Glorietta Bay Inn

I guess I just had higher expectations. The so-​called ’boutique hotel’ we had read about on Unilocal (and the hotel website) was nothing of the sort. The small, central mansion building where we checked-​in was historic and interesting, but it contained only a few high-​end suites; the rest of the property resembled something closer to a sprawling beach motel circa 1995, with few obvious upgrades since then. Our room was extremely basic, with minimal styling and amenities.
More realistically, the boutique price would appear to be 90% about LOCATION; an aspect for which I admit I had zero complaints. Namely, the hotel sat directly across the street from the famous Hotel del Coronado, and was only a 10 minute stroll to the public beach behind that famous landmark. If this beach is your main destination, then GBI may be a good choice, as long as you don’t mind a few shortcomings and nickel-​and-​diming:
– Tiny pool: Really only suitable for kids
– No gym; and there’s a $ 10 cost to use one down the street (uh…thanks)
– $ 15/​day self-​parking in their outdoor lot — Why?
– Thin construction and single pane windows
The latter issue meant that our stay here was on the loud side. We were next to a busy walkway where hotel staff seemed fond of congregating and joking/​chatting. A tiny astroTurf putting green was also just outside the room’s front door; this ended up being a magnet for older guests to whoop it up, usually with a cocktail or two. This is actually not something I’d normally mind, but catching up on sleep was one of the goals of our family trip, especially for the kids. But this goal was only partially met; after one night here we were actually thinking about switching locations.
On the good side, the prices were lower than the adjacent Hotel Del Coronado (but not a difficult task, since THOSE prices were beyond obnoxious). The GBI staff were also very helpful and friendly. The breakfast buffet was large but continental only; at least the coffee was decent.
I might normally give 4 stars or more for a clean, friendly motel this close to a nice beach, but the GBI markets itself as a much higher-​end spot, and charges prices that try to justify it. (And then there are those «hidden fees» on top). So I can only give it a C.
= Response to owner comment =
Gee, thanks for the boilerplate response. I never said I was disappointed with my stay. I gave you an average rating, not a negative one. (Did you even read my review?) What I DID say was that you were marketing yourself as a much swankier hotel than you actually are, thus charging too high a price; and then adding hidden fees on top of all that. Are you really gonna change all of that based on a call or email from me? I didn’t think so. But gosh, thanks for going through the motions to look responsive.

We have stayed here in the past before we lived here. We stayed again this week for two nights. It was perfect then and it is perfect now, many years later. The staff is courteous and helpful, breakfast is included with an assortment of food and beverages, there is a variety of room types and locations, some in the main mansion and many others in the additional buildings. Our rooms have always been spacious and provided with everything you might want, including a microwave, fridge, small sink in that area, patio, king bed and good tv with cable, and wi fi. There is also a pool. We have stayed in many hotels around the world, and this is one of the best and the rates are amazingly reasonable. Compare it to the Del across the street, and you will stay here. (This is the original home of the builder of the Del.)

What a wonderful place to stay! We are celebrating our 27^th anniversary, and a complimentary bottle of wine was waiting in our room for us. The breakfast was delicious, and was much better than most other continental breakfasts at hotels. Better yet, it’s included in the cost of the room, which is about half of the cost of Hotel Del Coronado rooms, but right across the street. The staff here is excellent… very fast, friendly, and efficient. Our room was serviced while we had breakfast, which was perfectly timed. The beauty of staying here is that you can walk or bike everywhere, so no need to drive anywhere after arriving. Very nice and relaxing. When staying in Coronado, be sure to see whatever is playing at the Lamb’s Players Theatre. We have seen many plays there over the years, and they are always excellent. Also, I must mention the historical significance of the Glorietta Bay Inn. Very interesting to learn about this mansion’s history. We’ll be back!

Very accommodating and they gave me and my new husband an upgrade when I told them we had just gotten married that day! Since it used to be someone’s home, there’s lots of character and details you won’t see at run of the mill hotels. It’s a great alternative if the prices at the Hotel Del look a little steep. Nice and simple with just the right touch of elegance. Definitely coming back if I get the chance.

We have stayed here countless times, and always enjoy our stay. We recently were there with our daughter’s family, and were able to book the 2bedroom suite for them. They loved it! There is so much that is wonderful about Coronado Island, a stay at the Glorietta Bay Inn just adds to the joy of being here.
If you are here on the weekend, stroll over to the Del and catch Gonzo. He performs covers in the Story&Babcock bar. Always entertaining!

The best customer service I’ve ever experienced at a hotel! From front desk staff to room attendants everyone was so friendly and eager to help with anything. Booked the Sunset room a couple years ago (before it was remodeled) and enjoyed the room. Although it is small (bathroom very small), it has a nice private balcony with a bench swing, table and two chairs. Loved eating breakfast out there. Pool and jacuzzi were very comfortable. Haven’t stayed in standard rooms so can’t comment on those, but the property is beautiful and well-​located. See you this summer!

I love this place! I had the pleasure of staying at this beautiful and historic Coronado’s hotel. I’ve stayed at many hotels in San Diego and on Coronado Island but this is by far the most comfortable, hospitable and enjoyable stay I’ve ever had.
The hotel has 2 designated parking lots and a bike rack. Which is a Godsend in San Diego and Coronado. I was welcomed to the hotel by the friendly staff at the front desk and when I needed a quick nap upon my arrival, I enjoyed the extremely comfortable bed and my foam and feather pillows — it was heaven!
I didn’t realize the hotel had so much historical significance. Very cool!

Went on a little staycation for my birthday and this was the perfect hotel. It’s about a 5 minute walk to the beach and there are a bunch of restaurants and shops that are walking distance as well! The room was very well kept although it was a little small. Beds were very comfortable and staff at the front desk were very kind!

Unbelievably spectacular!
From the moment we checked in, we knew we’d booked the perfect hotel. The gentleman at evening check-​in was gracious, welcoming and provided us with tidbits of history on the property.
The room was immaculate, attention to detail impressive, and couldn’t help but love the quiet hours to get some much needed R&R.
The property itself is well maintained, gorgeous and historic (fortunately, minus the lace and floral bedspread/​curtain set that you’d expect). The cookies at turn down were scrumptious and a nice touch.
The complimentary breakfast was delicious and offered a variety of choices.
This place is really top notch and worth every penny! Just when I thought a certain amenity would be nice to have… they had thought of it already!
Hope to make a tradition out of visiting Coronado, and when we do, we’ll without a doubt stay here.
Thanks for making our stay and vacation truly unforgettable!

Love the hotel, simple and easy. Great Price. Rooms are smaller, but they are well kept and have a good view. The check in deal is the radical. Free bottle of Wine for check in on Unilocal!
KING BAY VIEW ROOM

My wife and I have been coming to Coronado 2X — 3X a year for long weekends. we tried every hotel and decided to stay at Glorietta. First night our toilet overflowed, and they tried for a while to fix it, finally, after us getting pretty bent, they moved us rooms. I know that it sou ends like a complaint, but so many other things were «right,» we had to overlook the one «bad» that was out of their control.
Got there at 3 pm on a Friday and first thing that sticks out is the staffs overall friendliness. They were bantering with each other and laughing which showed they enjoyed where and who they worked for. Our toilet wasn’t flushing so we told them we are going to hit the town and please fix it when we return. We got in late Friday night and during the night, the toilet still wasn’t working. we woke on Saturday and as they worked on it we ate at their continental breakfast which was awesome. Best continental I’ve ever had. We returned to the room and they said they fixed it. We used it again, and again it overflowed. This time we had to request a different room since they said they would have to talk to an outside plumbing company to come and fix it. I spoke with the manager Raj who was a stand-​up guy. He moved us to a new room which turned out to be a bit bigger than our original room. We hit the town again and when we checked out on Sunday they had taken half off one night stay and comped the parking. even though it wasn’t a trouble free week-​end, we loved everything else.
Parking is $ 15 a night. Not very much considering the surrounding areas. Theres no parking and charging $ 15 is not bad. Right across the street at Del Coronado our friends had to pay $ 49 a night. Staff was super friendly and very polite. Continental breakfast was awesome and all day cookies were a nice touch. The room itself is typical. Clean, a bit older but just fine size is and the bed super comfortable. Parking was right outside the room. Overall, we had a great time and will be back. We will just make sure there was no recent plumbing done to our room before we book. lol As I read the posts here though, I saw you get a free bottle of wine if you check in with Unilocal… wish I had known that earlier

Actually: 2.5 stars. Trying to be objective, so you decide
POSITIVES:
1. Easy parking, but $ 15.00 per night,
2. Elegant lobby area, friendly staff,
3. good location to walk Coronado village.
NEGATIVES
A. Small rooms, tiny almost, for $ 303 [$ 260.00 plus this and that],
B. maybe, possibly, just barely adequate breakfast,
C. noisy [room 790, second floor],
D. Bay view? not really. There’s a side road and then low condos? across the road set closest to the Bay, partially blocking the view.

My wife and I have decided to make this place a tradition for our anniversary. So far this has been the second year coming here and we absolutely love this place. It’s so homey ad the staff is awesome. This was even better, we were upgraded to a suite and it was so cool. Can’t wait till next year.

Beautiful hotel with a staff that goes out of their way to accommodate you. Check in was a breeze and the rooms are clean and nicely remodeled. Location is within walking distance to The Del, restaurants and lots of cute boutique shops. I think I have found my new favorite hotel on the Island.

A few days ago, we spent four nights at the Glorietta Bay Inn, in part to celebrate our 10^th wedding anniversary. Our experience was incredibly wonderful. We very much enjoy Coronado and had vacationed there in previous years, but we had never stayed at the Glorietta Bay Inn. We had passed it before, and a friend heartily recommended it, so we decided to reserve a room for a portion of our trip this year to the San Diego area.
Never having stayed at this hotel, we didn’t realize that the wing of the hotel that faces the main parking lot and is closest to Orange Avenue would have quite as much traffic noise as it turned out to have, and our room there had a balcony with no cover, which meant it got a lot more sun than we wanted, so the hotel kindly offered to accommodate us elsewhere in the hotel for no additional cost.
Raj, the reservations manager, personally escorted us to see three other rooms, and as we were debating which one of those to take, he offered us one of the mansion rooms as an additional option. We looked at it and were immediately sold on it. It was the Coronado Room (Room 101), and it had just been renovated a few months prior. It was spacious, the furniture and paint were practically new, it had an excellent television, and it even had a walk-​in closet and a hall pantry. It had two windows: out of one you could see a bit of the bay over the roof of another building, and out of the other you could see a bit of the San Diego-​Coronado Bay Bridge. It also had an historic wall safe (which you can’t open) still left in the wall from the 1920s. A modern safe and a large mini-​fridge are in the closet for guests to use. They also provide an iron, ironing board, and very comfy bathrobes.
We loved being in the room because this was meant to be a relaxing vacation, and it was actually a pleasure to be in the room at just about any time of day. It was quiet, and it does indeed feel like you are a guest in an historic mansion rather than a typical hotel room. We also loved all the historic photographs and descriptions posted around the inside of the mansion.
We can’t say enough about the atmosphere and the service provided. Turn-​down service not only included closing the blinds and curtains and placing chocolates on our bed, which some other hotels do (though these toffee chocolates were especially good), but we loved finding a bottle of fresh, cold milk and two homemade cookies waiting for us in our room every evening. It’s the little things that really count! In addition, Raj arranged something special for us in light of our anniversary, which we appreciated greatly.
We took advantage of the free beach chairs and beach towels one day and took the five-​minute walk to the beach on the other side of the Hotel del Coronado. I appreciated that the chairs were not large because it made them easier to carry.
The continental breakfast available each morning is about the best «continental» breakfast you’ll find anywhere. Everything tasted good, was of good quality, and they even include pancakes on the weekends. I appreciated how very clean everything was kept. They are constantly cleaning up the breakfast area so that it keeps looking clean and fresh. It is so nice to find a seat either in the music room or out on the sun porch while eating breakfast, and while we were there, it never got too busy. The free ginger snaps and lemonade in the breakfast room are a nice treat every afternoon, and they have excellent coffee (regular and decaf) available 24 hours a day down there as well.
I suggest that you opt for a mansion room if you want a more «bed and breakfast» type of feel. They run specials where you can upgrade to one of those rooms for only an extra $ 100 total if they have availability.
Outside of the mansion, get a one-​bedroom suite if you like having space. Some of the suites are really large, though not all of them have great views, if you care about that. The deluxe rooms are smaller, but the ones we saw had good-​sized bathrooms. If you’re not staying in a mansion room that has a view, the best views of the bay will be from the rooms on the second floor that face Glorietta Blvd., which doesn’t get a lot of traffic. This hotel does not have any rooms with ocean views, if you’re wondering about that, although I wouldn’t be surprised if you can see it from the Penthouse Suite (Room 100), which is the hotel’s most expensive room at the very top of the mansion. That room has its own private, historic elevator. All of the other mansion rooms that are not on the first floor normally are accessible only by staircase, so I definitely suggest getting a bellman if you have a lot of luggage and are staying in one of those rooms.
Thanks to Raj and the rest of the staff, we had a wonderful stay at an amazing price and will definitely make the Glorietta Bay Inn our first choice the next time we are looking for a hotel in Coronado.

A beautiful weekend get away with my love. Excellent service from Jon Parker! Beautiful & prime location. Complimentary wine bottle when you check in with Unilocal.Nice!

The most beautiful hotel. Quainter than it’s bigger, next door neighbor the Hotel Del. Less expensive and less pretentious. I have been coming here yearly since I was 5 years old and it’s like a second home.
–The employees are warm and friendly, EXTREMELY accomadating
–Give out sunscreen, umbrellas, beach chairs, and towels for your days at the beach
–Delicious free breakfast every morning. Fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh berries, greek yogurt, pancakes, cereal, coffee, bagels, and pastries
–Immaculate rooms with light, balconies, and comfy beds
–Pool and hottub that glistens in the sun plus they have lemonade and ginger snaps all afternoon at the pool

Stayed here for 2 days for work. There really is not much bad or wrong I can say about the place. My only gripe is that it’s not as modern as I like my hotels to be. I stayed in room 682 and it was much different/​older than a coworkers room. Maybe he upgraded without me knowing??? Otherwise, everything was good. Location, Staff, and parking. If you check in with Unilocal,free bottle of wine!!! Would I stay here again, yes if the Gaslamp district hotels were sold out.

We had a great 4 night stay here with both of our sets of parents just before Christmas this year. We got them to all come out so we could enjoy our first California Christmas.
We of course thought of staying at the historic and beautiful hotel Del Coronado but that place was crazy expensive around this time and from what I hear mostly always. This charming alternative is directly across the street from the hotel Del with views of it and the bay from the balconies.
The story behind this historic inn is that is was the mansion of the man who basically kick started Coronado island. Spreckles was a wealthy entrepreneur who also began the building process of the hotel Del. they have since renovated his historic mansion into rooms and added more wings that are separate from the home and brand new rooms with beautiful balconies. The new rooms are spacious and the beds quite comfortable really enjoyed watching the sunrise and set from our balcony and enjoyed the fact that it was very close walking distance to all the shops and restaurants nearby including of course my first time seeing the hotel Del in all its glory. Our parents were actually relieved we weren’t staying at the hotel Del amongst all the hustle and bustle that was there for the xmas merriment. Our hotel also had a great complimentary breakfast that was served inside the mansion everyday with an awesome pancake machine that automatically spits out pancakes! Never seen anything like that before! All in all a most pleasurable stay that was perfect for our family.

I adore this hotel so much!
I looooove it here.
I loooooove this hotel and really enjoy coming here.
The guests always have positive things to say about the stay too.
The views are amazing, the staff is top notch and I always leave here wanting to live in Coronado.
The parking in the parking lot can be quite intense sometimes though.

Was ein toller Ort. Das Hotel liegt unweit vom Strand (2 Gehminuten) und auf der ruhigen Halbinsel Coronado. Ein echt toller Küstenabschnitt direkt in San Diego.
Das Hotel steht für ein Teil der alten Tradition hier in dem überschaubaren Küstenort. Noch weitere alte Hotels sind hier, die dem Stil entsprechen. Es wirkt alles sehr edel und kolonialistisch. Man irgendwie das Gefühl, dass in den letzten 100 Jahren hier wenig getan hat, aber positiv. Alles sehr stilecht und genial dekoriert. Alleine der Anblick des Hotels bei der Ankunft ist schon klasse.
Wir hatten ca 250 USD pro Nacht gezahlt, aber da wir es durch 4 geteilt haben, hat das Sinn gemacht. Ist kein Schnäppchen, aber es macht schon Spaß. Der Pool ist nett, die Zimmer waren nett, aber hätten durchaus größer sein können und der Service war erste Klasse!
Besonders möchte ich hier das Frühstück erwähnen, das im Preis mit inbegriffen ist. Frische Früchte, viele Sorten Müsli, Bagels, Muffins und Kaffee mit verschiedenen Geschmacksrichtungen. Hier kann man sich wirklich nicht beklagen.
Dazu lässt sich das Frühstück auf der in der Morgensonne gelegenen Terrasse genießen, was das Ganze echt sehr genießbar macht!
Also wer sich was gönnen möchte, ist hier schon nicht verkehrt. Aber der pur Luxus ist es auch nicht. Die Lage ist nunmal top und macht hier wohl auch den Unterschied im Preis.