CHLA Lodging News Nov/Dec 2018

www.calodging.com November/December 2018 11 Hotel del Coronado HOTELIER PROFILE HOTEL PROFILE ACCLAIMED FOR ITS SPECTACULAR SEASIDE setting, spirited architecture, and world-famous weather, Hotel del Coronado has enjoyed a “charmed history—filled with good fortune, visionary leadership and impeccable timing. Although elegant resorts were fairly commonplace in 19th century America, few were being built in locations as remote as Coronado Island, circa 1888. That didn’t deter visionary entrepreneurs Elisha Babcock, Jr., and Hampton Story, two well-to-do midwestern businessmen, who—without any hotel experience between them—decided to buy the uninhabited peninsula of Coronado in 1885 for $110,000 and build a resort they envisioned as “the talk of the western world.” Unfortunately, an unexpected downturn in San Diego’s economy (compounded by a nationwide depression) compromised the viability of the resort right from the start. Millionaire John D. Spreckels, of the San Francisco Spreckels Sugar Company, stepped forward to take over financial reins of the fledgling resort. Thanks to Spreckels’ money and might, The Del was able to survive a triple threat: the institution of income tax (1913), the First World War (1917–1918), and Prohibition (1920), all of which affected personal wealth and travel habits. Spreckels held the modern world at bay until his death in 1926, after which the hotel remained in his family for The Charm of Hotel del Coronado By Sara Harper, Marketing Director, Hotel del Coronado continues   Female bathers pose in the “plunge” c. 1915 Historic exterior of the Hotel del Coronado Beach-front 1889