Coronado, California · Founded 1888 · Building: 1887–1888
An 1888 Victorian beach resort whose survival rests on a long-running reinvention as a luxury hotel, film landmark, and preserved coastal icon.
Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 as a Victorian beach resort developed by Elisha Babcock Jr. and Hampton L. Story. It is a National Historic Landmark and remains a working hotel at Coronado's shoreline. Blackstone owns the property, while Hilton manages it under the Curio Collection brand.
Elisha Babcock Jr. and Hampton L. Story begin developing a resort project on the Coronado peninsula.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "History"
Construction begins on Hotel del Coronado.
Source: Historic Hotels of America, "History of Hotel del Coronado"
Hotel del Coronado opens as a beach resort.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "History"
A guest registered as "Lottie A. Bernard," later identified as Kate Morgan, is found dead from a gunshot wound on an exterior staircase leading toward the beach after a five-day stay.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "Who Was Kate Morgan?"
Billy Wilder films portions of Some Like It Hot at Hotel del Coronado, using it as the fictional Seminole Ritz Hotel.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "History"
Hotel del Coronado receives National Historic Landmark designation.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "History"
Hilton assumes management of Hotel del Coronado under its Curio Collection brand while Blackstone retains ownership.
Source: Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2017
Blackstone completes a multiyear restoration of Hotel del Coronado reported at $550 million.
Source: Hotel Dive, June 20, 2025
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Hotel del Coronado's history specifically identifies the Edison-installation story as a popular misconception. Historic Hotels of America identifies Mather Electric Company of Chicago as the installer of the hotel's electrical system.
The hotel was a filming location for Billy Wilder's 1958 production of Some Like It Hot, released in 1959. Its Victorian exterior and beach setting stood in for the fictional Seminole Ritz Hotel in Florida.
Hotel historical materials identify Kate Morgan as the guest registered under the name "Lottie A. Bernard" who was found with a fatal gunshot wound on an exterior staircase on November 29, 1892. The San Diego County coroner concluded the wound was self-inflicted, although later accounts note continuing skepticism about the circumstances.
The Kate Morgan ghost story is a longstanding part of the hotel's modern reputation and marketing. The historical record documents Morgan's death; it does not establish that paranormal events occur or that they are connected to her.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
Guests, employees, and hotel accounts describe a dark-haired woman in black Victorian-era clothing in Room 3327, hallways, windows, mirrors, and along the beachside grounds. The apparition is traditionally identified as Kate Morgan, who died at the hotel in 1892 after registering under the name Lottie A. Bernard.
Guests in Kate Morgan's former room, now numbered 3327, report lights flickering, televisions and faucets operating without an apparent person, curtains moving with windows closed, bedcovers pulled away, and belongings or furniture moved or rearranged. These reports are treated as one concentrated room-specific activity pattern.
Room 3327 reports include abrupt temperature changes, breezes from no apparent source, unexplained scents, rattling pipes, footsteps or voices in empty spaces, and a feeling of being watched. The hotel and historic-hotel accounts associate the activity with Kate Morgan, though the paranormal attribution cannot be confirmed.
Employees and visitors report giftware, books, pictures, glassware, and other merchandise falling or flying from shelves in the gift shop below or near the area associated with Kate Morgan's former room. Some accounts say objects land upright or remain unbroken.
Guests have reported being touched or feeling fingertips brush their faces while sleeping, and hotel staff have described initials such as KM or LB appearing on the ceiling of Room 3327 after repainting. The experiences are part of the Kate Morgan room legend rather than independently verified events.
A separate hotel legend describes a little boy and girl seen running through hallways and up or down stairways, often accompanied by childlike sounds or an uneasy sense of a presence. The children's identities and any historical connection to the hotel are not established.
No historical source reviewed identified the alleged children or confirmed a death at the hotel that could be linked to this story.
Paranormal accounts describe cold mists, footsteps in an empty room, and a heavy or oppressive feeling in Room 502, a fifth-floor space once associated with hotel staff quarters. This is presented as a separate room-specific legend from the Kate Morgan reports concentrated around Room 3327.
Thomas Edison personally installed the hotel's electric lighting system for its 1888 opening.
Hotel history identifies this as a popular misconception. Historic Hotels of America says the electrical system was installed by Mather Electric Company of Chicago.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "History"; Historic Hotels of America, "History of Hotel del Coronado"
Kate Morgan's death proves that Hotel del Coronado is haunted.
Kate Morgan's 1892 death is documented in historical hotel materials, while the claim that she haunts the property is a separate paranormal assertion that remains unverifiable.
Source: Hotel del Coronado, "History"; Hotel del Coronado, "Who Was Kate Morgan?"
The Del has stayed open by adapting from a nineteenth-century resort into a modern luxury, events, and destination hotel while retaining its recognizable Victorian identity. Ownership and management have changed over its history, but continued capital investment has allowed the property to remain commercially active. Blackstone completed a multiyear restoration reported at $550 million in 2025, illustrating the scale of investment required to keep the landmark in use.
Yes. Billy Wilder filmed portions of Some Like It Hot at Hotel del Coronado in 1958 for the 1959 release. The hotel served as the fictional Seminole Ritz Hotel in Florida and appears in the film's resort scenes.
Blackstone Real Estate owns Hotel del Coronado. Hilton manages the hotel under its Curio Collection brand, an arrangement announced in 2017 and reflected in later reporting on the property's restoration.
Kate Morgan was a hotel guest who checked in under the name "Lottie A. Bernard" in 1892. She was found dead from a gunshot wound on an exterior staircase after five days at the hotel. The county coroner ruled the wound self-inflicted, and her death later became the basis for the hotel's haunted reputation.
1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118
(619) 435-6611
Check the official hotel site before visiting for current guest-access, dining, tour, parking, and event information.