[9] Those people were E. S. Babcock, retired railroad executive from Evansville, Indiana; Hampton L. Story, of the Story & Clark Piano Company of Chicago; Jacob Gruendike, president of the First National Bank of San Diego; Heber Ingle; and Joseph Collett.

The men hired architect James W. Reid, a native of New Brunswick, Canada, who first practiced in Evansville and Terre Haute.

[8] Babcock's visions for the hotel were grand: It would be built around a court... a garden of tropical trees, shrubs and flowers... From the south end, the foyer should open to Glorietta Bay with verandas for rest and a promenade.

The dining wing should project at an angle from the southeast corner of the court and be almost detached, to give full value to the view of the ocean, bay, and city.

"[10]If the hotel were ever to be built, one of the numerous problems to overcome was the absence of lumber and labor in the San Diego area.

He also built two giant cisterns with concrete walls a foot thick in the basement to store rainwater.

In 1904, the Hotel del Coronado introduced the world's first electrically lighted, outdoor living Christmas tree.

From the San Diego Union, December 25, 1904: "The tree selected for the honor is one of the three splendid Norfolk Island pines on the plaza [grassy area in front of the hotel].

All day yesterday electricians were busy fitting it up and by night 250 lights of many colors gave beauty to the fine old pine.

Babcock turned to Captain Charles T. Hinde and sugar magnate John D. Spreckels, who lent them $100,000 to finish the hotel.

[8] The original grounds had many amenities, including an Olympic-sized saltwater pool, tennis courts, and a yacht club with architecture resembling the hotel's grand tower.

A Japanese tea garden, an ostrich farm, billiards, bowling alleys, hunting expeditions, and deep sea fishing were some of the many features offered to its guests.

[8] Kate Morgan (c. 1864 – 1892) was an American housemaid who died in her mid-twenties under mysterious circumstances during her stay at the Hotel del Coronado.

The San Diego County coroner determined the wound was self-inflicted, but skeptics claim the bullet with which she was killed does not match the gun found in her hand.

Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Mae West, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Ginger Rogers among the well-known actors who stayed at the hotel.

[21] On New Year's Day 1937, during the Great Depression, the gambling ship SS Monte Carlo, known for "drinks, dice, and dolls", was shipwrecked on the beach about a quarter mile south of the Hotel del Coronado.

The Hotel del Coronado housed many pilots who were being trained at nearby North Island Naval Air Station on a contract basis, but it was never commandeered.

General manager Steven Royce convinced the Navy to abstain from taking over the hotel because most of the additional rooms were being used to house the families of officers.

[30] The hotel received a Four Diamond rating from the American Automobile Association in 2009 and was listed in 2011 by USA Today among the top 10 resorts in the world.

[38] The hotel began a redevelopment and expansion in February 2019 to add a new entryway, more guest rooms, parking garages, another restaurant, and more.

[43][44] In 2022, the hotel opened a new wing, Shore House at the Del, featuring 75 one-, two- and three-bedroom residential-style units.

[47] Notable guests of the hotel have included Thomas Edison, Marilyn Monroe, L. Frank Baum, Charlie Chaplin, King Kalakaua of Hawaii,[48] Vincent Price, Babe Ruth, James Stewart, Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn.

More recently, guests have included Kevin Costner, Whoopi Goldberg, Gene Hackman, George Harrison, Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, and Oprah Winfrey.

[49] The following presidents have stayed at the hotel: Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W.

The stage musical adaptation of Some Like It Hot takes place at the hotel, as a tribute to the fact that the original movie was filmed there.

Television The hotel stood in for the fictional Mansfield House during host segments of the NBC anthology series Ghost Story in 1972.

The storylines of Baywatch season 4, episodes 14 and 15, called "Coronado del Soul" Parts 1 and 2, evolve in and around the hotel.