Recently, my family returned from a great trip to San Diego, CA. There are so many options when visiting a place like San Diego - it was overwhelming doing the research on where we were going to stay, eat, and what type of activities we wanted to do in San Diego.
We decided to stay at the historic Del Coronado on Coronado Island. We were traveling with two small kids - so close access to the beach was important to us, and this was a deciding factor of our stay. We stayed in the “Cabana” rooms - but use caution as the hotel is currently under construction and some of the rooms our construction facing. Construction noise does not accommodate work well with a sleeping baby during nap time! We stayed on the poolside of the Cabana’s which was a treat for the family. My wife or I could stay with the baby, while the other swam with the daughter in the pool.
We truly enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Del Coronado. Although this is considered a luxury hotel, there are some character traits of the hotel that some may not find as accommodating. This is mainly because this is an OLD hotel - and was not planned for what it is today. The hotel grounds are not the easiest to navigate, and may be challenging for something with accessibility needs. Our stay was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and like most businesses the hotel was unfortunately understaffed at the front desk, and with the cleaning staff. My wife and I adjusted our expectations during our stay - realizing that we hadn’t given thought to these things before our travel - and the rest of our trip was great!
The hotel is within close walking distance to downtown Coronado - which is a local center of activity. The downtown area is full of quaint and luxury shopping as well as a mix of casual restaurants, fine dining and everything in between. Our favorite meal was at a restaurant called “the Henry”. The restaurant is well reviewed - but the reviews did not do our experience justice! We celebrated my birthday at the restaurant, and I had the BEST Meal. I ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna which was served over a green curry rice in a spicy coconut broth. We also made a split second decision to order the Umami Brussel Sprouts as a side. The meal was excellent, but believe it or not, the Brussel Sprouts made the evening! Overall, the menu out at the Henry is very original with a unique flavors mixing cooked and raw vegetables. This restaurant is a MUST if you visit Coronado, West Hollywood, Dallas, or Phoenix. We also had good meals the rest of our stay - be prepared for your trip to Coronado - there is not a cheap meal on the island!
Some of the other things we enjoyed the most when staying at the Hotel Del Coronado was having breakfast every morning at the sundeck. We would get there right at 7:00 before the rest of the hotel was stirring and get a lounge area overlooking the water. With our particular package - a $80 meal credit was given each day for breakfast. We enjoyed Steak and Eggs, Breakfast French Fries, Fire Roasted Octopus, and our favorite the Chia Seed Yogurt Granola Bowel. We also had a great meal at the taco shop at the hotel. This was our cheapest meal on the island - which was around $7/taco. When staying at Coronado with the military close buy you’re likely to see a lot of military aircraft activity during the day. It is LOUD - but our family enjoyed watching all the military planes and aircraft. None of this disturbed our stay. My five year old daughter loved watching the fighter planes land. The ocean is rough - and you can swim and surf, but there are probably better locations in San Diego. Staying a the Hotel Del Coronado is a wonderful place to stay on the water in San Diego. It’s not cheap- but your guaranteed to make great memories!
A few other MUSTS when visiting San Diego is spending time walking through the historic, Old Town San Diego. You can not pass up fresh pressed tortillas and the authentic live Latin music. We also had a great time hiking in Torrey Pines, and having lunch in La Jolla.
San Diego is always a great trip. The weather is always a perfect 72 degrees. Snorkel, Surf, Beach, Jiu-Jitsu, AMAZING food- you name it, San Diego has it - you won’t regret your trip!

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