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Glorietta Bay Inn Mansion | Glorietta Bay Inn Mansion Room |
Coronado Island is a great place to stay if you want access to all of San Diego's great vacation activities but still want the feel of staying in a small beach town. Coronado Island is 1 mile across the bay from San Diego. The drive from the airport is about 20 minutes and most of San Diego's attractions are about ½ hour away. Coronado Village features quaint streets lined with boutiques, shops and restaurants… and of course great beaches.
We decided we could not afford to stay in the world famous Hotel del Coronado but instead stayed at another highly recommended hotel; The Glorietta Bay Inn. The Glorietta is across the street from the Hotel del Coronado giving easy access to great shopping and dining. The beach is on the other side of the Hotel de Coronado meaning it is in easy walking distance.
The hotel is centered around the original Mansion, built in 1908. The Mansion itself has only 11 rooms and of course these rooms will be the priciest starting at around $295 per night.
The Contemporary Inn buildings surround the Mansion and add an additional 89 rooms. Prices for this rooms range from $150 to $375. Some rooms have views of the ocean or the bay. I would guess that only the upper floor rooms would have this view.
We stayed for 2 nights at the Glorietta Bay Inn in a 1st floor patio contemporary room with 2 queen beds. Our cost in July of 2004 was $195 per night plus $10 a day for parking. The room was beautiful and comfortable.
It seemed a little small but that might have been a result of us not unpacking and leaving all of our luggage lined up against the wall near the doorway. The bathroom itself was a little small and only had a shower… no tub.
The staff is another highlight of Glorietta Bay. They were very attentive, friendly and helpful. They had great knowledge of the area and the dining recommendations they gave us were wonderful.
The Glorietta Bay Inn itself does not have any dining. They do serve a free continental breakfast every morning. Many restaurants are located a short walk down the street. We never felt uncomfortable walking around the area at night. We ate lunch at Mexican restaurant called Miguels and dinner at Brigantine's, a more upscale restaurant. Both were fantastic and we do not hesitate to recommend them. Of course the Hotel del Coronado has plenty of dining and shopping right across the street. We never managed to eat there but did spend some time at Sun Deck Bar & Grill, which overlooks the ocean.
We are not experts on beaches but Coronado Islands seem very, very nice. Central Beach is 1.5 miles of sand anchored to the north by Naval Air Station North Island and to the south by the Hotel del Coronado. Planes landing at the Naval station fly over the beach. This was not irritating; in fact we enjoyed getting a great view of the different military aircraft in their landing pattern along with seeing the navel ships moving through the bay.
When we next visit San Diego our goal is to stay at the Hotel del Coronado. If, once again, that does not work out we will likely return to the Glorietta Bay Inn. We do not hesitate to recommend it
Glorietta Bay Inn Website