My family of three enjoyed a three-night stay at Hotel Del Coronado's Beach Village in mid-September. We booked directly through the hotel for a rate of $525 for a full ocean-view villa guestroom. We decided to splurge after seeing that even rooms at the Marriott were running $350-400 for just a standard accommodation. (Let's face it. If you want to stay on Coronado, you shouldn't be worried about cost.) The Beach Village is a new section of the hotel comprised of condo/hotel three-story towers. It offers its own entry, valet, concierge and pools. There is also a beach-front cottage that serves a buffet-style breakfast in the am and wine and cheese in the pm exclusively to guests.

The room was luxuriously appointed with a hardwood floor entry, patterned carpet, gas fireplace, a semi-private balcony and a marble and granite bathroom featuring a separate shower and extremely deep bathtub. My two critiques would be the showerhead nozzle which was placed at a high, awkward angle and couldn't really be readjusted. It made for awkward showers since I didn't want to get my hair wet every time I tried to rinse off. Also, the fireplace was fronted by a two-foot high marble-topped shelf that drew my 16-month old like a magnet. I can't tell you how many times he almost clunked his head and how many times he scaled the step and tried to open the glass fireplace doors. (Not really, a design flaw, but not family friendly.)

The balcony offered pretty views of the beach and horizon, but they were obstructed by the cottage buildings which are positioned closest to the shore. (See attached image.) I didn't realize I didn't truly get what I paid for until the second day and by that time didn't really want to go through the hassle of packing up and moving.

Despite that disappointment, we had a wonderful time. The private pools for Beach Village guests were a real bonus and there were never more than 15 people at the pool at any one time. They also had an incredible pool cafe with awesome food. (But, yes, hotel prices. The portions were oversized, though, if that makes up for it.) We also were just steps (literally) from the beach which is the reason we were attracted to Coronado in the first place. Besides a day trip to SeaWorld, we stayed at the hotel the whole trip. The staff were friendly and helpful with directions, dining recommendations and obtaining attraction tickets. (Although, in the morning, it was hard to get a concierge on the phone. Also, there were no 'do not disturb' signs for the door so we were interrupted a few times when we didn't want to be by housekeeping and the mini-bar guy.)

On a scale of 1-10 I would give Beach Village a 8.

We stayed at the Del on September 1st and 2nd, 2008. The staff knew we were there to celebrate my 40th birthday, and they went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful time! They put us in the Beach Village, on the 3rd floor, with an ocean front balcony. The room was less than a year old, and was just beautiful, as well as spotless. The details were amazing: a bottle of wine and card for my birthday, shells and poems on our pillows at night (our children were thrilled!), and a CD of beach music to bring home after our trip. We will definitely be back.

I just stayed the weekend at 'the Del" and found it VERY disappointing. They claim to be a 5-star, this website shows them to be a 4-star, and I would not give them better than a 3-star.

The suite we had in the tower was disappointing, it was tired and there were items missing that you would expect in this class of hotel (turn down service only if requested, no slippers, no minibar snacks, no wine glasses or cork screw, etc.).

The food was passable, the breakfast buffet was well stocked, but the eggs were rubber like, many items were cold.

The service was the most disappointing. From the front desk attitude to restaurant service personnel generally not paying attention to customers. Two specific items that happened were closing down the deck in the evening with about 50 customers being displaced, bringing security and generally being rude in doing this - without cause. And being told what to do or not to do by staff, instead of the 'how can we help you' attitude that you should be able to expect at this type of resort.

Last, but not least, the main outdoor seating area for the bar and restaurant is constantly used for service personnel with carts to set up lawn and beach events. It was like a service corridor with the carts constantly - for hours!

No, I would never stay here again. Not only would I not recommend it to friends, I would specifically tell them NOT to stay at this dump.

We had a full ocean view room in the victorian building on the ground floor. The only problem we had with our room was it was directly over the restaurant and with an 11 month old the music at night was a little worrisome. But the music was kept at a low level and went off at a reasonable hour. Our son slept through it just fine with the patio door closed. The staff was great, very helpful, the room was clean and full of old world charm. The property was beautiful and even with the holiday weekend crowds it wasn't unbearable. Our only exception was the only dinner we chose to eat in the hotel was at Sheerwater and had a horrible dinner. We were set at a dirty table, didn't see the waitress who was over worked for her section and waited too long between courses. The highlight was the manager made it right by comping our entire meal except for the drinks. I think overall we had a good time. Our only other complaint was that it was hard to find food at a reasonable price to feed our family on the island.