For 137 years, the Hotel del Coronado has stood as a monument to Gilded Age opulence, a place where presidents brushed shoulders with Hollywood’s glitterati, its Victorian architecture a timeless symbol of grandeur.
Following a $160 million restoration on track to be completed by June, the hotel’s historic Victorian neighborhood will be revitalized, blending its 1888 heritage with contemporary luxury.
The Victorian neighborhood’s restoration is part of a $550 million project, a transformation extending across its five distinct neighborhoods — bringing the resort’s total accommodations to 938 guest rooms — as well as its culinary offerings, front porch and lobby, ballrooms and more.
A key focus of the restoration was reviving the hotel’s garden patio, a hallmark of Victorian design, said Gina Petrone, the hotel’s heritage manager.
“Victorians loved gardens,” Petrone said. “We had a botanical garden here in Coronado where we raised and grew plants, and this is sort of where we put them and changed them over the years.”
The redesigned landscape, located outside behind the lobby, includes citrus and palm trees, some over a century old, evoking the lush ambiance of the original estate.
One of the restoration’s highlights is the re-creation of the Naiad Queen fountain, which adorned the property from 1888 to 1912 before being replaced by a summer house, Petrone said.
The sculpture, also known as “Venus Rising from the Sea”, depicts a figure with flowing tresses, standing atop a shell.
To faithfully replicate this lost feature, the team sourced an identical statue from in Washington State, using an original mold to cast the bronze figure.
“It was really fun to see her installed and watch her operate again,” Petrone said. “It’s been 113 years since she was here.”
Beyond the gardens, artisans restored the architectural details of the Victorian neighborhood.
The window trims, once painted over in white, have been returned to their original deep red.
The veranda overlooking the ocean side once assumed to be a uniform color, was discovered to have originally featured dark green, red, gray and white hues — a far richer palette than black-and-white photos had suggested.
Inside, guest rooms embrace Victorian aesthetics while incorporating modern comforts.
“People think they want an 1888 room,” Petrone remarked, “but I tell them, ‘No, you don’t.’”
The original rooms were sparsely furnished, with hard wooden chairs, small beds and minimal conveniences.
The redesigned interiors now feature botanical-inspired artwork, round mirrors, period-appropriate headboards, plush bedding and expanded bathrooms, marrying historical charm with contemporary luxury.
Wimberly Interiors led the redesign of the rooms, each unique in shape and size, reflecting the individualized nature of 19th-century construction.
Only seven bathtubs remain in the Victorian neighborhood, a nod to the era’s architectural quirks.
Even the furniture choices, such as cane-backed chairs and wicker patio seating, draw from historical styles while maintaining modern elegance.
Reservations are now available for stays in the Victorian’s first 82 guest rooms beginning Feb. 15.
The revitalized property will feature 404 rooms in The Victorian, located at the heart of the hotel; 97 rooms in The Cabanas, offering a poolside retreat; and 217 rooms and suites in The Views, designed for panoramic coastal experiences.
Guests seeking a more private luxury stay can choose from 78 cottages and villas at Beach Village at The Del or one of the 75 newly constructed seaside villas at Shore House at The Del, which range from one to three bedrooms.
In collaboration with the City of Coronado and the California Coastal Commission, the restoration team worked to modernize the National Historic Landmark while resurrecting its historic features. That meant stripping away ill-advised mid-century modifications and reinstating original details long since erased.
Petrone said that during renovations, hidden details surfaced that shaped the process.
A long-concealed fresco-secco mural from 1888 was uncovered and restored.
In the Crown Room, original doors were found encased in plywood, their existence unknown until restoration teams removed the layers.
“We could pull the original building plans and confirm that they were, in fact, the original doors,” Petrone said. “Now they hang in place, just as they were intended.”
During the restoration of the hotel’s lobby, non-historic additions were peeled away, revealing layers of craftsmanship unseen since the 1960s.
Twenty-one stained-glass windows were recreated, their originals lost to time. An ornate chandelier, inspired by the 1888 original, now casts a warm glow over the lobby, illuminating restored Illinois white oak beams and a newly commissioned hand-painted silk wall covering — an homage to the exotic flora and fauna of the resort’s past.
The resort’s main entry has also been relocated to its original approach, offering guests the same arrival experience that greeted turn-of-the-century travelers.
Windsor Lawn, an iconic outdoor event space, has been restructured to accommodate up to 700 guests, framed by swaying palms and the ever-present lull of the Pacific.
The Del’s dining experiences have similarly undergone a transformation.
Serẽa, the hotel’s Mediterranean-inspired coastal eatery, now stands as a destination in its own right, while historic haunts like the Babcock & Story Bar have been polished to their former sheen, mahogany bars once again gleaming under the weight of golden-hour light.
The culmination of this revitalization was marked in August 2024, when The Del’s famed Victorian ballrooms — the Crown Room, Coronet Room and Ocean Ballroom — officially reopened.
