CORONADO, Calif. — It’s been a resort for presidents, princes and movie stars. The Hotel Del Coronado has been a symbol of luxury and elegance in Southern California since 1888.
"Until the early '40s, it was the largest wooden structure in the United States." said Heritage Manager Gina Petrone "It's evolved over the years. There's been other renovations throughout its 133 years."
The lobby has had several touch-ups and remodels through its time, but was just recently reopened after a three-year, $450-million facelift of the hotel. Modernizing it, but keeping its rustic charm.
"The lobby has been expanded to its original size," said Petrone "The fixutures were modeled after the original fixtures."
One of the biggest changes was actually one of the original features. The wood-paneled front porch is back, with rocking chairs and all. A scene from the 1959 classic "Some Like it Hot" was shot on the front porch of the Hotel Del.
It’s hard to strike a balance between the old and new, keeping the history and feel of the past while modernizing for today, but the new renovations did just that.
"Historically, when you do renovations, you do things just slightly different so that people 100 years from now can tell you that this was renovated." said Petrone "This was just a different spin on that. So it continues to evolve."
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