Marriott Coronado/Hotel Del
 

I am planning on going to the San Diego area and I want to stay in Coronado. We planned on staying at the Glorietta Bay Inn but my family would prefer a more resort atmosphere with larger pool, restaurant and all the resort amenities big hotels offer. Everyone I talk to tell me stay at the Del but which I am considering even though I think their resort/parking fees are rediculous. There suppose to have AAA rates in few months so I am waiting on that option. The other option is the Marriott Coronado and would love to here any opinions on this property. I know it's not the Hotel Del but would like to be able to consider another property in order to stay in Coronado if the Del turns out to be too expensive. The Marriott has some very mixed reviews so curious to here some opinions and experiences. THANKS!

A friend and I stayed at the Marriot Coronado last year and we really liked it. As you say, it isn't the Hotel Del, which is one of the reasons why I think it gets mixed reviews - it happens to be down the street from the Hotel Del and it is hard to be compared to the Del. LOL.

The location is pretty good, although it is on the harbor side of the island, so no ocean beaches right outside the hotel. Nice views of downtown though and there is a path along the water front and some shops close by. Also the water taxi to downtown is close.

Our room was quite nice and very comfortable. The beds were nice and we had a large balcony. Our balcony faced the neighborhood, which was ok, but I would definitely request a harbor view next time. The views that direction at night with all the downtown lights were great. The bathroom was large with a stand up shower and a whirlpool tub.

The grounds are really nice - ponds, waterfalls, little streams throughout the place. And the pool area overlooks the harbor and downtown. Swimming at night was great.

All of the staff members that we interacted with were terrific.

The hotel does have a chain hotel feel, which you would expect with a Marriot, so there isn't a lot of character.

The Hotel Del is a very famous and historic property- right on the beach Grand dining room, english style pub, pool and tennis on the grounds. It is walking distance to lots of shops, dining and live theatre.

The Marriot is a relatively new chain hotel. On the bay, and while there are some touristy shops and several decent eateries nearby, it is a long walk or pleasant bike ride from the beach and the village center.

BTW, you can't escape the resort fee, but there is street parking in the areas near both of these hotels.

You could try priceline..There are only 3 lux hotels in Coronado--Loews resort is the third one. It is about 2 miles down the strand, so not as good a location as the other two, but is nicer and more "resorty'than the Marriott.

With Priceline, you'll get one of the three.

We stayed at the Marriott in February and checked out after one night although we'd planned to stay for 3.

The rooms are located on long openair concrete corridors...We were initially shown to a smoking room (although we'd requested nonsmoking and weren't told at the desk that this was 'unavailable').

We called the desk and were told that the only nonsmoking room available had a king bed (we needed 2 queens)but they'd supply a rollaway for one of the children.

So, we moved everyone to the new room which was quite a distance from the first room and it had a lousy view....we decided to try the pool which was empty (too cold) and the hot tub was full not surprisingly.

We returned to the room and the rollaway hadn't arrived so my husband called Marriott rewards and briefly told them our problems so far...within 20minutes the front desk called offering us a room with 2 queens which was now 'available'.

By this stage we'd had enough and didn't want to move rooms again so we cancelled 2 nights and booked into the Marriott near the gas lamp district and went out to dinner.

So, we had a bad experience with this hotel but the rooms were very nice...honestly if the reasonable rates at the Del don't materialise I'd look into Loews or stay on the mainland!

The Marriott used to be the Le Meriden hotel, it changed hands several years ago. The Hotel Del is definitely much better than the Marriott and I would choose a room in the historic building for a more authentic, turn of the century stay. In addition to being on the beach the Hotel Del is in the cernter of Coronado's shopping and dining district which is just steps away from the hotel. You will have to drive to the shopping and dining area at the Mattiott. That being said, the Marriott is very nice also, on one side of the hotel there is a small aviary in the middle waith turtles and fish, the other side has the fish only. It also has great views of the city and the Coronado Bay bridge. The Marriott is my second choice with the Loews being third. Have stayed at all 3 many times:) Loews just does not do it for me, very nice but not as homey. Orbitz oftern offers rates lower for the Del than on the De's website, hope this helps:)

Thank you for all the responses.

Travelinwifey: May I ask you what you didn't like about the Loews other than the non-homey feeling you mentioned. I was quoted an incredible rate package that included room, breakfast, parking and daily movie rental at $240/a night (standard gardenview room). I also wanted to ask you if you think the Del is worth it, from your point of view. It's funny but all three of these hotels have such mixed reviews, even the Del as luxurious as it may be has various reviews with some saying it's not worth the price and others saying it was a wonderful experience. Hope you don't mind answering my questions but you are the ideal person to ask since you have stayed in all three. Thanks so much! Decisions, desisions...

That's 'cause you are reading OPINIONS! The same two people having basically the same experience can have widely divergent OPINIONS based on their prior knowledge, expectations, and tolerance for xyz.

The Del is historic and unique and an experience. It is also an older property. Some people will like part of that while disliking the other parts. It depends on the person. The location is great - beachfront. Is it "worth the money". Depends on how you feel about that kind of property - and how you feel about money.

I stayed at the Marriott on a company reward trip and was very pleased. It is the opposite of the Del. Modern vs. old and historic. On the opposite side of the island. I loved my view of San Diego - and the balcony surrounded by flowers. Spent lots of time out there in the sunshine with no humidity and no bugs (the opposite of my "home"). My room was very nice. My interactions with the staff were few - but didn't experience anything of concern.

LOVED the pool and pool bar. Discovered "Electric Lemonades" at the pool bar - and it's been my favorite summer drink ever since.

I've not stayed at the Lowe's.

Which will you like best? Depends on your expectations and how you feel about the money you paid. If the resort parking fee is the "catch" with the Del, my guess is that you won't feel the property is worth the money. I would guess that a standard room at the Marriott would be nicer than a standard room at the Del.

Hi Jojo, you don't mention your specific travel dates but I also wanted to mention that you may also want to check hotwire.com to see if you can get a reduced rate for the Hotel Del. The Hotel Del appears with a "beach" icon. That is on the beach, not "near the beach" as that is how the Loews shows up on the rate quotes. If you are okay with getting any hotel of the 3 choices you will get the cheapest deal through Priceline. But it is a pretty good bet you will most likely get the Loews or Marriott as the Hotel Del has a higher Priceline rate and if you pick a random price you just may end up overpaying for the other 2 properties.

For me, the Loews is the least favorite because not all the rooms have balconies and the views aren't as good.

The reason the Hotel Del is my favorite is because I love staying in historic hotels. The main building is turn of the century and to me it is so cosy and comfortable, not to mention the Hotel Del is haunted.:[ Now if the choice was between a room in the new building at the Del and the Marriott I would choose the Marriott, only because staying in the historic building is that important to me. Have stayed in the new building a few times and the stay just as not as "authentic" as a stay in the original building. These are just my thoughts, some people are very happy in the new building also. Hope this helps. I think you will be happy at any of the 3 hotels and these are just my preferences:)

I just wanted to suggest Loews Coronado Bay Resort. We stayed there several years ago and thought it was great. We had a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the marina. Nice pool. Beautiful grounds and lobby. Nice restaurants. We enjoyed it very much and I would stay there again.

It is, however, a little remote. It is about a ten minutes (or less) drive to Coronado. We had a car so it wasn't a big deal to us.

Thank you mikesmom for your response. I am so glad to hear to enjoyed it because I decided to book the Loews. I was suppose to get a gardenview room with the Loews package but when I asked if it had a balcony or patio, the reservationist told me the only way to guarantee a balcony is to book the bayview or marina view. Anyway, she gave me the bayview room at a gardenview rate which I thought was great since that package is $315 a night and I am paying $240 a night. This package was even better than the Marriott's package which was very similar. I am going to call the Del next month though just to hear about their AAA package which they claim is excellent which includes breakfast and parking discount, but for now, I think the Loews will be a great alternative since they have everything we are looking for in a hotel other than it's location being a bit remote. I really don't mind since we have a rental car anyway. I especially like the children's conceige which I thought was neat for my two children. Thanks again for your post.