandeliers from the Crown Room.
