I am not one to willingly slate a hotel but I fail to see the attraction of this place.

- On arriving the check in queues were horrific
- There were less people at the Disney parks then there were milling around this hotel.
- Impossible to get a seat at the pool or their outside restaurant on the deck.
- Resorted to eating at the other restaurant and shown a table where the floor was filthy and mats had stains. On asking for a clean up operation we were helpfully told "not my job"
- Our room, in the Ocean Towers block, had an interconnecting door onto next door's bathroom and we could hear every, and I mean every, noise
- Not the hotel's fault, but the sea is so full of seaweed that it is disgusting to go out in it.

We lasted 2 hours in this theme park before checking out and driving back to the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach (now this place is a top hotel).

By the way the 2 hours cost us $200.00 for the lunch/parking including a $17.00 charge for a 4 minute phone call to the hotel one hour up the road.

Never, ever again....

I spent five nights with my husband and three kids in the del last July. I was so excited to stay in this hotel but unfurtunately the experience turned out to be a big disappointement. First of all we had a problem with the front desk because they wanted us to pay extra for the breakfast of my younger child who is 5 yearsold, saying that my package includes a breakfast for four adults. Then, finally it turnd out that they should pay for me since that adults price for breakfast ismore than the child. Then in the third day of my stay, my bag had been stolen while I was having breakfast in the hotel restaurant the sheer water. It was an awful experience for me and my children who were afraid and shocked. The restaurant hostess called the security who came and asked me questions about the hand bag. But then i didnt hear anything from the hotel management or the security of the hotel. I called and complained after two days but still there was no response at all. They even didnt care to call and ask about the kids and how did the spend their night. And after I called and complained twice, the duty manager offered to give me a 50% dicount for our last night in the hotel. Actually thier cold attitude towards what had happened to me and my children hurt and upset me more than the accident it self. I think real prestigious hotels are the hotels that really care about their customers and their satisfaction and daffinatelly the del is not one of them.

The Del is as beautiful as ever. Anyone who complains about the facilities is nuts. If you have eyeballs, you will WANT to love the Del. The problem here is the current management. For about $500 a night, the service should be great -- and it used to be -- but it just isn't these days. Much of the staff seems like it is just there working a summer job in college. Example: At the beach, it's easy to get someone to drag out your chairs and put up your umbrella, because they know the tip is coming. But when you bring your chairs back at the end of the afternoon (and you have to, because they are holding your room key hostage), they just stand around watching you, waiting for you to bring them all the way back in. Sorry, but at this price, the service ought to be a lot more responsive than that. We and others in our group had numerous small problems with our rooms, which wouldn't have been so irritating if there just hadn't been SO MANY little problems. A couple examples: got to our room and the TV doesn't work; and the high-speed internet doesn't work either; and we had no washclothes; and after 5 minutes on hold, no one answers the 24-hour "help" line for the internet service; and when you call for the front desk, you get a computer that gives you 5 other choices besides the front desk first (including booking you vacation for next year?!), and then you get routed to the operator anyway, who has to send you back to the front desk. And even then, the phone rings a dozen times before someone answers. Kind of a maddening way to start your stay. Another in our group had a non-functioning TV, another had no towels and no Internet, and another got no maid service one day. Everything eventually got fixed, and they even knocked a couple bucks off the bill (but only after suggesting that it would be appropriate), but I got tired of all the little annoyances, and tired of having to ask for service, when I really just wanted someone to ask me if there was anything they could do for me. All of this said, we still enjoyed our stay, and many of the staff were actually great. We will probably go again, but probably not until KSL (the current management) is out of the picture. It just seems like they are trying to do it all on the cheap.

Ok, you have been going around and around and still can't find a decent, yet cheap way to stay at the del or even on coronado? I just got back from coronado and san diego and the strategy I employed worked out quite well for my wife and myself albeit, not perfectly.
This summer, everything on coronado was just way out of my budget...now don't make assumptions here: If we had wanted, we could have booked a full ocean view room at the del or the beach village as well, BUT, tearing up 5 to 15 ben franklins each day and throwing them in the trash just doesn't sit with my principles.
So, here is what we did and still felt like we accomplished a great stay at the Del;
1) Go to priceline and bid on a 3.5 or 4 star hotel until you win...may take a week or so, but you are shooting for under $100 for high season in the summer. We landed the courtyard mariott on broadway in san diego and got it for $85.
2) Bring a small duffle type bag for carrying light jackets and other incidentals while at the del...it gets chilly in the late afternoon and at night.
3) Take a very lovely walk out of the mariott straight down broadway until you hit the ferry...took us about 15 minutes...no turns whatsoever!
4) Force yourself to pay $3.50 for the one way ticket to Coronado.
5) enjoy the view of the midway and other carriers on your way to coronado.
6) After 10-15 minutes you are on coronado. Now, if you like a GOOD 30 minute walk, you can walk to the del which is what we did or
7) take a taxi and spend $5....OUCH!
8) Finally, you are at the del....wanna stay in a room now?
9) Go to the front desk and tell them you want to see a room facing the ocean. They will give you a key and you give them your ID.
10) Go up to the room without a hotel associate! What? They will let you go up by yourself? Well, they did for me and my wife. We got to look at two rooms and relax there for 45 minutes or so each!
11) Then, leave the room, get your ID back and take out $800 from your wallet and kiss it knowing it is not in the coffers of the Del!
12) Why not go spend $7 for a beer and sip on it an hour or so while fending off the waiter who keeps asking if you are ready for your check every 15 minutes? I did and I actually enjoyed my $7 beer with the million dollar view at the bar outside Babcock's...up on the deck. Yes, I tipped the waiter $2 even though he was annoying.
13) Go spend $26 and rent an umbrella, two towels and two chairs and relax on the beach with the wealthy or the stupid....whichever way you want to feel better about yourself.
14) or , go spend $40 and be lazy with pool priviledges all day...your choice.

I don't need to keep going on here because once you are there, you will find your own fun things to do.
Once you do go to the del for 2 or 3 days like this, you will feel like you actually stayed there.
At the end, if you are too tired to go back by ferry, just spend $20 by taxi back to your hotel...not so bad either.
ENJOY!