What began inauspiciously more than three years ago with a new underground parking garage has morphed into a now completed $400 million makeover of the Hotel del Coronado, culminating with the opening this week of its first new guest rooms in 15 years.
The Shore House at the Del, a sort of hotel within a hotel, is a collection of 75 high-end residences that went up for sale last year, commanding prices as high as $5.2 million. Within months, they had sold out. The individual one-, two- and three-bedroom units, situated just steps from the ocean, are now being made available for overnight stays throughout the year.
The Hotel Del, instantly recognizable for more than a century with its distinctive red-roofed turret, has taken pains during the long-running renovation to preserve the old-fashioned feel of the iconic property while upgrading its dining venues, pool area, meeting spaces and guest rooms with modern-day amenities and contemporary design.
The Shore House is no exception. The red shingle roof and facade, with its crimson window sashes and lap siding, all nods to the resort’s signature Victorian look, are designed so that this brand new building will blend seamlessly into the 28-acre resort.
“We wanted to offer a reimagined beach vacation, a very community-focused setting that has a residential style,” explained Shore House director Michael Tuesca. “The exterior fits in with the campus at the Del, with its Queen Anne revival style, which is echoed in the façade of the Shore House. So from the outside it looks like it’s always been there but when you cross the threshold, you quickly see it’s a reimagined space.”
As an example, he points to the Shore House Bistro, a restaurant that is for the exclusive use of those staying at the new property. Upon walking in, it feels less like a restaurant and more like a private home — or, as Tuesca says, it’s as though you’ve just entered “your wealthy friend’s kitchen.”
Adding to the homey feel is a living room area with a fireplace and a surfboard hanging over the mantel.
Also exclusive to Shore House guests is a zero-edge pool (meant to feel as though you’re walking into the ocean from the beach) that is just beyond the bistro’s outdoor dining area and has a direct view of Coronado beach. The pool area has a full bar and private cabanas outfitted with refrigerators, big-screen TVs, and a safe that is rented by the day.
“So you have this zero-depth entry where at the end of the pool it literally starts at a zero entrance and then gently slopes down to 5 feet in the middle,” explained Tuesca. “So we picture that as being more family-friendly or for those who are afraid to swim.”
Individual residences feature gourmet kitchens, all with upgraded appliances, from a dishwasher and wine cooler to Sub-Zero refrigerators and Wolf ranges. All have washers and dryers, fireplaces and verandas with ocean, bay and resort views.
“They’re a perfect fit for larger families, people traveling together,” said Hotel del Coronado marketing director Denise Chapman. “It’s ideal for longer stays because of the kitchen, laundry facilities, and the spaciousness of them.”
While much of the sprawling resort fronts the beach, the Shore House is situated the closest to the ocean compared to all other guest room areas because it’s in an area where the strip of sand is much narrower.
The color palette throughout is dominated by shades of blues, seafoam green and beiges to echo the beach sand. Faux wood beams and large-tiled flooring meant to look like patterned hardwood floors complement the beach resort feel.
Included as part of the overall Shore House project is the ading Southpointe Event Center, which has a 15,000-square-foot ballroom and opens onto a 14,000-square-foot Great Lawn, with a view of the original hotel. One of the first events to be hosted at the center will be Thanksgiving dinner.
Although the Shore House residences were sold as second homes, the owners aren’t entitled to use them 365 days a year. Under the sales contracts, owners must abide by what are known as limited-use restrictions. A condition imposed by the California Coastal Commission, which is charged with providing public access to the coast, restricts usage of units by Shore House owners to no more than 90 days a year, with up to 25 consecutive nights at a time.
However, owners’ units can be rented out for the remainder of the year, with the Hotel Del sharing in a portion of the revenue from overnight stays. Both owners and guests have access to hotel amenities, while also having their own dedicated entrance and complimentary valet and self-parking in an underground garage.
Nightly rates will vary throughout the year, but they are pricey, reflecting not only the units’ more upscale trappings but also their spaciousness. A check of the hotel website shows nightly winter rates starting at close to $1,400 for a one-bedroom residence to nearly $5,000 for a three-bedroom oceanfront unit. A grand opening promotion is being offered for stays through the end of February where the third night of a three-night booking is free. That offer expires at the end of October.
While the Hotel Del has refreshed its hundreds of hotel rooms over the years, not since 2007, when it opened 78 cottages and villas in its Beach Village community has the resort added any new guest rooms. The 142 new rooms encomed by the Shore House residences bring the Del’s total number of guest rooms to 901.
The expansion is well-timed, given the extraordinary demand for leisure travel and weekend getaways fueled by a prolonged pandemic. Hotel del Coronado General Manager Harold Rapoza said that summer business this year outpaced that of last year, which already had exceeded the summer of 2019 before the pandemic struck.
A project like the Shore House is a rarity these days for the California coast, not only because of the quickly evaporating beachfront real estate but also the stiff requirements of the California Coastal Commission, said Alan Reay, president of the Atlas Hospitality Group, an Orange County-based hotel brokerage firm. In recent years, the commission has become more insistent that hotel projects it reviews include some affordable lodging either onsite or off.
Over the years, most hotel developers have paid in-lieu fees that are supposed to go toward creating low-cost accommodations. That was the case more than a decade ago when the Hotel del Coronado’s master plan makeover was approved. It was required to pay in-lieu fees of $1,080,000, which years later helped fund a campground in the Tijuana River Valley.
“You’ve been seeing hotels losing some business to Airbnb, especially in coastal resort areas where you have a family of six, seven, eight looking for that house they can rent,” Reay said. “And that fits that gap in the marketplace, especially in Coronado. It’s already highly desirable anyway because it’s Coronado but also because it’s the Hotel Del.”
Rapoza said the Shore House is drawing guests from all over the country, from Texas and Arizona to the Southeast, New York and Chicago, although a large number of bookings are coming from the Los Angeles area.
The debut of the Shore House is a fitting coda to an ambitious project — the biggest in the Hotel Del’s 134-year history — designed to reinvigorate a property that still had considerable appeal but had become dated and out of step with evolving travel trends, especially among younger visitors.
“The spirit of the master plan recognizes the Hotel del Coronado is a one-of-a-kind treasure and needs to be cared for so our goal was to preserve the Del for the next 100 years,” said Chapman. “So the Shore House appeals to a traveler looking for a different experience, it’s fresh and contemporary, or you can go stay in the Victorian, which is that more traditional experience.”
From a new glass-enclosed sun deck and signature fine dining restaurant to upgraded meeting spaces and shopping corridor, there is little that was untouched on the property. One of the more significant changes, which was a nod to the hotel’s 19th-century roots, is a new grand entrance leading up to an expansive veranda that, until its debut last year, had not been seen since a couple of years after Marilyn Monroe walked up the hotel’s front steps in “Some Like it Hot.”
While most of the guest rooms across the resort have been upgraded and renovated as part of the master plan work, the rooms in the Victorian have not been remodeled since 2012. There are plans to tackle that remodel but there is not yet a target date, said Chapman.
Up next for a refresh, though, is Beach Village where the owners, starting in January, will be covering the cost of interior remodels. The homeowners association, Rapoza said, will pay for exterior renovations.
